Louisiana residents have gotten the most FEMA money since 2015
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Louisiana residents have received the most FEMA direct assistance since 2015, per newly gathered data.
Why it matters: FEMA checks are a top talking point right now as the agency faces a funding shortfall while dealing with dueling disasters: the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the potentially calamitous landfall of Hurricane Milton.
Zoom in: Louisiana received about $53 million though FEMA's Individuals and Households Program (IHP) between January 2015 and April 2024, according to data collected for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Disaster Dollar Database.
- That far outpaces the next-closest, Florida, which received about $11 million in that timeframe.
Follow the money: Louisiana's payouts were largely driven by Hurricane Ida in 2021 and Baton Rouge's 2016 flooding, the data shows.
Context: 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.