Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed Thursday that FEMA “will need more funding” following the response to hurricanes Helen and Milton.
Mayorkas said this in response to questions from reporters at the White House press briefing on Thursday. He's Dr. There's FEMA Both have enough funding to meet the “immediate needs” of those affected by the hurricanes, but they urged Congress to act quickly.
“President Biden has indicated that FEMA and the Department of Defense must address their immediate needs during this recovery phase. I wonder, after the initial assessment of the damage from Hurricane Milton, combined with the damage from Hurricane Helen, do you still know? Will this happen?” asked a reporter.
“Yes, I do,” Mayorkas responded. “We have the resources to respond to the immediate needs of those affected by Hurricane Helen and Hurricane Milton and the associated tornadoes – this is very important to remember – associated with hurricanes.”
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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said FEMA will need additional funding from Congress after responding to multiple disasters.
“That said, we will need additional funding and we urge Congress, when it returns, to fund FEMA as needed,” he added.
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Mayorkas participated in the briefing remotely from North Carolina, where he is helping coordinate response efforts.
Earlier this week, FEMA cleared it had less than 10% of its frontline staff to mobilize in preparation for Milton.
Damage from Hurricane Milton is seen in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on October 10, 2024. (Mike Glynn)
FEMA released a daily briefing on Wednesday The agency revealed that only 8%, or 1,115, of FEMA employees were currently available as preparations continued. This number represents a significant drop in availability compared to the previous year, after a End of September 2023 Operations Briefing It shows that 20% of agencies are available to mobilize the same staff.
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A FEMA spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the availability numbers released by the agency are merely a reference to the staffing that is part of FEMA's core incident management capabilities. They are the first line of FEMA personnel to be mobilized for any disaster.
However, the FEMA spokesperson noted that the agency has a total of 22,000 employees it can draw on, as well as resources from other agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security.
FEMA is fighting the combined disaster in North Carolina as well as Florida Pictured: Swannanoa residents experience devastating flood damage on Sunday, September 29, 2024, on the Swannanoa River in western North Carolina. (Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis deployed 10,000 National Guard members in response to Milton. About 3,000 of them were sent from other states to help with recovery efforts.
Fox News' Aubrey Spady contributed to this report.
