FEMA's disaster relief fund hits red zone ahead of hurricane season
Source: CBS News
Updated on: April 29, 2026 / 12:30 PM EDT
Washington — With hurricane season just weeks away, FEMA has officially entered a financial danger zone — forcing the agency to limit spending to only the most urgent, life-saving needs amid the partial government shutdown.
The move, known as Imminent Needs Funding, is triggered when FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund drops below $3 billion. And the timing couldn't be worse. "Disasters are unpredictable. They're very costly. We don't know what could happen between now and June 1," said FEMA Associate Administrator Victoria Barton.
FEMA hasn't stopped working outright, but the disaster agency must now sharply narrow how it spends federal disaster dollars — prioritizing immediate emergency response, direct aid to survivors and critical infrastructure protection, while delaying many reimbursements and longer-term recovery projects.
FEMA's funding strain also impacts the pay of its own essential workers. Roughly 10,000 staff — including permanent employees and disaster-response personnel hired under the Stafford Act — are paid out of the Disaster Relief Fund, even during a government shutdown. Those payroll costs alone run between $300 million to $400 million per month, according to congressional and agency budget estimates, which makes staffing costs one of the largest ongoing draws on the fund, even as FEMA shifts into its red zone.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fema-disaster-relief-fund-hurricane-season/
= new reply since forum marked as read
I wonder if they're still voting Repug, though.
This is an El Nino year. No hurricanes.
Where's their story about Blue States paying for the $$$ for Red States who hate Blue States. How screwed up is that! The Red States love to take $$$ when they have emergencies but when it comes to funding for any other states they say "fuck you" year after year after year............ Maybe the Blue States should stop paying taxes that provide help for Red States who don't pay any and on top of it are happily taking relief $$$ yet they would not spend a dime to help people in the Blue States who pay for their issues. Blue States don't even get a decent "thank you". Instead we get the middle finger salute from them 99% of the time. And NOW the GOP is not even keeping up with funding in most FEMA areas and issues. The air traffic, the weather, etc has been dismantled by the GOP so now we have less funding and they are causing more FEMA issues than they are resolving. My dead dog could understand this basic fact while the average, ignorant American voters won't figure this out since they CHOOSE to remain ignorant decade after decade (not even year to year anymore). I have had it up to here!!!!! I hate them.
