[continued from previous message]   
      
   > previously. But it’s never happened all at once.   
   >   
   > The current strains are the result of long-standing weaknesses in the   
   > programs colliding with the increasing damage from disasters due to   
   > climate change and development.   
   >   
   > “The frequency and intensity of disasters continue to increase every   
   > year, and the number of federal disaster declarations continues to rise   
   > in parallel,” said Carrie Speranza, president of the International   
   > Association of Emergency Managers.   
   >   
   > Carlos Martín, director of the Remodeling Futures program at the   
   > Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, said the FEMA is now facing   
   > problems paying not just long-term disaster rebuilding expenses but   
   > also short-term emergency costs.   
   >   
   > “When you’re questioning that, and that becomes a question of whether   
   > the federal government will play the role that it has over the last 50   
   > years, that’s a huge concern,” Martín said.   
   >   
   > FEMA’s multibillion-dollar Disaster Relief Fund faced problems in early   
   > August when it ran low, and the agency imposed restrictions that led it   
   > to temporarily cut off $9 billion for rebuilding projects.   
   >   
   > Although FEMA lifted the restrictions Oct. 1 when Congress allocated   
   > $20 billion for the current fiscal year, the agency could burn through   
   > that money quickly and be forced to reimpose the restrictions if   
   > lawmakers do not provide extra money in the coming months.   
   >   
   > Mayorkas warned last week that FEMA “does not have the funds to make it   
   > through the [hurricane] season,” which ends Nov. 30.   
   >   
   > White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre echoed a similar theme   
   > Monday, saying: “The FEMA disaster relief fund faces a shortfall at the   
   > end of the year.”   
   >   
   > “The recovery from this is going to be very costly,” said Zimmerman,   
   > the former FEMA official. “These response efforts are very costly with   
   > all this search-and-rescue.”   
   >   
   > FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, could run out of   
   > money because of weaknesses when Congress created the program in 1968   
   > and did not require insurance premiums to reflect a property’s   
   > potential for flood damage. The inadequate premiums forced FEMA to   
   > borrow $20.5 billion from the U.S. Treasury after Hurricanes Harvey,   
   > Irma and Maria in 2017.   
   >   
   > FEMA has paid billions of dollars in interest on the debt, which it   
   > says it cannot repay. That has left FEMA able to borrow only an   
   > additional $10 billion to pay insurance claims.   
   >   
   > “I don’t think the NFIP needs to dig into its borrowing authority for   
   > Helene,” said Sridhar Manyem, senior director of industry research at   
   > AM Best credit ratings agency. “But Milton is another story. That could   
   > be a game-changer.”   
   >   
   > Hurricane Milton “could exhaust the NFIP and require the government to   
   > have to provide more funding for payments to be made to NFIP   
   > policyholders,” AM Best Associate Director David Blades said.   
   >   
   > FEMA said it has the ability to pay $14.8 billion in NFIP claims   
   > “without seeking additional assistance from Congress.”   
   >   
   > The only disaster to exceed that level is Hurricane Katrina, which   
   > resulted in claims payments exceeding $16 billion while killing more   
   > than 1,300 people in New Orleans and elsewhere. Like Katrina, Milton   
   > has surged to Category 5 fury over the warm waters of the Gulf of   
   > Mexico, and it is expected to remain dangerous even if its winds   
   > slacken somewhat before striking land.   
   >   
   > Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at the climate   
   > risk modeling firm First Street, offered a more optimistic take: Helene   
   > and Milton “are not likely to exhaust NFIP’s borrowing authority,” he   
   > said, in part because few residents have national flood insurance   
   > policies in the hard-hit areas of Georgia and North Carolina.   
   >   
   > https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/07/hurricanes-eroding-   
   > washingtons-disaster-programs-00182784   
      
   Totally solvable problem if the majority of members of both houses of   
   Congress were compassionate.  It's called a supplemental appropriation.   
   Unfortunately, in this highly politicized environment, a significant   
   number of Representatives and Senators would prefer not to do so in   
   order to blame the opposition party.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)