HOUSTON — Nearly two months after Hurricane Beryl impacted thousands of people in the Greater Houston area, FEMA says the agency needs more money from Congress to replenish the disaster relief fund.
The Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is the money FEMA uses to cover costs for Individual Assistance (IA), Public Assistance (PA), and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Programs. FEMA issues monthly reports about the DRF obligations and spending.
The latest report indicated that FEMA implemented a status called Immediate Needs Funding (INF). By putting INF into place, the agency extends the remaining balance of the DRF to ensure ongoing and future disasters have money available for survivors, according to an email from FEMA to the KHOU 11 Verify Team.
THE QUESTION
Viewer Question: Has FEMA run out of money for Beryl losses?
THE SOURCES
Robert T. Stafford Act
National Weather Service
FEMA
Congressional Research Service
Congressional Budget Office
Texas General Land Office
THE ANSWER
No, FEMA has not run out of money for Beryl losses.
WHAT WE FOUND
August 2024 makes the tenth time since 2001 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has implemented the status to help extend the remaining balance of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). Under the status called "Immediate Needs Funding," FEMA pauses payments related to Public Assistance (PA) that are not essential for lifesaving or life-sustaining activities.
When FEMA gets an injection of new funding to the DRF from Congress, payments will resume to cover the expense of the paused PA projects.
Since 2001, FEMA has implemented INF status a total of ten times: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2024.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), hurricanes have the largest impact on DRF spending, and FEMA says large responses deplete the fund rapidly. A November 2022 report from the CBO outlines how hurricanes impact the DRF and FEMA's obligations to help communities recover from major disasters.
In an email to the KHOU 11 Verify Team, a FEMA spokesperson said, "FEMA has taken proactive steps to ensure the DRF has sufficient funding for lifesaving and life-sustaining activities for ongoing disasters and new disasters that may arise. This includes sufficient funding for FEMA’s Individual Assistance program, which gives direct payments to survivors, including from Hurricane Beryl."
According to FEMA, 667,876 Individual Assistance applications for Hurricane Beryl have been approved. So far, $689,372,773.80 has been approved for the Individual and Households program.