FEMA administrator fires back at Hurricane Helene critics: We’ve been on the ground before it hit Florida

The head of FEMA is calling out “false” criticism of the agency following Hurricane Helene, insisting officials have been on the ground since before the storm hit Florida. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been under fire in recent days amid allegations that officials have misused government funding for illegal migrants and have not been quick to respond to the disaster plaguing the southeast. Now, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is opening up about FEMA’s recovery efforts. 

“We have been on the ground since before Hurricane Helene hit Florida and before it crossed over North Carolina, and what I would say is just because somebody doesn’t see a person in a FEMA shirt doesn’t mean that we’re not in the area,” Criswell told “Special Report” on Monday. 

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“We have a team located with the state side by side to help them understand their needs and move resources where they’re needed,” she continued. “We’ve moved food and water, and much of what you’re seeing delivered by the amazing National Guardsmen across North Carolina are the supplies that we’ve brought in. The entire federal family is there to support this response. We’ve been there. We will continue to be there as long as it’s needed to make sure we’re meeting everybody’s needs.” 

Criswell said FEMA has “enough funds” to get through both Hurricane Helene and Category 5 Hurricane Milton, which is expected to hit Florida later this week.

“We have enough funds to absolutely get through the response for this hurricane, as well as the continued response for Hurricane Helene. [With] our budget, now that we have the C.R. and the full authorization to spend against the president’s fiscal year ’25 budget, we will continue to meet the needs of the individuals that are impacted by these storms,” she said. “But we don’t have enough money to continue throughout the rest of the year, and we went into immediate needs funding earlier in the year to make sure we can do just what we’ve been doing through Helene as well as now the preparations for Milton.”

“What I find that we might need to do is in the December-January time frame, we may have to go back into that immediate needs funding to ensure I always have enough to support lifesaving actions”

Criswell also pushed back on claims FEMA money is being used for illegal migrants instead of for disaster response. 

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Homes are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Chimney Rock Village, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

“The Disaster Relief Fund is the fund that we use to respond to disasters and there has been $0 removed from that fund to support any other activities,” she said. “The funding that you’re talking about was funding that was given to Customs and Border Patrol and then transferred to us to support some of those efforts, but the Disaster Relief Fund, nothing has been taken away from it. It is all going to people that are in need.” 

Criswell stressed FEMA is also moving in additional resources ahead of Hurricane Milton.