Senate Urged to Reconvene for Hurricane Helene Relief Funding

Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) is urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to reconvene the Senate to consider measures to approve FEMA funding in the wake of Hurricane Helene's devastation.

Scott's call comes after President Biden approved a Major Disaster Declaration for Florida following a letter from Scott and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). This approval follows last week's approval of the State of Florida's request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration for potentially impacted Florida counties.

However, a senior congressional source familiar with the purse strings conceded that "it would not surprise me" if lawmakers were recalled to Washington to approve additional money to respond to immediate needs because the devastation has been so bad.

Another senior House Republican told Fox, "We will definitely need to appropriate emergency funds. Western North Carolina is like New Orleans during Katrina." But the source cautioned that it was doubtful Congress would have to act in the next month.

One thing to watch in the coming days is whether or not FEMA has enough money in the near-term to respond to the catastrophic impact of Helene.

Congress left town without providing enough disaster relief to address "older" natural disasters, including Hurricane Beryl which hit Texas in July, tornadoes in Iowa, and wildfires in Hawaii.

Some lawmakers wanted the additional disaster aid loaded onto the interim spending bill, but the temporary spending bill did give FEMA authority to draw down the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) more rapidly. The question is whether the DRF bottoms out after Helene, or if there are impacts from other potential storms that may soon churn in the Gulf of Mexico.

A source familiar with congressional spending indicated that despite the near-apocalyptic nature of Helene, we just don’t know enough yet about the needs. A better sense of things could come later this week.

If FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund dwindles too much, Congress could be recalled to re-load the fund. This happened in the late summer of 2005 following Hurricane Katrina.