FEMA: Hurricane, wildfire disaster relief costs $200M each day

FEMA Administrator Brock Long said recovering from the recent spate of disasters will be tremendously expensive

By Michael Biesecker
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says the U.S. is spending more than $200 million each day on the response to three major hurricanes and huge wildfires.

FEMA Administrator Brock Long told a Senate oversight committee Tuesday the challenge presented by hurricanes Irma, Harvey and Maria is unprecedented in the history of his agency. He also noted costs from the recent wildfires in California, which Long called the worst devastation he has ever seen.

Debris scatters a destroyed community in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico. (Photo/Gerald Herbert, AP)

Long thanked the legislators for the $52 billion in emergency relief allocated so far, but said recovering from the recent spate of disasters will be tremendously expensive.

Long said he also needs additional legal authority from Congress to build the power grid in Puerto Rico back better than it was before.