FEMA still spending heavily on COVID and decades-old storms

While the Federal Emergency Management Agency clamors for more money to deal with hurricanes and floods, it is spending a significant portion of its disaster relief fund to help communities and individuals deal with COVID-19 as well as natural disasters that occurred years and even decades ago.

The federal government declared an end to the pandemic emergency on May 11, 2023, but taxpayer dollars are still flowing to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. FEMA in 2024 obligated $15 billion for COVID relief, nearly 40% of the agency’s planned disaster relief spending. Some of the money was spent on providing families up to $35,000 to pay for funerals of loved ones who died from COVID-19. FEMA said it will “continue to provide funeral assistance” for those who died from COVID-19 until Sept. 30, 2025.

Brian Riedl, a budget analyst at the Manhattan Institute, called FEMA’s COVID spending “an enormous share of the budget” and said federal spending related to the pandemic has dragged on.

“We’ve seen this with a lot of COVID programs where there’s a lot of controversy over the longer periods to claim reimbursements,” he said.

FEMA officials say they are running low on money to deal with new disasters in 2024 after recent back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton.

As of Oct. 9, $344 million in federal disaster assistance was distributed across the six states affected by Helene, which caused catastrophic flooding, hundreds of deaths and widespread destruction.

FEMA’s disaster relief fund, meanwhile, is strained by funding obligations not only for COVID-19 but also for many disasters from the past.

One chunk of FEMA’s disaster relief spending in 2024 was spent on the region affected by Hurricane Sandy, a massive storm that cut a destructive path through the mid-Atlantic in October 2012. Significant funds were also spent on Hurricane Maria, which made landfall in Puerto Rico in September 2017.

The agency distributed $225 million from its disaster relief fund on Sandy in fiscal 2024. By comparison, it spent $350 million in 2024 on Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall in Florida in August 2023, causing significant destruction in four states.

FEMA obligated a staggering $9.1 billion in 2024 to mitigate damage caused by Maria. The storm caused tremendous damage in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. It killed thousands and wiped out homes and much of the island’s infrastructure.

Seven years after the storm, obligated spending on Maria accounted for nearly one-quarter of FEMA’s planned disaster relief spending in 2024.

FEMA has spent tens of billions of dollars on restoring Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, water and sewer infrastructure, public housing and other services.

President Biden campaigned in 2020 on speeding up the delivery of funds to help Puerto Rico recover following complaints it was not getting enough federal help under the Trump administration.

In addition to FEMA’s spending on Maria, Congress approved $20 billion for the Housing and Urban Development Department to spend on recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and for protection against future hurricanes.

In June, FEMA announced “a significant milestone” in Puerto Rico’s recovery from Maria. The agency had obligated spending for more than 11,000 projects to mitigate damage from the storm.

Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator Jose G. Baquero said the projects “represent over $33.9 billion destined exclusively for Hurricane Maria [for] restoration of permanent infrastructure.”

Recent spending on the island included money to restore a baseball stadium, an art museum and a veterans building.

While FEMA grapples with providing federal aid following Helene and Milton, the two most recent hurricanes must compete for billions FEMA provides for dozens of past storms, floods, wildfires and earthquakes.

Areas affected by the California wildfires of 2018 were budgeted $15 million from FEMA in 2024. Hurricane Michael struck the Florida Panhandle as a Category 5 storm in October 2018. The region received $113 million this year from FEMA for continued recovery efforts from the storm. FEMA also obligated $489 million in 2024 for areas in Louisiana affected by Hurricane Laura, which made landfall there as a Category 4 storm in August 2020.

The agency is now strapped for cash after Helene and now Milton, which made landfall near Sarasota, Florida, on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane and cut a destructive path across the state.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said FEMA, which he oversees, needs more money for future storms even after tapping into $20 billion in additional FEMA funding provided by Congress and President Biden last month.

Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican, wrote to FEMA Director Deanne Criswell on Oct. 11, questioning the agency’s funding decisions, including COVID-19 spending.

In March, FEMA officials told Congress it would fund another $22.2 billion for COVID-19 relief through fiscal 2028, and the number could end up much higher.

“This means, despite the COVID-19 pandemic being long over, the [disaster relief fund] will continue to spend billions on COVID-19, which will jeopardize FEMA’s ability to use the DFR to respond to disasters like Hurricane Helene and Milton for years to come,” Mr. Roy wrote.

Ms. Criswell justified FEMA’s spending woes and said the agency is dealing with 100 open disaster declarations. She blamed COVID-19 spending for draining the disaster relief fund.

“The biggest increase in the cost, and the tap on the disaster relief fund, is COVID-19,” she told Fox News. “But it’s also the increase in the number of disasters. There are more. They’re more complicated. They’re more expensive recoveries to help these communities, and we continue to see more and more.”

Dozens of House Democrats wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, calling on Congress to reconvene to pass more funding for FEMA.

Mr. Johnson said FEMA has enough money to address immediate needs until states calculate more accurately the funding they will require to mitigate the damages from Helene and Milton.

“As soon as those calculations are prepared, Congress will act in a bipartisan fashion to supply what is needed to help these communities recover, the appropriate amount that the federal government should do,” Mr. Johnson said.

In 2024, FEMA’s top recipients for COVID funding were New York, which was designated to receive $2.4 billion, and California, slated for $3.9 billion in COVID relief.

The spending is divided among several programs.

A Sept. 16, 2022, Homeland Security inspector general’s report provided a snapshot of FEMA’s COVID spending in just six geographical locations, including Springfield, Massachusetts; Sheridan County, Nebraska; Marian County, Georgia; and several American Indian territories. It found FEMA spent $40.1 million on lost wages, $7.6 million on public assistance programs, $1.2 million on the funeral assistance program, $208,000 on firefighter grants and $182,000 on an emergency food and shelter program.

The IG reported that FEMA could not provide timely detailed documentation of its spending “because FEMA’s inconsistent data collection process and management practices presented FEMA with challenges when responding to our requests.”