Latest FEMA Headlines

All the headlines from our FEMA Topic Page, ordered by recency.

FEMA Buys More Flood Reinsurance; Decision Near on Insurance Rate Change Plan

Mar 5 2021 // The federal government has bought additional reinsurance to cover losses of the National Flood Insurance Program.On Feb. 23, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers the flood insurance program,...

FEMA: Aid Deadline for Residential Losses from Hurricane Zeta — March 15

Feb 12 2021 // Residents in six Louisiana parishes have until mid-March to apply for Hurricane Zeta, the Federal Emergency Management Agency says. The deadline for parishes and other public entities to apply for Zeta aid has passed.The...

FEMA OKs More than $1B for Hurricanes Delta, Laura Recovery in Louisiana

Jan 26 2021 // FEMA has approved more than $1 billion in federal disaster assistance, long-term disaster loans and flood insurance claims since Hurricanes Laura and Delta hit the state in 2020. Laura made landfall in Louisiana in late...

Victoria County, Texas, Flood Maps Ready for Review: FEMA

Jan 22 2021 // FEMA has made available for review revised preliminary flood risk information and updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for Victoria County, Texas.The federal agency is urging property owners to review the latest...

FEMA Urges Hurricane Zeta Victims in Louisiana to File for Assistance

Jan 14 2021 // Louisianans who suffered damage from Hurricane Zeta in Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Terrebonne parishes should register for federal disaster assistance as soon as possible, FEMA says.The...

FEMA: NW Arkansas Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps Ready to View

Jan 13 2021 // FEMA has made available for review Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for certain municipalities and unincorporated areas in northwest Arkansas.The maps cover Elm Springs, Elkins, Farmington, Fayetteville,...

FEMA Buys $1.153 Billion of Reinsurance for Flood Insurance Program for 2021

Jan 6 2021 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has once again procured private sector reinsurance from more than 30 carriers for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to protect the government program from large...

California Wildfire Survivors Urged to Call FEMA Helpline by Dec. 16

Dec 11 2020 // People with losses due to the California wildfires in Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, Napa, San Bernardino, San Diego, Shasta, Siskiyou and Sonoma counties have just five days left to register for federal aid.These...

Deadline for FEMA Help for Louisiana Hurricane Delta Victims Looms

Dec 8 2020 // Renters and homeowners in parishes designated for FEMA assistance afterHurricane Delta have until Dec. 16 to register for help, the federal agency said.Federal assistance includes help for temporary housing, rental...

Dual FEMA Programs Aim to Provide Housing for Louisiana Hurricane Victims

Dec 7 2020 // Louisiana residents affected by Hurricanes Laura and Delta could be eligible for temporary housing under two federally administered programs.Under the Multifamily Lease and Repair Program, the Federal Emergency Management...

Damage Toll from Hurricane Zeta Totals Nearly $90M in Mississippi

Nov 30 2020 // Hurricane Zeta left a trail of destruction and millions in damage in Mississippi when it came ashore Oct. 28, state officials said.The state has documented tens of millions in damage from the storm, which had 100 mph winds...

FEMA to Louisiana Homeowners: Don’t Pay Company for Blue Roof Tarps

Nov 12 2020 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency is letting homeowners know that its Operation Blue Roof is free, and they should let authorities know if any company tries to make them pay.The program installs tarps on damaged...

Tracking Tool Spotlights Repetitive Flood Loss Homes Receiving U.S. Taxpayer Funds

Sep 15 2020 // Passaic County in New Jersey is not in the hurricane belt nor is it on the banks of a major river, and yet 810 properties there received $170 million of taxpayer money through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)...

Hurricane Laura Evacuees Protest Slow FEMA Aid

Sep 14 2020 // About two dozen Hurricane Laura evacuees and their advocates marched through the streets of New Orleans on Thursday to protest what they called the “slow response” from the federal government on getting them...

The Rising Risk of Inland Flooding

Sep 7 2020 // Not Only in FEMA Zones, Not Only During Hurricane SeasonMajor companies across the U.S. are increasingly recognizing the risk for inland flooding and with good reason. As recent hurricanes like Harvey and Florence made...

Study: Indiana City Has Many More Flood-Prone Properties than FEMA Maps Show

Aug 31 2020 // A northern Indiana city that sits along the Wabash River is home to thousands more flood-prone homes and properties than are listed on federal floodplain maps, new research shows.The study by the First Street Foundation, a...

FEMA Aid OK’d for Iowa County Hardest Hit by Storm

Aug 24 2020 // President Donald Trump has approved Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for eastern Iowa’s Linn County, which was the county that was hardest hit by last week’s rare hurricane-strength windstorm.Gov....

Urban Flooding Is On The Rise, So What Can Be Done?

Aug 6 2020 // As hurricane season heats up, a growing number of properties located outside of FEMA-designated high-risk flood zones are already flooding. The problem is especially bad in the urban areas of America’s cities. A...

No Aid for South Dakota Residents After Sinkhole Collapse, FEMA Says

Jun 22 2020 // Several South Dakota residents who evacuated from their homes after a sinkhole collapsed, exposing an abandoned mine, in April are not eligible to receive federal aid, according to the Federal Emergency Management...

FEMA Tackles COVID-19 While Also Facing Past Disasters, Spring Flood Season

Mar 23 2020 // It wasn’t until Wednesday, five days after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it was “leading the federal coordination” to the...