Politico reports:

FEMA is probably the most talked about institution every time there’s a natural disaster, and this time’s no different.

There’s almost too much news to choose from. To address Hurricanes Helene and Milton, FEMA has spent half of its disaster fund just days into its fiscal year. Members of the Florida delegation are agitating for a return to Washington to replenish the money. And it’s a target ahead of the election, with former President Donald Trump slamming the agency with falsehoods while the White House rushes in to do damage control.

One thing that’s clear is that a lot of people misunderstand the agency’s role in a natural disaster. To help explain it all, POLITICO turned to Craig Fugate, who not only used to run Florida’s emergency division but also led FEMA.

Here’s the bottom line: Florida’s state government is in charge of hurricane recovery, which it coordinates alongside local officials, as Gov. Ron DeSantis has been reiterating at numerous TV news appearances. And FEMA is there to help — but so are several other federal agencies.

“There are a lot of programs,” Fugate said. “And I think the tendency is we use ‘FEMA’ as a verb to talk about disaster response in federal assistance, but you really need to go through the federal catalog.”

Here’s a quick snapshot of how the agency works after a storm. FEMA deploys people to be on the ground to help states with efforts such as search-and-rescue or getting power running. With the last two storms in particular, Florida asked for a waiver to quicken debris removal.

FEMA also pays for disaster survivors to stay at hotels. And it gives grants to low-income people who don’t have property or flood insurance to help pay for emergency home repairs. The initial $750 people received from FEMA in the wake of Helene’s Appalachia destruction was intended to speed up getting cash into people’s hands for basic necessities, given that officials had trouble getting to the treacherous area quickly, Fugate explained. Once on the ground, FEMA workers are able to help people sign up for the various financial assistance programs they qualify for, but the bulk of the immediate response disaster victims see comes from local officials. [Continue reading…]