DHS announces $1B FEMA aid to Georgia
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the federal government approved $1 billion in FEMA funding for Georgia to cover pandemic emergency protective measures and recovery projects tied to 2024’s Hurricane Helene and Tropical Storm Debby. The package includes large allocations for healthcare-related COVID-19 costs, debris removal, infrastructure repairs, and hazard mitigation, and comes as the Trump administration weighs a restructuring of FEMA after a key White House meeting on the agency’s future was abruptly rescheduled Thursday.
📌 Key Facts
- $671 million will reimburse healthcare emergency protective measures (nursing staff, PPE, sanitization, testing) during COVID-19.
- $350 million covers 140+ Helene/Debby recovery projects, including $140 million for debris removal across 20+ jurisdictions.
- $179 million for emergency protective measures by local governments, electrical cooperatives, and universities; $17 million to repair roads, bridges and culverts in 20+ municipalities.
📊 Relevant Data
In the Southeast, Black communities are about twice as likely as other communities to experience a hurricane, due to historical and ongoing patterns of racial residential segregation, redlining, and other discriminatory policies and practices.
Understanding the Inequitable Impacts of Hurricanes and Other Natural Disasters — KFF
Black people are three times more likely to die after a hurricane than White people.
What Hurricanes Helene and Milton Reveal About Storm Inequity — Conservation Law Foundation
In Georgia, where Black residents comprise approximately 31% of the population, there is a greater likelihood of more Black COVID-19 deaths than the Black population proportion in many counties.
The number of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the US has increased over time, with quantification of such events leading to more than $1 billion in damages.
Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters | Time Series — NOAA NCEI