FEMA Disaster Fund Almost Empty
The federal government's disaster relief fund is about to run out of money, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell warned late last week. Depleted by an onslaught of climate-fueled disasters and extreme weather — and not even accounting for the recent catastrophic flooding in the northeast — the Disaster Relief Fund will “will go into a deficit some time mid- to late August,” Criswell told the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology. This will force the agency to pull funds from long-term recovery commitments. The fund is set to be replenished October 1, assuming Congress has approved a spending plan by then. "We can no longer speak of a 'disaster season' — we now face intensified natural disasters throughout the year, often in places that are not used to experiencing them," Criswell said. (Axios, E&E $)
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