Latest FEMA Headlines
All the headlines from our FEMA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
FEMA Renews $1.3 Billion Reinsurance Program with 28 Carriers
Jan 31 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has renewed for the third year a reinsurance program that transfers future catastrophic flood insurance losses to the private sector The 2019 traditional reinsurance placement...
Hurricane Florence Demonstrates Perils of Being Underinsured/Uninsured, Says RMS
Jan 24 2019 // Hurricane Florence caused extensive freshwater flood damage in the Carolinas and parts of Virginia in September—and about 70 percent of those flood losses will be uninsured, according to RMS. “The insured loss for...
Trump, California in Battle Over Wildfire Relief Funds
Jan 11 2019 // President Donald Trump threatened this week to withhold money to help California cope with wildfires after Gov. Gavin Newsom asked him to double the federal investment in forest management. Trump again suggested poor...
In Reversal, Flood Insurance Program Resumes Normal Operations During Shutdown
Dec 28 2018 // Last Friday evening, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will resume the normal sale of new insurance policies and the renewal of expiring...
Missourians Urge FEMA Action Over Too-High Illinois Levee
Dec 27 2018 // Missouri landowners and environmentalists are urging a federal agency to sanction a levee district on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, arguing that the earthen barrier has been built above its authorized height,...
Insurance, Banking Groups Balk at Limits on Flood Insurance Operations During Shutdown
Dec 27 2018 // As indicated by a report by Insurance Journal over the holidays, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is limiting the authority of the nation’s flood insurance program to issue new and renewal policies...
President Signs Flood Insurance Extension But Government Shutdown Could Limit Operations
Dec 22 2018 // On Friday, December 21, 2018, President Trump signed into law a measure reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program until May 31, 2019. The flood program was set to expire at midnight on Dec. 21. However, the...
FEMA Extends North Carolina Deadline for Florence Aid
Dec 17 2018 // Home and business owners suffering damages from Hurricane Florence are getting a little more time to request federal government aid. Gov. Roy Cooper announced Thursday’s previous deadline to apply for Federal...
How Taxpayers Subsidize Rebuilding Homes After Flooding… Repeatedly
Nov 28 2018 // Floodwaters rose about 15 inches (40 centimeters) into Danielle Rees’ home in September when Hurricane Florence drenched this tidewater city on the Pamlico River and overwhelmed a local creek and marshland. The first...
FEMA Seeking to Renew Its Private Reinsurance for Flood Insurance Program
Nov 7 2018 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has begun the process of renewing its private market reinsurance for the National Flood Insurance Program for 2019, a purchase that could encompass $2 billion of...
FEMA Head ‘Ticked Off’ Over Cycle of Inadequate Storm Preparation, Insurance, Evacuations
Oct 15 2018 // Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long angrily criticized the failure of citizens to heed evacuation warnings and leaders to better prepare for natural disasters such as Hurricane...
FEMA Hurricane Maria Relief Contracts to Face Audits
Oct 12 2018 // A new law requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to investigate how it came to award Hurricane Maria relief contracts to a company with an unproven record. The Associated Press reported last year that the...
FEMA Chief Long to Keep Job, Repay Government for Car Misuse
Sep 24 2018 // The head of the federal disaster response agency used government vehicles without proper authorization, but will not lose his job over it, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Friday. Federal Emergency...
After Florence Floods, Uninsured Awaken to Painful Reality
Sep 19 2018 // Flood insurance was far from Stephanie Walker’s mind in 2015 when she moved her family into a home in Fayetteville in central North Carolina, nearly 200 miles (320 km) from the coast. The next year, a creek at the...
North Carolina Sets Up Insurance Camps, Victim Assistance Centers With FEMA, NFIP
Sep 19 2018 // Consumer assistance centers and insurance camps have been set up in areas of North Carolina affected by Hurricane Florence, according to a statement from North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey. “We are...
Hurricane Florence’s Surge Is Expected to Hit Homes That Already Cost the Government Millions: ProPublica
Sep 18 2018 // Though the flooding from Hurricane Florence is predicted to be unprecedented, residents of the coastal North Carolina towns threatened by the storm surge know what it’s like to take on water. Some homes in these...
FEMA Chief Under Scrutiny Over Use of Government Vehicles
Sep 18 2018 // A demand for documents by a key House Republican adds to the growing pressure on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s chief as he coordinates the government response to Hurricane Florence. On Monday, House...
How 4,000 Federal Workers Are Being Deployed for Hurricane Florence
Sep 14 2018 // As Hurricane Florence churns toward the Carolinas, bearing a potentially lethal ocean surge and winds and torrential rains, the federal government is marshaling its forces to help communities prepare and recover. President...
U.S. Report Says Lack of Staff, Resources, Planning Hurt FEMA’s 2017 Disaster Response
Sep 6 2018 // The federal government’s chief watchdog slammed the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to the hurricane that killed thousands of people in Puerto Rico last year, saying it was unprepared and failed...
Judge Says FEMA Can End Motel Payments for Hurricane Maria Evacuees
Aug 30 2018 // A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request to block the U.S. government from cutting off aid to hundreds of Puerto Rican families who fled the hurricane-ravaged island in 2017 and are living in hotels and motels across...
