If the past is any indication, federal funding shortages will likely impede recovery efforts for the people of Western North Carolina who were battered by remnants of Hurricane Helene.

Financial shortfalls have repeatedly forced FEMA to put ongoing disaster recovery projects — including some related to hurricanes Florence and Matthew — on hold over the past two decades.

Ten times since 2003, the agency has run so low on money that it has implemented what’s called “Immediate Needs Funding,” which means that it keeps its focus on the latest disasters and puts continuing projects on hold.

It’s happening largely because FEMA has been stretched thin by new responsibilities and a dramatic increase in severe natural disasters.

During the first 10 months of this year alone, 24 disasters have occurred in the U.S. with losses exceeding $1 billion, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.

That’s roughly three times the average annual number since 1980.

On top of that, the agency’s staff is overextended. And with a new presidential administration set to take over in January, budget cuts may be coming too.

That worries Steve Little. As mayor of the McDowell County town of Marion, about 35 miles east of Asheville, he knows many people in his county will still need help next year — and the year after that.

On a gravel road northwest of Marion, eight of 12 houses were washed away by Helene, he said. Dozens of McDowell County residents still live in tents after losing their homes, even as freezing weather approaches in Western North Carolina.

He’s concerned about whether the federal resources will continue to be there when they need them.

“I think we’re still going to have people in tents if Congress doesn’t authorize a huge amount of money — I’m talking billions — for FEMA,” he said.

‘They need help now’

FEMA plays a crucial role immediately after natural disasters, providing financial assistance, temporary housing and other aid to those affected. In the years that follow, the agency works to rebuild schools, communications networks, water plants and other community infrastructure to ensure people are better prepared for future disasters.

Despite criticism by some, FEMA has done a commendable job helping those hurt by Helene so far, several mayors and managers in Western North Carolina towns told The Charlotte Observer.

After Helene struck in late September, 25 Western North Carolina counties were declared eligible for federal aid. It will likely take them years to recover from Helene, a massive storm that destroyed thousands of homes and miles of roads, leaving North Carolina in need of more than $53 billion in repairs, Gov. Roy Cooper has said.

So the second test for FEMA will be how well it responds to Western North Carolina in the years to come. When FEMA puts immediate needs funding in place, payments for thousands of past disaster projects are put on hold.

That’s led to delays in housing, road and flood control projects in U.S. communities damaged by past storms, including those launched after Hurricanes Matthew and Florence hit North Carolina in 2016 and 2018, FEMA reports show.

The agency put projects on hold in August 2023. And it did so again on Aug. 7 this year, when it became clear the agency would run out of money without additional funding.

It was fortunate that FEMA delayed spending on other projects earlier this year “because we needed that funding to support the life saving activities across all of the states impacted by Hurricane Helene,” FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell told the Charlotte Observer earlier this month.

When FEMA reached a new fiscal year on Oct. 1, it could tap into its $20 billion budget. But just 38 days into the new fiscal year, FEMA had already exhausted almost three quarters of that budget, Criswell said on Nov. 8.

“To date, FEMA has obligated over $7.5 billion alone for the response and recovery for Hurricane Helene and Milton,” Criswell told reporters Monday. “These storms were incredibly large, and spending on the first month post landfall for each storm outpaced nearly all disasters that we have responded to over the last 20 years.”

On Monday, Criswell and the federal Office of Management and Budget requested $40 billion in emergency funding for FEMA from Congress, part of a $98 billion aid package that OMB is requesting for multiple federal agencies working to help those affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters.

In a letter to OMB Monday, both of North Carolina’s U.S. Senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, said more money is needed immediately.

“We stand ready to work with you and our Congressional colleagues to pass significant disaster relief so that the road to long term recovery can begin,” the letter from Tillis, Budd and 10 other members of Congress states. “Our constituents do not have the luxury of waiting any longer. They need help now.”

Staff shortages, ‘unprecedented demand’

FEMA’s running short on staff, too.

“I’ve been looking at FEMA for a long time and seen a lot of disasters, and I’m more concerned about their workforce issues now than I ever have been,” said Chris Currie, who heads a U.S. Government Accountability Office team that evaluates FEMA and other disaster relief efforts.

The agency is now responding to more than 100 major disasters, and on Monday, all but 7% of its 14,050 incident management staff members were either assigned to emergencies or unavailable, according to FEMA’s daily operations briefing.

That can hinder its ability to respond when the next natural disaster strikes. During one week in mid-October, a deluge of calls and a shortage of FEMA workers meant that victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters had to wait on hold for more than an hour, on average, before anyone picked up.

Part of the problem is that FEMA is being required to do more than it once did, experts say.

FEMA was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, as part of an effort to unify disaster response efforts that had been spread across various federal agencies.

But it has been given additional responsibilities in recent years.

In March 2020, President Donald Trump ordered FEMA to take a lead role in coordinating the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, Congress also required FEMA to supply grant funding to nonprofits that provide food and shelter to migrants at the southern border.

“Increasingly complex and severe natural disasters coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and responsibilities at the southern border have created an unprecedented demand for FEMA’s disaster workforce,” a GAO report last year concluded.

FEMA had a disaster workforce of about 11,400 employees at the beginning of fiscal year 2022 — 35 percent fewer workers than the agency’s staffing target called for, the GAO report found.

More budget cuts may be coming. While it’s unclear how the agency will change under President-elect Trump, Elon Musk — who Trump has appointed to help run a new Department of Governmental Efficiency — has said he could cut at least $2 trillion from the budget.

Project 2025, a conservative policy outline, has urged major changes to FEMA, recommending that the majority of disaster preparedness and response costs be shifted to state and local governments.

What needs to change?

In a Nov. 15 interview with the Observer, former FEMA administrator Brock Long said it’s time for the agency to return to its fundamental mission.

”I think Congress has got to say, ‘How do we get back to the basics with FEMA to make it a disaster relief and initial recovery agency, and stop adding more complex problems to its mission,’ ” said Long, a Hickory resident who ran the agency from 2017 to 2019, during the Trump administration.

New approaches to reduce disaster recovery costs are also needed, he said.

Many of FEMA’s costs after natural disasters stem from rebuilding schools, municipal water plants and other public infrastructure that local governments never insured, he said. Congress should begin rewarding cities that insure infrastructure and take other steps to safeguard communities, such as updating building codes and doing proper land use planning, he said.

“What if Congress rewarded communities for doing the right thing… and stop rewarding the states and communities that do absolutely nothing to increase resilience?” Long asked.

Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, meanwhile, says it’s clear to him that the funding structure for FEMA must change.

“The leaders in Washington will have to fix this. We have to have the courage and political audacity to do it,” said Smathers, whose Haywood County town suffered extensive flooding when Helene struck. “Guys, this is a clear and present danger, not just to the people of North Carolina but all across the nation.”

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