Where FEMA's direct relief money is going
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Texas, Florida and Louisiana residents have received the largest chunk of FEMA direct assistance since 2015, per newly gathered data.
Why it matters: The numbers illustrate Americans' urgent financial needs in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters and reflect the toll of storms like 2017 hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
- More help is now needed in the wake of Hurricane Helene, and more still will be needed after Hurricane Milton, now bearing down on Florida's western coast.
Zoom in: 1.4 million Texans applied for assistance during that time and received a total of $2.2 billion through FEMA's Individuals and Households Program (IHP), according to data collected for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Disaster Dollar Database.
- There were 10 incidents in Texas over the decade studied. Only California (12) and Florida (12) saw more.
The latest: Houston-area residents impacted by Hurricane Beryl have received over $21 million in individual assistance loans, per Houston Public Media.
- Texans seeking federal aid from FEMA for Beryl must apply by Thursday.
How it works: IHP is meant as an immediate financial lifeline for people whose lives have been upended by natural disasters, not as an insurance replacement.
- The average IHP payment over the covered time frame was about $5,700, and about 40% of applicants were deemed eligible.
Context: IHP is just a portion of FEMA's disaster relief spending.
- FEMA spent about $12.7 billion on IHP over the covered period, compared to about $52.3 billion on "Public Assistance," which helps fund community rebuilding efforts.
Threat level: FEMA is running out of money to cover the rest of this hurricane season, Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned last week.
What they're saying: "The disaster recovery system is cracking under the strain of more frequent and devastating disasters and the reality of a divided Congress that is struggling to fund the federal government at all," Sarah Labowitz of the Carnegie Endowment wrote.
- One big problem, she noted, is that natural disaster victims aren't getting enough help "to rebuild differently or elsewhere," continuing an expensive and destructive cycle.
What's next: "Helene is going to change the map," Labowitz tells Axios — expect big jumps in funding in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.