WASHINGTON (AP) – The federal government has – for now – enough disaster aid money to deal with the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, but the ongoing storm appears sure to require a multibillion-dollar recovery package as did Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster fund currently contains about $3 billion, and top congressional aides said Monday that they have assurances from the Trump administration that it will be sufficient to deal with immediate needs such as debris removal and temporary shelter for tens of thousands of Texans displaced from their homes.
An infusion of more FEMA money will be needed soon, however, given the magnitude of the storm. The Republican-led Congress is likely to add a package of aid to a temporary spending bill to prevent a government shutdown Oct. 1. Harvey also seems certain to require a larger recovery package as did storms Katrina and Sandy, but it’s way too early to guess how much will be required with floodwaters rising in Houston, people stranded in homes and the nation’s fourth-largest city essentially paralyzed.
The administration says it will make sure Texas gets what it needs.
“What you’re going to see is the national government and we anticipate the Congress are going to make the resources available to see Texas through the rescue operation, through the recovery,” Vice President Mike Pence told a Houston radio station Monday.