XPost: fl.general, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.home.repair   
   From: mikehorton@ucsb.edu   
      
   On 10/8/2024 7:36 AM, Retirednoguilt wrote:   
   > On 10/8/2024 3:04 AM, useapen wrote:   
   >> 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   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)