The homeland security secretary said FEMA, which is dealing with the destruction from Hurricane Helene, would need more money to respond to another major storm.
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A destroyed home in Swannanoa, N.C., on Friday. Hurricane Helene caused widespread destruction and at least 183 deaths across six states.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency does not have enough funding to ride out the remainder of the hurricane season, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, said on Wednesday.
The announcement comes as FEMA is conducting search-and rescue-operations in remote sections of Appalachia six days after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and moved north, causing widespread destruction and the deaths of at least 183 people across six states. President Biden has in recent days approved major-disaster declarations for the states affected by the storm.
“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mr. Mayorkas told reporters on Wednesday while en route to meet with officials in South Carolina. “We are expecting another hurricane hitting — we do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.”
On Monday, President Biden suggested he might need to summon lawmakers back to Washington to approve extra funding for disaster relief, after a stopgap bill for funding the government that passed last week did not provide the agency enough money to deal with multiple disasters.
And on Tuesday, a bipartisan group of 12 senators from the states affected by Helene urged colleagues in a letter to be prepared to return from recess and send the agency more funding.
“Although the true level of devastation is still unfolding, it is clear that Congress must act to meet the unmet needs in our states and address the scope and scale of destruction experienced by our constituents,” the letter said. “This may even require Congress to come back in October to ensure we have enough time to enact legislation before the end of this calendar year.”
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Source: nytimes.com
