Federal Emergency Management Agency Says Its Disaster Fund Has Run Out Of Money
With hurricane season still going strong, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says its disaster fund has run out of money. Traditionally, hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, but as of August 7, 2024, FEMA will only provide money for immediate needs.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2024/08/15/federal-emergency-management-agency-says-its-disaster-fund-has-run-out-of-money/
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Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2024/08/15/federal-emergency-management-agency-says-its-disaster-fund-has-run-out-of-money/
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Transcript
00:00Today on Forbes, Federal Emergency Management Agency says its disaster fund has run out of money.
00:07With hurricane season still going strong, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA,
00:13says its disaster fund has run out of money.
00:16Traditionally, hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th,
00:21but as of August 7th, 2024, FEMA will only provide money for immediate needs.
00:28FEMA is a federal agency tasked with helping people before, during, and after disasters.
00:33By law, FEMA must provide a report on the Disaster Relief Fund, or DRF, by the fifth day of each month.
00:41That gets published on the agency's website.
00:44The report includes, among other things, an overall funding summary,
00:49a summary of funding for the catastrophic events,
00:51and an estimate of the date on which the funds will be exhausted.
00:55FEMA uses DRF money to direct, coordinate, manage, and fund eligible response and recovery efforts
01:02associated with major disasters and emergencies that overwhelm state resources.
01:08Through the DRF, FEMA can fund authorized federal disaster support activities
01:13and eligible state, territorial, tribal, and local actions,
01:17such as providing emergency protection and debris removal.
01:22The DRF also funds the repair and restoration of qualifying disaster-damaged public infrastructure,
01:28hazard mitigation initiatives, financial assistance to eligible disaster survivors,
01:33and fire management assistance grants for large forest or grassland wildfires.
01:39When the DRF is insufficient, FEMA will prioritize lifesaving and life-sustaining activities
01:45using Immediate Needs Funding, or INF.
01:49During INF, FEMA will pause all new obligations related to public assistance,
01:54such as reimbursement for disaster activity that has already been completed and permanent work,
01:59as well as hazard mitigation, that are not essential for lifesaving and life-sustaining activities.
02:05As part of the 2024 Appropriations Bill, Congress provided $20.261 billion for the DRF.
02:13Since the beginning of fiscal year 2024,
02:15FEMA projected that DRF balances would not be enough to meet requirements and asked for more money.
02:22However, Congress didn't act on their $9 billion request while in session.
02:27Congress is now on recess through the end of the month,
02:30and the Senate is tentatively expected to return to Washington, D.C. on September 9th.
02:35It's not clear when, or if, Congress will take up the request for additional funding.
02:41Meanwhile, the DRF will continue to head south, according to the most recent projections.
02:47This marks the second year in a row that FEMA has run out of money.
02:50Last year, an INF was implemented following Hurricane Idalia on August 29, 2023,
02:56and lifted on October 2, 2023, after the 2024 short-term continuing resolution.
03:03Since 2001, FEMA has implemented INF eight other times
03:08—2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2017.
03:18Congress provided over $139 billion in supplemental disaster funding
03:22in response to disasters that occurred between 2017 and 2019.
03:27That includes money to help communities recover from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria,
03:32the 2017 California wildfires, and other disasters.
03:37Large-scale disasters can result in money being depleted very quickly.
03:41During the first 30 days of response to Hurricane Ian,
03:44a Category 1 storm that stalled off the coast of North Carolina in 2022,
03:49FEMA obligated approximately $2.6 billion.
03:53That worked out to nearly $86 million a day.
03:57Similarly, in 2022, FEMA obligated $987 million during the first 30 days
04:04responding to Hurricane Fiona, a storm that killed at least 29 people.
04:09Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's,
04:13or NOAA's, National Hurricane Center predicted a very high likelihood —
04:1885% chance — of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season,
04:22with 17 to 25 named storms.
04:25The average is 14.
04:27NOAA predicted 8 to 13 hurricanes.
04:30The average is 7.
04:31Declaring that 4 to 7 will be considered major hurricanes, the average is 3.
04:38This month, NOAA upped the likelihood of an above-normal season to 90%.
04:43A FEMA spokesperson told Forbes,
04:46"...FEMA's priority is ensuring the agency has the resources available
04:49to support ongoing life-saving and life-sustaining activities."
04:54For full coverage, check out Kelly Phillips Erb's piece on Forbes.com.
05:00This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.