Reacting to the Hurricane Irene response, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said in a call with the media on Monday that the agency wouldn’t be accepting or approving new applications to fund repairs and rebuilding efforts for disasters that took place before hurricane Irene. This includes work to rebuild Joplin, Mo., which was ravaged by tornadoes on May 22, leaving some roads, schools and other structures destroyed. The diversion of funds isn’t sitting well with some.
The Miami Herald reported that Missouri’s two U.S. senators are speaking out about the funding cutbacks. “Recovery from hurricane damage on the East Coast must not come at the expense of Missouri’s rebuilding efforts,” said a statement from Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican. “If FEMA can’t fulfill its promise to our state because we have other disasters, that’s unacceptable.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, said in her statement, “FEMA should be prepared for all types of disasters and have the resources to respond rapidly and stay until the work is done.”
The diversion of funds “prioritizes the immediate, urgent needs of survivors and states when preparing for or responding to a disaster,” FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen told The Washington Post.
According to CNN, Fugate hopes to resume funding those long-term projects, but to do so Congress will have to appropriate additional funds for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Fugate also told the media outlet that he’s not sure if the Disaster Relief Fund has enough money to cover all of the costs associated with Hurricane Irene.
Although the House has passed a fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — which houses FEMA — that includes an additional $1 billion for the fund, the Senate has yet to approve the funding.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was reported saying that offsetting disaster aid shouldn’t be the top priority of Congress and she expressed confidence that legislators would come through with any needed funds. Napolitano also cautioned that the cost of recovering from Irene will be steep and the American public needs to be prepared for it.
CNN reported that Robert Aderholt, chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said, “Even though the president himself said that, 'We are going to do everything we can to help these communities rebuild,' the rhetoric has not matched reality and the Disaster Relief Fund is running out of money."
Many observers have said that FEMA has become more robust through the years, following the strong criticism it received after the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. When Fugate, who previously was Florida’s state emergency management director, was confirmed as the agency’s administrator in May 2009, the announcement was seen as a positive move by the emergency management community. "I think — No. 1 — having a former state emergency management director serve as FEMA administrator means that there will be a greater understanding and support for building capabilities at the local and state level," Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association, told Emergency Management’s sister publication Government Technology in March 2009. "It's not just the federal government that needs capabilities and resources, they have to just push down to the state and local levels, and Craig Fugate understands that perfectly."
However, not everyone supports FEMA. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who is running for president and long has been a critic of the agency, told CNN, “FEMA is not a good friend of most people in Texas. All they do is come in and tell you what to do and can't do. You can't get in your houses. And they hinder the local people, and they hinder volunteers from going in.”
But governors whose states were getting aid in response to Hurricane Irene had positive things to say. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley praised FEMA, telling The Hill, “The federal response was excellent.” And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said state officials were “coordinating well with the federal government.”
