The hurricanes and fires of 2017 and 2018 affected more than 47 million people in the U.S. From 2016-18, survivors received about $6 billion and 12,805 temporary housing units from FEMA's Individuals and Households Program. Most applicants were uninsured, and a majority had incomes under $50,000. About 2.4 million people (of the 4.4 million referred to the program) were ineligible. Common reasons...

Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, and Irma—4 of the costliest hurricanes in the U.S. since 2005—caused damage totaling trillions of dollars. Their effects on economic activity and employment in damaged areas varied widely. State and local government officials said that the storms significantly affected certain communities, local governments, households, and businesses. Communities are taking actions to...

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 100,000 reported deaths in the U.S., widespread unemployment, and an overall economic downturn. For the first time in history, major disaster declarations were issued simultaneously for all U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. We testified about our work on FEMA’s role in the COVID-19 response and what our prior work suggests ab...

Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific-area territories had a record number of natural disasters—typhoons, earthquakes, mudslides, and volcanic eruptions—in 2018. As of May 2020, they used about 63% of the $788 million in Disaster Relief Funds obligated for the disasters. Based on initial observations, local officials believe FEMA’s disaster response was fairly effective. But contracting problems, wor...

FEMA grants have been used to acquire and demolish flood-prone properties to help reduce flood damage. Reduced damage should lead to fewer or less costly claims for the National Flood Insurance Program, which FEMA also administers. But the number of such properties keeps growing, and the program still doesn’t collect enough in premiums to cover claims over the long term. The flood insurance pro...

FEMA grants have been used to acquire and demolish flood-prone properties to help reduce flood damage. Reduced damage should lead to fewer or less costly claims for the National Flood Insurance Program, which FEMA also administers. But the number of such properties keeps growing, and the program still doesn’t collect enough in premiums to cover claims over the long term. The flood insurance pro...

The National Flood Insurance Program can be most effective when participating communities take steps to reduce the risk of flood damage. To do so, communities must adopt the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) floodplain management requirements. For example, participating communities must ensure that property owners rebuild substantially damaged structures to meet current elevation stan...

For the English version of this page, see GAO-20-168. Examinamos cómo la Agencia Federal para el Desarrollo de la Pequeña Empresa (SBA, por sus siglas en inglés) planeó y respondió a los huracanes Harvey, Irma, y María en 2017, entre otras cosas. Después de los huracanes, la SBA aceptó cerca de 340,000 solicitudes de préstamo para desastres y aprobó cerca de 141,000, prestando más de...

Para la versión de esta página en español, ver a GAO-20-369. We reviewed how the Small Business Administration planned for and responded to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017, among other things. After the hurricanes, SBA accepted about 340,000 disaster loan applications and approved about 141,000, making more than $7 billion in loans to help business owners, homeowners, renters, and...

To see the version of this page in English, see GAO-20-221. Después de que 2 huracanes devastaron Puerto Rico en 2017, FEMA identificó alrededor de 10.000 sitios dañados, incluyendo escuelas, hospitales y carreteras que necesitan fondos para reparar o reconstruir. FEMA y Puerto Rico administran un programa de Asistencia Pública que otorga fondos federales a gobiernos estatales y locales y al...