FEMA overwhelmed by calls after Hurricane Milton, funding shortfall hinders response compared to Hurricane Helene
More than 80% of Floridians don’t have flood insurance and FEMA was unprepared for the deluge of assistance calls after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida on October 9, according to agency data.
CBS News reported that at least 24 people died in the wake of the hurricane. Following an October 11 emergency declaration, Floridians made over 135,000 calls to FEMA that required inspection. However, only 46% of those calls were answered, leaving more than 68,000 disaster response inspections pending.
The volume of calls in Florida was so overwhelming that FEMA could respond to only 39 out of 106 emergency calls for a separate disaster in Alaska on October 16. The agency’s slow response to Hurricane Milton stands in stark contrast to its response to Hurricane Helene.
Just over two weeks earlier, FEMA responded to 76% of Floridians’ calls during Hurricane Helene and answered 67% of calls in North Carolina and 78% in South Carolina. Over 230 people across six states died in the storm, ABC News reported. While FEMA left 54,000 inspections pending across three states following the September 28 emergency declaration, its overall response rate during Hurricane Helene was markedly better than for Hurricane Milton. FEMA responses have ranged between 85% and 99% for half of all disasters in 2024.
So why was Hurricane Milton different?
On October 2, days after the Hurricane Helene disaster declaration, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that FEMA had exhausted its funds to handle hurricanes.
“FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season,” Secretary Mayorkas told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The hurricane season, which typically lasts until November 30, was predicted to be above-average in activity, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. FEMA was already short on hurricane response funds when Hurricane Milton hit.
On October 11, President Biden said that Congress needed to pass increased funding for FEMA, but it was not scheduled to sit again until November 12. Neither Mayorkas nor Biden specified the exact funding amount FEMA required.
