FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund Is Running Low on Cash

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on Aug. 16, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

Before the peak of the hurricane season, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says its disaster relief fund is depleting and could dry up within weeks.

FEMA chief Deanne Criswell has previously warned that the relief fund is expected to be depleted by the middle or end of August. However, during a Sunday interview with CBS, Criswell said that the disaster fund is expected to run dry in mid-September, but the situation is day-to-day.

“And as we get closer to that, I mean, this is a day by day monitoring of the situation, we will start to move some of our recovery projects and delay them until the next fiscal year,” Criswell told Margaret Brennan of CBS.

Additionally, FEMA’s latest report on disaster relief funds as of July 31 shows that the account will run a $4 billion deficit by the end of September.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there have already been 15 weather or climate disaster events this year as of Aug. 8, with each causing more than $1 billion in damage. This does not include the recent Maui wildfires, which are estimated to cost $6 billion.

Last week, Criswell told White House reporters FEMA has enough money for its initial response to Maui. But if Congress does not pass a $12 billion supplemental funding bill for natural disasters, it could delay recovery into next year, she said. However, that amount may still not be enough.

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“As we’re continuing to see the increase in these severe weather events, that dollar amount may need to go up as we go into next fiscal year, and what we’re going to need to do to be able to continue to respond to the increased number of events that are happening across the nation,” said Criswell.

Criswell said the agency’s response to crises will not be impacted despite the House and Senate being in recess until after Labor Day.

FEMA is preparing to rely on its Immediate Needs Funding when the disaster relief fund hits a “critical threshold,” which allows FEMA to temporarily pause “funding for long-term recovery projects and hazard mitigation projects that FEMA does not have in its system,” according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.

“These INF restrictions do not affect individual assistance, or public assistance programs that reimburse emergency response work and protective measures carried out by state and local authorities,” according to CRS.

Passing more disaster funds for FEMA will be at the top of Congress’s to-do list when it returns from recess after Labor Day. Congress will have until Sept. 30 to pass a number of spending bills, including more disaster relief funding, in order to avert a government shutdown.

Responding to natural disasters has taken a huge financial and human toll in the last several years. Since 2016, 139 separate billion-dollar disasters have killed at least 5,200 people and cost $1.1 trillion in damage across the United States, Adam Smith, a NOAA climatologist who tracks these events, told CNN.

Last year, 18 natural disasters cost $165 billion–the bulk of which was damage from Hurricane Ian. The year before, 20 events, including the Texas deep freeze and historic Northwest heat wave, totaled $145 billion.

CNN Wire contributed to this report.