As a result, as of August 7, 2024, FEMA will only provide money for immediate needs.
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Forbes Daily Briefing
Federal Emergency Management Agency Says Its Disaster Fund Has Run Out Of Money
Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Saturday, August 17th. Today on Forbes, Federal Emergency Management Agency says its disaster fund has run out of money. With hurricane season still going strong, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, says its disaster fund has run out of money. Traditionally, hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th, but as of August 7th, 2024, FEMA will only provide money for immediate needs. FEMA is a federal agency tasked with helping people before, during, and after disasters. By law, FEMA must provide a report on the Disaster Relief Fund, or DRF, by the fifth day of each month. That gets published on the agency's website. The report includes, among other things, an overall funding summary, a summary of funding for the catastrophic events, and an estimate of the date on which the funds will be exhausted. FEMA uses DRF money to direct, coordinate, manage, and fund eligible response and recovery efforts associated with major disasters and emergencies that overwhelm state resources. Through the DRF, FEMA can fund authorized federal disaster support activities and eligible state, territorial, tribal, and local actions, such as providing emergency protection and debris removal. The DRF also funds the repair and restoration of qualifying disaster-damaged public infrastructure, hazard mitigation initiatives, financial assistance to eligible disaster survivors, and fire management assistance grants for large forest or grassland wildfires. When the DRF is insufficient, FEMA will prioritize lifesaving and life-sustaining activities using immediate needs funding, or INF. During INF, FEMA will pause all new obligations related to public assistance, such as reimbursement for disaster activity that has already been completed and permanent work, as well as hazard mitigation, that are not essential for lifesaving and life-sustaining activities. As part of the 2024 appropriations bill, Congress provided $20.261 billion for the DRF. Since the beginning of fiscal year 2024, FEMA projected that DRF balances would not be enough to meet requirements and asked for more money. However, Congress didn't act on their $9 billion request while in session. Congress is now on recess through the end of the month, and the Senate is tentatively expected to return to Washington, D.C. on September 9th. It's not clear when, or if, Congress will take up the request for additional funding. Meanwhile, the DRF will continue to head south, according to the most recent projections. This marks the second year in a row that FEMA has run out of money. Last year, an INF was implemented following Hurricane Idalia on August 29th, 2023 and lifted on October 2nd, 2023 after the 2024 short-term continuing resolution. Since 2001, FEMA has implemented INF eight other times. 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2017. Congress provided over $139 billion in supplemental disaster funding in response to disasters that occurred between 2017 and 2019. That includes money to help communities recover from hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, the 2017 California wildfires, and other disasters. Large-scale disasters can result in money being depleted very quickly. During the first 30 days of response to Hurricane Ian, a Category 1 storm that stalled off the coast of North Carolina in 2022, FEMA obligated approximately $2.6 billion. That worked out to nearly $86 million a day. Similarly, in 2022, FEMA obligated $987 million during the first 30 days responding to Hurricane Fiona, a storm that killed at least 29 people. Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations, or NOAA's National Hurricane Center, predicted a very high likelihood, 85% chance, of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, with 17 to 25 named storms, the average is 14. NOAA predicted 8 to 13 hurricanes, the average is 7, declaring that 4 to 7 will be considered major hurricanes, the average is 3. This month, NOAA upped the likelihood of an above-normal season to 90%. A FEMA spokesperson told Forbes, quote, "FEMA's priority is ensuring the agency has the resources available to support ongoing life-saving and life-sustaining activities." For full coverage, check out Kelly Phillips-Herbs piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in. [BLANK_AUDIO]