Irma looms as FEMA responds to Harvey
The Associated Press WASHINGTON—Faced with the looming threat of dual disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has ramped up preparations for Hurricane Irma as it barrels toward the Florida coast, even as the agency continues the massive recovery effort in storm-battered Texas.
It was a one-two punch of powerful storms certain to strain the agency’s quickly dwindling coffers.
The roughly $1 billion left in FEMA’s Emergency Response Fund was expected to run out as soon as the end of the week, just as Category 5 Irma could be pounding Florida and less than two weeks after Hurricane Harvey caused massive flooding in Houston.
The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed $7.9 billion in Harvey disaster relief as warring Republicans and Democrats united to help victims of that storm in Texas and Louisiana. The 419-3 vote sent the aid package—likely the first of several—to the Senate in hopes of getting the bill to the president before FEMA runs out of money.
Far more money will be needed once more complete estimates of Harvey’s damage are in this fall. The storm’s wrath could end up exceeding the $110 billion federal cost of recovery from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
That year was perhaps the last time FEMA faced as tough a test—when hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck within weeks of each other. The agency’s widely criticized response to the then-unprecedented flooding in New Orleans became a major embarrassment for the Bush administration. Despite years of post-recession funding cuts during the Obama administration, FEMA’s leaders worked to streamline and consolidate operations, cutting costs while maintaining staffing levels.
Still, top officials tried to offer reassurance on Wednesday.
“We’re not going to let money get in the way of saving lives,” FEMA administrator Brock Long said on “CBS This Morning.” Brock said his confidence was high that the agency could handle Irma.
“Despite everything that’s going on, this is what we train for. We have catastrophic plans. Obviously after Irma, staffing patterns could be strained,” he said.