WASHINGTON — The nation’s disaster agency is being stretched to the limit by a spate of storms and wildfires so far in 2024, and the busiest time of year for the Federal Emergency Management Agency is just beginning.
FEMA issued 100 disaster and emergency declarations — for 58 severe storms and flooding events and 42 fires — through the first week of August, according to the agency’s database. That is nearly as many as all of last year (114) and well past the 90 declarations of disasters and fire emergencies the agency issued in 2022.
It is still short of the all-time high of 315 declarations issued by FEMA in 2020, but with the expected active hurricane season ahead and the threat of wildfires continuing in the West, that record isn’t out of reach.
The flurry of emergency responses comes as FEMA shifts into what is known as “immediate needs funding” mode, in which new obligations not necessary for lifesaving and life-sustaining activities will be paused, the agency announced on Aug. 7.
It also comes as lawmakers, environmentalists and labor groups are urging FEMA to do more to respond to the extreme heat that has become the summertime norm in much of North America and many parts of the world, as average global temperatures reached all-time record highs in July.
A coalition led by the Service Employees International Union plans to launch the first-ever “Heat Week” on Monday, with a series of events nationwide to urge government and industry to better protect workers from extreme heat, such as by declaring that access to water is “a basic human right.”
“Workers like me have been risking our lives every day in brutal conditions, and we’re quite literally sick and tired,” said Cecilia Ortiz, a passenger service agent at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, ahead of a planned virtual news conference at noon Monday. “I’m seeing my friends and coworkers collapse from heat exhaustion or dehydration, all while executives sit in air-conditioned offices and fail to protect us.”
Environmental groups also have been pressing FEMA this summer to consider adding extreme heat events to the list of disasters that can be declared eligible for federal aid.
“This definition change would unlock crucial funding for state, local and tribal governments to invest in community solar and storage, cooling centers, worker protections and other ways to combat extreme heat and wildfire smoke,” said Jean Su, director of the Energy Justice Program at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Legislation
Bills introduced in the Congress would make extreme heat eligible for disaster declarations, including a measure from Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., and one from Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.
A pair of bills sponsored by Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., would establish a program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration “to improve extreme heat preparedness, planning, and response” and make federal funds available to address heat effects. Markey’s bill was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on July 31.
“Extreme heat is a growing environmental justice issue,” 65 Democratic lawmakers said in a letter last month to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. “Heat is the leading weather-related killer in the United States and wildfire seasons are starting earlier and ending later. As extreme heat and wildfire smoke continue to plague our communities, we urge FEMA to be more responsive to communities’ evolving needs in the face of the climate crisis.”
Su said FEMA is in the best position among federal agencies to take charge of addressing the growing threat of extreme heat events. “What we’re asking for is leadership in this area,” she said. “FEMA is a great place to start, because they’re primed in a way that other agencies are not.”
A spokesman for FEMA, Daniel Llargues, said via email that the agency is trying to be proactive in addressing extreme heat rather than merely responding to events, such as the “heat domes” that have plagued the country this summer.
“Our priority is ensuring that communities are prepared, individuals are prepared, a built environment is such that it is more resilient, because if we’re waiting for the heat incident to occur, it’s too late at that point in many cases,” Llargues said. “What we’re focused on is the increase in preparedness and increasing resilience at both the community and the individual level to be more prepared for the heat before it arrives.”
To that end, the Biden administration in early July announced that FEMA will put $1 billion into more than 650 community resilience projects such as flood control and building code improvements, power plant and utility line protections and even simple solutions such as shaded bus stops in urban areas. The money comes from the 2021 infrastructure law and the 2022 climate and tax law.
FEMA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration at the Department of Labor also proposed a rule last month to require that critical infrastructure, from police stations to new roads and bridges, be built at elevations high enough to minimize flood damage.
And last week the Department of Energy announced it will invest $2.2 billion in projects to make the electrical grid more resilient.
Meantime, FEMA officials are anxiously waiting for Congress to return in September and consider providing additional disaster aid, including $9 billion for FEMA that was part of an administration request last October.
FEMA has said the deficit in its disaster relief fund could reach $6 billion by Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
