FEMA to Prioritize Immediate Needs Funding for Latest Disasters as Relief Cash Runs Dry

FEMA director Deanne Criswell speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on Aug. 29, 2023. Win McNamee/Getty Images

The remaining money in the federal government’s disaster relief fund will be prioritized for a string of recent and anticipated disasters, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials.

Speaking at a White House press briefing on Aug. 29, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said she was directing the implementation of Immediate Needs Funding for Hurricane Idalia, which is expected to make landfall along Florida’s Big Bend Gulf Coast on Wednesday as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 intensity hurricane, as well as the deadly wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

The immediate needs funding will also be used for “any other extreme weather events that are coming our way without interruption,” Ms. Criswell said, noting that the United States is now approaching peak hurricane season.

Meanwhile, the agency will continue to “meet the immediate needs of survivors through the remaining weeks of the fiscal year,” Ms. Criswell said.

“In addition to responding to the current storms, as well as other incidents, we have to remain focused on making sure that we are also preparing people across the nation for these types of extreme weather events,” Ms. Criswell added.

With the implementation of Immediate Needs Funding to help state, local, tribal, and territorial governments respond to the most critical recent and anticipated disasters, other funding for long-term recovery projects and hazard mitigation projects will be put on hold pending congressional action to ensure FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund is topped up.

The fund currently has a balance of $3.4 billion, Ms. Criswell told reporters.

She also stressed that while the immediate needs funding ensures the government can continue to respond to disasters, it is not a permanent solution.

(L-R) President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, and wife Jaime Green walk along Front Street to inspect wildfire damage in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 21, 2023. Mandel Ngan /AFP via Getty Images

Current Funding Will Last Until End of Year

“Congress must work with us on the supplemental request that the administration has made on behalf of FEMA,” she said, noting that the agency has requested $12 billion from Congress as a “bridge to get us through the end of the fiscal year.”

“If we continue to see more storms, we’re going to continuously monitor very closely the health of the Disaster Relief Fund to determine what more may be needed,” the FEMA administrator said, noting that as of now, the $12 billion supplemental request “will get us through the end of this fiscal year.”

The announcement comes after FEMA officials warned the agency’s disaster relief fund could dry up within weeks without additional congressional action. However, lawmakers are not set to return back to the Capitol until Sept. 4.

According to FEMA’s most recent report (pdf) the disaster relief funds will run a $4 billion deficit by the end of September if it is not replenished.

Speaking to CBS earlier this month, Ms. Criswell said she also believes the fund could run out by mid-September, although she stressed the situation is being monitored on a day-to-day basis.

In the meantime, the agency will start to move some of its recovery projects and delay them until the next fiscal year, Ms. Criswell said.

It is not yet clear if Congress will agree to pass the additional disaster funding, which is also tied to more than $40 billion in emergency spending for Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion.

Some lawmakers, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), have urged lawmakers to pass critical funding for disaster relief programs while separately considering military aid for Ukraine.

“President [Joe] Biden is holding Floridians, and other Americans, hostage by tying critical domestic disaster relief to foreign military aid,” Mr. Rubio said in an Aug. 10 statement. “This is the type of cynical political manipulation I warned about earlier this year and it further undermines trust in the Biden Administration.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) speaks about his opposition to S. 1, the "For The People Act" in Washington, on June 17, 2021. Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

Biden Admin ‘Playing Games With FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund’

Elsewhere, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), in an Aug. 29 statement, accused the Biden administration of “playing games with FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund” by insisting that the critical domestic aid be tied to foreign aid for Ukraine.

“We’ve had enough with Washington playing politics and demand that Congress does what’s right for American families, starting with ensuring our federal government has all the resources it needs to show up after disasters, now and in the future,” Mr. Scott said.

According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, there have been 15 weather and climate disasters in the United States so far in 2023, resulting in the deaths of 113 people and amounting to more than $1 billion in losses each.

Despite its precariously low budget, Ms. Criswell stressed that FEMA has staff members available to respond to and support multiple large events simultaneously.

“We do have several open recovery disasters that we can pull some personnel from if we needed to extend or increase the amount of personnel we have,” she said Tuesday. “We can also reach out to all members of the Department of Homeland Security through what we call the Surge Capacity Force for individuals that have volunteered to support during a disaster.

“And so, I’m confident right now that with these two storms that we’re currently dealing with in Maui and this one—or even another one to come—that we have enough personnel to go in and support these immediate lifesaving efforts,” Ms. Criswell concluded.