Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters Wednesday that FEMA has enough money to address Hurricanes Helene and Milton, after Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the agency “does not have the funds” to make it through hurricane season.
“I have funding and sufficient resources to support the ongoing responses to Hurricane Helene as well as Hurricane Milton,” Criswell said Wednesday, according to the Hill.
WATCH — Highways Jammed as Mass Evacuations Hit Hillsborough Ahead of Hurricane Milton:
The remarks come after Mayorkas told reporters on October 2, just days after the southeast was devastated by Hurricane Helene, that FEMA would not have enough funding to make it through hurricane season, prompting widespread anger and criticism from Republicans.
Mayorkas had said to reporters while on Air Force One, “We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting. … FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.”
WATCH — From Bad to Worse! Tornado Spotted in Florida Ahead of Hurricane Milton:
Koby Kreiger /TMX
The Biden-Harris administration has accused Republicans of spreading “misinformation” about FEMA, such as that money FEMA spent on illegal immigrants came at the expense of money for disaster relief. The administration has argued the money comes from separate pots of the FEMA budget.
The administration has been under fire for not deploying FEMA resources faster, which could do political damage with less than 30 days left until the presidential election.
So far, more than 230 people have died in Hurricane Helene, with potentially hundreds more missing and dead.
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