How much FEMA money has gone to Florida
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Florida has received more FEMA direct relief dollars than any other state since 2015, newly gathered data show.
Why it matters: The numbers illustrate Floridians' urgent financial needs in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters and reflect the toll of storms like 2017's Hurricane Irma.
- The agency's financial distributions are again available to residents after hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated the Gulf Coast. You can apply at disasterassistance.gov.
By the numbers: Floridians received more than $2.5 billion through FEMA's Individuals and Households Program (IHP) between January 2015 and April 2024, according to for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Disaster Dollar Database.
- Louisiana and Texas received less than Florida but also saw more than $2 billion each.
- The three states received the lion's share of FEMA direct assistance over that nine-year period.
How it works: The study is based on data collected by the Carnegie Endowment's Sarah Labowitz through Freedom of Information Act requests.
- The database covers 170 incidents for which IHP was activated, including hurricanes, floods, fires and more.
Zoom in: IHP is meant as an immediate financial lifeline for people whose lives have been upended by natural disasters, not as an insurance replacement.
The big picture: IHP is just a portion of FEMA's post-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.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, meanwhile, runs its own long-term disaster recovery programs.
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," Labowitz recently 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.