{ "id": "IN10967", "type": "CRS Insight", "typeId": "INSIGHTS", "number": "IN10967", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 602601, "date": "2018-09-13", "retrieved": "2020-01-02T16:19:46.741537", "title": "Hurricane Florence: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources", "summary": "Introduction\nThis Insight provides a brief overview of emergency and major disaster declarations relevant to Hurricane Florence, and selected federal resources and links to CRS products related to emergency and disaster declarations, disaster response, and recovery. \nHurricane Florence made landfall at Wrightsville Beach, NC, as a category 1 hurricane on September 14, 2018. In anticipation of the landfall, President Trump has issued emergency declarations to Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. \nAuthorized under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (referred to as the Stafford Act\u201442 U.S.C. \u00a7\u00a75721 et seq.), emergency declarations trigger aid for protecting property, public health and safety, and other activities that lessen or avert an incident becoming a catastrophic event. \nDeclaration Process\nHistorically, Congress has expressed interest in the declaration process and the types of assistance those declarations authorize following a major disaster. When considering whether to request an emergency or major disaster declaration under the Stafford Act, the governor/chief may first decide whether the incident is severe enough to warrant assembling a traditional Preliminary Damage Assessment team to survey the damaged area. This decision rests primarily with the governor\u2019s judgment on whether a situation is \u201cbeyond the capabilities of the state.\u201d Under the Stafford Act, the President is authorized to declare an emergency or major disaster to authorize federal supplemental assistance. \nOnce approved, a declaration can be amended to add counties and types of assistance as warranted. The President can also amend major disaster declarations to decrease the state cost-share requirements for some of the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s (FEMA\u2019s) Public Assistance grants. Additionally, the President can authorize FEMA Individual Assistance grants.\nPublic, Mitigation, and Individual Assistance Programs\nWhen the President declares a major disaster FEMA advises the President about the types of FEMA-administered federal assistance available to disaster victims, states, localities, and tribes. The primary types of assistance provided under a major disaster declaration include funding through the Public, Mitigation, and the Individual Assistance programs. \nThe Public Assistance program provides federal financial assistance to repair and rebuild damaged facilities and infrastructure.\nMitigation Assistance programs provide funding for jurisdictions, states, and tribes to ensure damaged facilities and infrastructure are rebuilt and reinforced to better withstand future disaster damage.\nThe Individual Assistance program provides funding for basic needs for individuals and households, such as mass care, crisis counseling, and temporary housing, following a disaster.\nFederal Funding for Disaster Response and Recovery\nTypically, Congress also expresses interest in funding following a disaster declaration. FEMA\u2019s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is the primary source of federal government resources for response and recovery activities. It is often used as an indicator of the overall availability of federal resources for response and recovery. \nAs a result of annual and supplemental appropriations provided in FY2017 and FY2018, the balance in the DRF stood at slightly more than $26.5 billion in unobligated balances on September 1, 2018, almost $25.6 billion of which is specifically set aside for the costs of major disasters. These funds do not expire at the end of the fiscal year, and are to remain available until expended. To put these funding levels in perspective, in the three months after Hurricane Sandy struck, the DRF obligated roughly $3.4 billion. When Hurricane Harvey struck, the DRF balance was roughly $3.5 billion. FEMA\u2019s monthly DRF report summarizes DRF activities as well as lists the available DRF balance at https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/31789.\nNational Flood Insurance Program\nThe National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the primary source of flood insurance coverage for residential properties. Homeowners and tenants with NFIP flood insurance can make flood damage claims using the normal NFIP claims process. FEMA may institute a claims process specific to Hurricane Florence at a later date.\nAs of July 31, 2018, the NFIP had $5.9 billion in the National Flood Insurance Fund, as well as $9.9 billion of borrowing authority from the Treasury and up to $1.96 billion of reinsurance for a single flood event with losses over $4 billion.\nFEMA Resources\nA list of emergency and major disaster declarations can be located at https://www.fema.gov/disasters. Declarations can be searched by state, incident type, and declaration type. For other FEMA public information see:\nFEMA news releases: http://www.fema.gov/news-releases\nFEMA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FEMA/\nFEMA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fema\nAdditional Online Resources\nHow citizens can prepare for disasters: http://www.ready.gov/\nNOAA National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/\nHurricane Florence information: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/#Florence\nCurrent flood and drought maps: http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/new/\nCurrent severe weather warnings, including tornados, thunderstorms, and flooding: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/wwa/\nCRS Resources\nCRS has a wide array of written products on various aspects of federal emergency management policy. The following materials provide more detailed information on policies, programs, and processes for disaster declarations and assistance.\nCRS Report R41981, Congressional Primer on Responding to Major Disasters and Emergencies\nCRS Report R44977, Preliminary Damage Assessments for Major Disasters: Overview, Analysis, and Policy Observations\nCRS Report R43784, FEMA\u2019s Disaster Declaration Process: A Primer\nCRS Report R43990, FEMA\u2019s Public Assistance Grant Program: Background and Considerations for Congress\nCRS Report R44593, Introduction to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)\nCRS Report R43560, Deployable Federal Assets Supporting Domestic Disaster Response Operations: Summary and Considerations for Congress\nCRS Report RL31734, Federal Disaster Assistance Response and Recovery Programs: Brief Summaries\nCRS Report R44412, SBA Disaster Loan Program: Frequently Asked Questions\nCRS Report R45238, FEMA and SBA Disaster Assistance for Individuals and Households: Application Process, Determinations, and Appeals\nCRS Report R45085, FEMA Individual Assistance Programs: In Brief\nIn addition, numerous CRS experts are available to assist Congress by request. See CRS reports:\nCRS Report R40881, Hurricane Events: CRS Experts\nCRS Report R43519, Natural Disasters and Hazards: CRS Experts\nCRS Report R40882, Flooding Events: CRS Experts", "type": "CRS Insight", "typeId": "INSIGHTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/IN10967", "sha1": "27165d1447731ce568608c685a21220c2369f592", "filename": "files/20180913_IN10967_27165d1447731ce568608c685a21220c2369f592.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/IN10967", "sha1": "0295b419b379e0430aff01eab5a7ed2971c21973", "filename": "files/20180913_IN10967_0295b419b379e0430aff01eab5a7ed2971c21973.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4845, "name": "Federal Emergency Management" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Appropriations", "CRS Insights" ] }