Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said during a meeting interview with the Associated Press that the US is prepared to enter an intense hurricane and wildfire season, but raised concerns about budget shortfalls.
“We expect the humanitarian relief fund, which is the critical fund we use to provide resources to affected communities, to be exhausted by mid-August. And we need Congress to fund the humanitarian relief fund,” he told the AP.
The Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is the primary funding mechanism through which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides aid to areas of the country struck by disasters.
Spending on the DRF has increased over time, from an average of $5 billion per year between 1992 and 2004 to almost $17 billion per year between 2005 and 2021. according to USAspending.gov.
This year, FEMA I had 49 billion dollars on the DRF, and has already spent 26 billion dollars before the start of hurricane season. When the fund runs out, FEMA can divert emergency funds from other programs, and are authorized to use up to US$34 million in other budgetary resources.
Mayorkas spoke to the AP during a visit to FEMA, an agency under DHS. Experts believe this year could be one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, as climate change makes storms more intense.
The first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Alberto, brought heavy rain to parts of Mexico.
Mayorkas said the department is well-equipped to deal with hurricanes and other natural disasters this summer, adding that more intense national disasters, in part due to climate change, have allowed the agency to gain experience handling crises.
“As the impacts of climate change have become increasingly evident, we have seen and experienced an increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events,” Mayorkas said.
Earlier this week, environmental and labor groups asked FEMA to include extreme heat and smoke from wildfires as major disasters under the law that defines federal disaster responses. This call comes as large areas of the US are sweltering under record temperatures.
Mayorkas signaled that extreme heat could soon qualify as a major disaster under the law.
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