Earlier this month, Director Shalanda Young of the federal Office of Management and Budget announced the need for additional funding for disaster recovery, because of the number and severity of storms this year. Here’s Director Young:
“We are requesting emergency funding for FEMA’s disaster relief fund, used to help individuals and communities,” she said.
The last time Congress passed a comprehensive disaster package was in December 2022. Now, officials say, additional funding is needed, especially long-term funding for needs such as housing.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell describes the backdrop the agency is dealing with:
“To date, FEMA has obligated over $7.5 billion alone for the response and recovery for Hurricanes Helene and Milton. These storms were incredibly large. And spending on the first month post-landfall for each storm outpaced nearly all disasters that we have responded to over the last 20 years,” Criswell said.
She says the agency will need an additional $40 billion to support the ongoing recovery efforts from these storms.
Meanwhile, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has filed a lawsuit against FEMA for conspiracy to discriminate. According to whistleblower reports, FEMA workers in Lake Placid, Florida, were instructed not to help storm victims in homes that displayed Trump signs. FEMA has fired the responsible employee and called her behavior “reprehensible.”
Congress adjourned for its Thanksgiving break without final agreement on the funding for a disaster aid package. They will have three weeks to act on it when they return.
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