FEMA has enough funds for Helene and Milton recovery, but will need more from Congress by year’s end
FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund has "enough money to support the immediate needs for everybody impacted by Helene and Milton," however, it "does not have enough money to continue recoveries for everything that I have through the entire fiscal year," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters Friday after assessing damage in Florida.
FEMA is assessing every day how much money is being spent, but eventually, Criswell said she will need an additional supplemental spending bill to be passed by Congress.
"We will need one, it's just a matter of when," she said.
Criswell noted that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis submitted a request for an expedited disaster declaration for Hurricane Milton.
"We are going to put that through our system as quickly as possible so we can continue to bring the necessary resources to all Floridians that have been impacted by this event," she said.
Criswell said managing two back-to-back storms does complicate recovery efforts.
"It will be challenging, but we have done this before, and we're just going to have to continue to work with each person as they're working through understanding what they experienced from Helene, what they experienced from Milton, so they can get everything that they're eligible for," she said.
-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson
