FEMA Admin.: We Can Handle Helene, Milton, Don’t Have Enough for Rest of Year, We Anticipated That

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell stated that while there is enough money to handle the responses to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton “we don’t have enough money to continue throughout the rest of the year.” And the agency has “been able to anticipate last year, this year, and even going into next year, that we are not going to have enough to pay all of the recovery bills,” and “in the December-January timeframe, we may have to go back into that immediate needs funding to ensure I always have enough to support life-saving actions.”

Criswell said, [relevant remarks begin around 2:50] “So, we have enough funds to absolutely get through the response for this hurricane, as well as the continued response for Hurricane Helene. Our budget, now that we have the C.R., I have the full authorization to spend against the president’s fiscal year ’25 budget. And we will continue to meet the needs of the individuals that are impacted by these storms. But we don’t have enough money to continue throughout the rest of the year. And we went into immediate needs funding earlier in the year to make sure we can do just what we’ve been doing through Helene, as well as now the preparations for Milton. What I find that we might need to do is, in the December-January timeframe, we may have to go back into that immediate needs funding to ensure I always have enough to support life-saving actions.”

Later, she stated, “[W]e’ve been able to anticipate last year, this year, and even going into next year, that we are not going to have enough to pay all of the recovery bills, and because we’re, right now, paying on the COVID reimbursements from the last few years. And so, we’ve been working very closely with Congress to make sure we can continue to pay all of those recovery costs that communities are experiencing, but always, again, me ensuring that I have enough money to support these life-saving activities, that’s the most important piece.”

Earlier in the day, FEMA Deputy Administrator Erik Hooks stated that “there is absolutely enough money for FEMA and the federal family to execute on the response and recovery for Hurricane Helene and the storms that are yet to come,” like Hurricane Milton.

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