(NewsWorthy.news) – As a record number of natural disasters sweep across the Atlantic, relief funding from the American government is running low.
Disaster aid resources and finances provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has all but vanished amid the high number of disasters that have hit the United States in recent years. The rate of expensive catastrophes has even led to the federal agency denying relief claims due to a lack of resources.
Already, in 2024, America has suffered 15 disasters involving weather and climate, each of which cost a minimum of $1 billion. The high number is already more than half of the record 28 storms that cost the same amount in 2023. Last year, 71 major disasters were declared by President Joe Biden. 14 FEMA requests were denied, marking the highest number of rejected claims since 2016.
Data from the Government Accountability Office reveals that the 71 disasters actively managed by FEMA during last hurricane season were more than double the number from 2016. The federal program is also short staffed by roughly 6,000 people, after having increased its daily workers from over 3,000 to more than 7,000 in 2017.
The lack of FEMA funding comes at the tail end of hurricane Beryl, a category five storm that wreaked havoc on the Atlantic. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey was one of several leaders to request government aid for seriously damaged municipalities. The town of Leominster, centrally located in the Bay State, sustained infrastructure damage with a repair cost of more than $24 million.
But the Leominster claim was said to fall short of the “severity and magnitude” requirements to consider it in need of “public assistance” from FEMA. Dean Mazzarella, the town’s mayor, urged other impacted regions to “practice self-reliance” in the aftermath of hurricane Beryl. He added that, if municipalities and leaders are “waiting” for assistance from the federal government, they should “lower those expectations.”
The lack of funding comes almost one year after FEMA chief Deanne Criswell warned that the program’s funds could dissipate by the middle of August of 2023.
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