| The Honorable Charles Schumer Senate Majority Leader 322 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 | The Honorable Mitch McConnell Senate Minority Leader 317 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 |
| The Honorable Mike Johnson Speaker of the House H-232, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 | The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries House Minority Leader H-204, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 |
October 8, 2024
Dear Senate Majority Leader Schumer, Senate Minority Leader McConnell, House Speaker Johnson, and House Minority Leader Jeffries:
Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeastern United States after it made landfall on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane. At the time of this letter, more than 230 lives have been lost from the impacts of the storm, making Hurricane Helene the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The damage from Florida to Virginia is of “biblical” proportions, with entire roads, communication systems, and water lines wiped away.
Since the storm moved through the region, our communities have come together to clear fallen trees, supply drinking water and coordinate air drops of supplies to areas that are no longer accessible by road. However, our community resources can only extend so far. We need Congress to take action to ensure the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has the resources they need to continue showing up for our communities through the long recovery process.
To date, Congress has failed to act on the Biden Administration’s request of $27 billion in disaster funding to address previous hurricane damage in the southeastern United States, as well as other disasters across the country and U.S. territories. In the negotiations for a continuing resolution to keep the government open past Sept. 30, we were happy that House Republicans included an additional $10 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund and upfront annual appropriations for FEMA in the six month funding extension, but were disappointed when that bipartisan funding did not make it into the final agreement signed by President Biden on Sept. 26. At that time, we knew that Hurricane Helene was likely to bring extensive damage, and FEMA’s funding for the next three months would not be enough.
We have nearly two months left until the end of hurricane season with storms continuing to develop in the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean. Just this week, Hurricane Milton is expected to pass over Florida on Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane. FEMA’s response to other possible disasters like wildfires, tornadoes, and other extreme weather adds further demands to their resources. The communities impacted by Hurricane Helene deserve a robust Disaster Relief Fund that is able to address our needs and the needs of all other disaster-impacted communities through the end of the year.
On Oct. 2, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that FEMA does not have enough funding to address further disasters following Hurricane Helene. Congress needs to give FEMA and the Disaster Relief Fund the necessary resources to avoid any delays or possible reprioritizations as the fund is exhausted. Congress cannot wait to act and let counting disaster relief funds down to exact change get in the way of full federal support for people and communities who have lost everything.
The undersigned 82 organizations ask that you immediately call Congress back to Washington in order to pass a disaster supplemental package that strengthens FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and addresses the Administration’s disaster assistance requests. Providing FEMA the necessary funding at this extraordinary time will help communities stuck in FEMA’s recovery backlog and will support others’ recovery with strong federal support for months to come.
Sincerely,
To add your organization to this letter, please fill out this form by Monday, Oct 7th. If you would like to join this letter, and can’t make that deadline, please be in touch with [email protected] as the deadline may shift. 79 current sign-ons as of 10/7/24 at 5pm:
- Appalachian Voices
- Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center
- 350.org
- The Alliance for Appalachia
- Appalshop Inc
- A Better Chance A Better Community
- Between the Waters
- Breathe Project
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Center for Progressive Reform
- Charlotte Mecklenburg Climate Leaders
- Charlotte Public Tree Fund
- Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund
- Christians For The Mountains
- Citizens Climate Lobby Tennessee
- Clean Fairfax
- Climate Action Alliance of the Valley
- The Climate Reality Project
- Coal River Mountain Watch
- The Community Climate Collaborative
- Community Farm Alliance
- Disability Law United
- Eastern Kentucky CLT
- Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR)
- Evergreen Action
- Fahe
- Florida Wildlife Federation
- Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky
- Gaston Cares
- Georgia Wildlife Federation
- The Help Center NC
- Highlander Research and Education Center
- Jobs with Justice East Tennessee
- Kentuckians For The Commonwealth
- Kentucky Heartwood
- Kentucky Waterways Alliance
- Latino Farmers & Ranchers International, Inc.
- LiKEN (Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network)
- Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy
- Lynnhaven River NOW
- Meals4Families
- Micah Six Eight Mission
- Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action
- Mon Metro Chamber of Commerce
- Mountain Association
- National Low Income Housing Coalition
- National Parks Conservation Association
- National Wildlife Federation
- The Neutral Ground Collective
- New River Land Trust
- North American Climate, Conservation and Environment (NACCE)
- North Carolina Disaster Response and Resilience Network
- The North Carolina Partnership for Children / Smart Start
- North Carolina Wildlife Federation
- Pasa Sustainable Agriculture
- PennFuture
- The Piedmont Environmental Council
- Potomac Riverkeeper Network
- Progressive Workers’ Union (PWU) Executive Committee
- ReImagine Appalachia
- Roanoke Group, Sierra Club
- Rockfish Valley Foundation
- Rural Action
- RuralProgress
- SBP
- SERCAP, INC.
- Sierra Club
- South Carolina Wildlife Federation
- Southern Dharma
- Sowing Justice
- Team Rubicon
- Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning
- Third Act Tennessee
- Three Rivers Waterkeeper
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Unitarian Universalist Church of Roanoke
- Virginia Conservation Network
- Virginia Interfaith Power & Light
- West Virginia Council of Churches
- West Virginia Rivers Coalition
- Wetlands Watch
- Wild Virginia