Despite the passage of a federal law allocating money to wildfire victims, Yolanda Cruz is still waiting for her FEMA claim to be resolved more than two years after the largest wildfire in New Mexico's history. Kirk Siegler/NPR hide caption
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Parker is all about the task at hand. Haiyun Jiang for NPR hide caption
When disaster strikes, these good boys and girls are your rescue crew
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell (left) along with NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson (right) signed an agreement this week outlining ways in which the two organizations will work together to center equity in disaster preparedness and response efforts. NAACP hide caption
The White House has asked Congress for $44 billion in emergency funding to help cover costs of the war in Ukraine, recent natural disasters, and operations at the southern U.S. border. Patrick Semansky/AP hide caption
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden view damage caused by wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii on August 21, 2023. The president is expected to travel to see hurricane damage Florida on Saturday. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Lexi Montgomery poses with supplies she has purchased in the event of another storm in September 2017 in Miami Beach, Fla. Hurricane Irma was the first hurricane that Montgomery ever experienced. Alan Diaz/AP hide caption
An ornamental palm tree stands in an empty field where there were once houses in Houston. A new study follows thousands of families across the country who sold their flood-prone homes to the government, to see where they moved. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption
Floodwater surrounds a house on Sept. 1, 2021, in Jean Lafitte, La. Hurricane Ida made landfall as a powerful Category 4 causing flooding and wind damage along the Gulf Coast. Brandon Bell/Getty Images hide caption
This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the typhoon closing in on Tumon Bay, Guam on Tuesday. Junior Grade Drew Lovullo/AP hide caption
A typhoon just lashed Guam. What does federal relief look like for a U.S. territory?
Part of a destroyed mobile home park is pictured in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers Beach, Florida on September 30, 2022. GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Farmers gather with their vehicles next to a Germany/Netherlands border sign during a protest on the A1 highway/ VINCENT JANNINK/ANP/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Pews were marked off to encourage social distancing at a funeral home in Temple, Penn., in March of 2021, around the time the Delta variant began to take hold in the United States. Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
Few eligible families have sought federal payment of COVID funeral expenses
Homes that were sold by the Department of Housing and Urban Development between January 2017 and August 2020 are in federally designated flood zones at almost 75 times the rate of all homes sold nationwide in that period. New Jersey is one hot spot. Here, flooding from Tropical Storm Henri in Helmetta, N.J., this August. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption
The Federal Government Sells Flood-Prone Homes To Often Unsuspecting Buyers, NPR Finds
A test of the emergency alert systems, like this one from 2018 showing a "Presidential Alert" message, is planned Wednesday at 2:20 p.m. ET on televisions, radios and some cellphones across the U.S. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Once-thriving Black neighborhoods of Port Arthur, Texas, have steadily declined. Four hurricanes have hit the city in the last 15 years. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption
The money Donnie Speight received from FEMA was not enough to cover the cost of repairs to her home after Hurricane Laura. She has lived with a hole in the bedroom ceiling for the better part of a year. Ryan Kellman hide caption
Timothy Dominique, 62, lives in a donated RV parked next door to the family home where he was staying when Hurricane Laura hit Lake Charles last year. He says he received nothing from FEMA because he does not own the home and didn't have a formal rental agreement. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (center) and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez (center right) arrive for a news conference near where a section of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed on Thursday in the town of Surfside. Lynne Sladky/AP hide caption
People wait for COVID-19 vaccinations in their vehicles at the Fairplex fairgrounds in Pomona, Calif., last month. The White House announced on Friday that active duty military personnel will soon be deployed to assist at vaccination sites, starting this month in California. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Lachlan (left) and Lillian Barilleau play in the backyard of their home in Central, La. They were displaced from the house for months after a flood in 2016. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption
A new report finds FEMA is not effectively allocating money for homes that repeatedly flood. More than 100 homes in Cameron Parish, La., have flooded multiple times according to FEMA data. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says that beginning Sept. 15, it will no longer reimburse states for personal protective equipment in nonemergency settings, including schools or courthouses. Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
A trailer is left damaged and debris scattered Thursday in Holly Beach, La., in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura. Eric Thayer/Getty Images hide caption
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence listen during a Hurricane Laura briefing at FEMA headquarters in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption