Harvey adds to the mounting debt of federal disaster aid

Aug 29, 2017
As the devastation continues to mount in Texas, so does the heavy debt owed by the National Flood Insurance Program. The program, which is managed by FEMA, already borrowed nearly $25 billion, most of it to cover claims from Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. The program was supposed to effectively manage the cost of flood […]

Unsettled leadership could hurt federal disaster response

Mar 31, 2017
FEMA still lacks a permanent chief.
Last summer, a few thousand acres of forest burned in the foothills above Duarte, northeast of Los Angeles.
Jed Kim/Marketplace

The complexities of funding the fight against the Zika virus

Oct 27, 2016
Congress took eight months to approve allocating $1.1 billion to help fight the outbreak.
Nelson Tejeda, a Miami-Dade County mosquito control inspector, inspects an area in an attempt to find and kill mosquitos that are carrying the Zika virus in Miami, Florida. 

 
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

For Louisiana schools, flood damage is lasting

Aug 23, 2016
As schools reopen, many teachers and staff have been displaced.
School buses are parked in a flooded parking lot on August 16 in Denham Springs, Louisiana.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

When disaster strikes, FEMA turns to Waffle House

Mar 4, 2015
FEMA has coined a "Waffle House Index" to indicate the severity of a disaster.
FEMA has coined a "Waffle House Index" to indicate the severity of a disaster.
atmtx / Flickr

As FEMA expands flood zones, residents fear insurance hikes

Jul 8, 2013
FEMA is updating its flood maps to expand areas deemed at risk of damage -- and that’s striking fear in communities that could be deluged with higher insurance bills.

Losing "everything" is relative in a tornado

Jun 3, 2013
Natural disasters are great equalizers, but recoveries can look different.

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Vermonters still awaiting FEMA money

Dec 31, 2012
More than a year after Hurricane Irene devastated much of Vermont, many homeowners are still waiting on federal relief money.