XPost: fl.general, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.home.repair   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   Federal relief, loan and flood insurance programs face mounting costs   
   and questions about their ability to pay as Hurricane Milton spirals   
   toward Florida’s Gulf Coast.   
      
   The federal government could be nearing a collapse of its ability to   
   help with major disasters as the second catastrophic hurricane in less   
   than two weeks bears down on Florida.   
      
   Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm whose winds reached 180 mph late   
   Monday, is whirling toward a possible landfall in Tampa Bay just as the   
   main federal disaster programs are facing financial instability amid a   
   series of recent calamities, including Hurricane Helene’s flooding of   
   communities throughout the Southeast.   
      
   Those include the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster fund,   
   which pays for repair and rebuilding efforts; the Small Business   
   Administration’s loans to stricken businesses and homeowners; and   
   FEMA’s flood insurance program. All could be within weeks of running   
   dry of cash, based on recent remarks by President Joe Biden, Homeland   
   Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and insurance analysts — even as   
   FEMA sought to assure the public Monday that it has enough money to   
   meet its “life-saving” responsibilities for Helene and Milton.   
      
   The concerns about federal resources are growing as lawmakers of both   
   parties clamor for Congress to return to Washington before the November   
   election to approve additional disaster funding. Fiscal conservatives   
   in the House have balked at that, and Speaker Mike Johnson said this   
   weekend that he had no plans to bring his members back.   
      
   Washington’s ability to pay for recovering from the back-to-back   
   disasters is “a big concern,” said Elizabeth Zimmerman, who ran FEMA’s   
   disaster response office in the Obama administration. She added, “It   
   could be very devastating to the financial aspects of what the federal   
   government has.”   
      
   The two hurricanes raise concerns about whether “FEMA and the federal   
   government has money to respond to any disaster that comes up that they   
   need to provide life-sustaining support in,” added Zimmerman, a senior   
   executive adviser at IEM disaster consultants.   
      
   Mayorkas has said FEMA’s disaster fund could run out of money next   
   month, leaving it unable to pay for rebuilding public buildings, roads   
   and facilities such as water-treatment plants, all of which are   
   essential to restoring normalcy. The agency’s flood insurance program,   
   which has nearly 2 million policies in the areas hit by Helene or   
   threatened by Milton, may also run out of money to pay claims and be   
   forced to borrow from federal taxpayers, according to credit-ratings   
   agency AM Best.   
      
   And the Small Business Administration “will run out of funding in a few   
   weeks” to provide homeowners and businesses low-interest disaster loans   
   for repair and rebuilding, Biden warned Friday in a letter to Congress.   
      
   Even a small disaster program run by the Federal Highway Administration   
   is facing a budget shortfall that could limit its ability to rebuild   
   federal roads damaged by Helene or Milton.   
      
   The SBA’s disaster-loan program provided $45 billion in disaster loans   
   — mostly to homeowners — from 2001 through 2022. If the SBA were unable   
   to provide the loans after Helene and Milton, that would be a huge   
   setback on recovery and would further drain the FEMA disaster fund by   
   prompting households to collect from FEMA’s emergency aid.   
      
   Biden compounded the strain on FEMA when he agreed in recent days to   
   pay the entire cost of debris removal and emergency measures after   
   Helene instead of the customary 75 percent of costs. Normally, states   
   would have paid the other 25 percent.   
      
   FEMA also faces immediate concerns about saving lives in hurricane-hit   
   areas. The agency’s Daily Operations Briefing published Monday morning   
   shows that its Urban Search and Rescue operations are “not mission   
   capable” and have only four teams available.   
      
   More than 200 counties encompassing 31 million people in six states   
   have been declared federal disasters or emergencies due to Helene or   
   Milton. Helene has killed at least 230 people after it deluged much of   
   Florida’s Gulf Coast, crashed ashore in the state’s Big Bend area and   
   left a trail of flooding and wreckage across states including Georgia,   
   North Carolina and Tennessee.   
      
   Milton poses an even more potentially dire scenario, as its path   
   threatens to make a direct strike on Tampa Bay, one of the nation’s   
   most vulnerable communities for storm surge. The region of more than 3   
   million people hasn’t suffered a major hurricane strike since 1921, and   
   regional planners have warned that such a disaster could inflict   
   hundreds of billions of dollars in losses.   
      
   “This is not a good situation,” National Weather Service Director Ken   
   Graham said of Hurricane Milton’s potential devastation when it makes   
   landfall Wednesday.   
      
   The recent warnings by Biden, Mayorkas and experts about disaster   
   funding contrast with the optimism of financial projections made before   
   Milton took aim at Florida’s Gulf Coast.   
      
   At a press briefing Monday, a senior FEMA official sought to assure the   
   public about the agency’s immediate capabilities without directly   
   answering questions about the agency’s ability to pay for long-term   
   recovery.   
      
   “We are supporting the life-saving requirements that we have,” FEMA   
   acting Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery Keith Turi   
   said, referring to Helene and Milton. “If there’s a point in which we   
   need to take additional measures, … then we’ll take those measures when   
   the time is appropriate.”   
      
   Turi added that FEMA was moving three search-and-rescue teams from   
   California to the Southeast and is getting help from the Coast Guard.   
      
   The condition of the federal disaster programs is putting pressure on   
   Congress to end its election-season recess early and approve additional   
   disaster aid.   
      
   On Sunday, Johnson reiterated his refusal to convene the House ahead of   
   its Nov. 12 scheduled return. “We will help people in these disaster-   
   prone areas,” Johnson told Fox News. “It’ll all happen in due time.”   
      
   A triple fiscal crunch   
   The three main federal disaster programs have faced budgetary problems   
   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   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)