Latest FEMA Headlines

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

Imelda-Impacted Texans Still Don’t Know if They Qualify for FEMA Aid

Oct 1 2019 // Two state officials are optimistic that southeast Texans whose homes were flooded by Tropical Storm Imelda will qualify for federal aid. And since it could be weeks before the destruction is fully inventoried, many leaders...

Minneapolis Federal Reserve: With Flooding Comes a Torrent of Data

Sep 24 2019 // One of the biggest problems with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood insurance program is that, nationwide, few property owners actually choose to buy into it. But that’s not the case in many...

Group Says FEMA’s Flood Home Buyouts Take Too Long

Sep 19 2019 // For those who want to move out of a flood zone, the wait time for a home buyout can stretch five years or more, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which analyzed nearly 30 years of data from the...

FEMA Officials Arrested on Fraud Charges Linked to Puerto Rico Hurricane Maria Aid

Sep 11 2019 // Federal Emergency Management Agency officials who oversaw the reconstruction of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid and the former president of Cobra Acquisitions were arrested on fraud and conspiracy charges linked to...

Fake Claims, Price Gouging, Bogus Contractors in Times of Disaster

Sep 2 2019 // As the scale and frequency of major disasters escalate, millions of dollars in federal, state and insurance payments intended for recovery efforts are being stolen by fraudsters taking advantage of chaos and the pipeline...

Fake Claims, Price Gouging, Bogus Contractors: How Fraudsters Steal Disaster Aid

Aug 23 2019 // As the scale and frequency of major disasters escalate, millions of dollars in federal, state and insurance payments intended for recovery efforts are being stolen by fraudsters taking advantage of chaos and the pipeline...

FEMA Awards $2.7M to Orange County, Texas, for Flood Damage Project

Aug 15 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded more than $2.7 million to Orange County through the Texas Division of Emergency Management to fund a project to acquire and demolish 20 structures impacted by...

FEMA Awards $1.1M Mitigation Grant to Flood Zoned Homes on Georgia Coast

Aug 13 2019 // Twelve homes on the coast of Georgia will receive a federal grant of about $1.1 million to help alleviate the cost of elevating their homes.News outlets report Tybee Island Mayor Jason Buelterman and Rep. Buddy Carter...

Lack of FEMA Levee Approval Would Leave Southern Illinois Village at Risk

Aug 12 2019 // The fate of a Mississippi River levee that’s awaiting a decision on federal accreditation could put a southern Illinois village at risk of destructive flooding, the village president says.If the levee in Prairie du...

North Carolina Residents Hit by 2 Hurricanes Still Waiting on Long-Term Aid

Jul 31 2019 // The heating and air conditioning in Carrie Johnson’s home – damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 – still wasn’t fixed when Hurricane Florence flooded her house last September. Now, her home of over 50 years...

Mississippi City Sues FEMA for $15M Over Post-Katrina Recovery Project

Jul 19 2019 // A city on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is suing a federal agency that rejected expenses for a Hurricane Katrina recovery project.Biloxi is seeking $15.5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for drainage,...

Senators’ Flood Insurance Measure Includes Premium Cap, Mitigation, Claims Reforms

Jul 17 2019 // A bipartisan group of U.S. senators from coastal states — including three running for president– unveiled a comprehensive flood insurance reform measure they see as an alternative to measures recently passed by a House...

FEMA: Arkansas’ Sebastian County Has Most Flood Claims, so Far

Jul 15 2019 // From April through mid-June, more than 230 claims stemming from flooding of the Arkansas River and its tributaries in Arkansas had been filed with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), according to the Federal...

FEMA: As of Mid-June, Arkansas’ Sebastian County Had Most Flood Claims

Jul 9 2019 // From April through mid-June, more than 230 claims stemming from flooding of the Arkansas River and its tributaries in Arkansas had been filed with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), according to the Federal...

Agencies Conduct Preliminary Tornado Damage Assessment in 10 Ohio Counties

Jun 17 2019 // Federal and state emergency management teams on June 5 began assessing damage in areas in the 10 Ohio counties impacted by late-May tornadoes.The Ohio Emergency Management Agency (Ohio EMA) joined the Federal Emergency...

Take the Flood Insurance Quiz

Jun 12 2019 // The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) released an online quiz, “What the Flood!,” as part of its #YourRiskIsReal campaign, an ongoing effort to educate consumers about flood risks and the...

FEMA Chief Urges New Culture of More Individual Responsibility for Disaster Mitigation

Apr 29 2019 // Americans must assume more responsibility for protecting themselves from the rising toll of natural disasters, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency warned.“Most people think, ‘I see it on TV,...

FEMA Transfers More Flood Risk with $300 Million Cat Bond

Apr 23 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has again turned to private reinsurance markets to help strengthen the financial framework of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).Last week FEMA entered into a...

FEMA Accused of Wrongly Releasing Data of California Wildfire Victims

Apr 15 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency wrongly released to a contractor the personal information of 2.3 million survivors of devastating 2017 hurricanes and wildfires, potentially exposing the victims to identity fraud...

FEMA Accused of Wrongly Releasing Data of California Wildfire Victims

Apr 1 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency wrongly released to a contractor the personal information of 2.3 million survivors of devastating 2017 hurricanes and wildfires, potentially exposing the victims to identity fraud...