When hurricanes struck Western North Carolina, the storms’ immediate damage was only the beginning. The true test came afterward, as it usually does, when families wait to see how quickly help arrives and how effectively recovery efforts turn plans into rebuilt homes and rebuilt lives. Compared with past storms, this recovery effort is standing out for one reason above all others: speed.

Flood, storm and fire survivors gathered in Washington, D.C., Monday to express their alarm over a leaked report from the FEMA Review Council that proposes halving the agency’s workforce and scaling back federal disaster assistance.

The Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM) has rolled out a new tool aimed at making life a little easier for organizations looking to manage FEMA Public Assistance funding when disasters strike. Launched on Tuesday, the OEM Grants platform promises a more streamlined approach for keeping tabs on the funds from the moment they're awarded until the final sign-off. As Oregonians know, natural calamities wait for no one, and neither should the support systems in place to aid in their recovery.

Georgia homeowners will soon be able to open catastrophe savings accounts to help cover disaster-related expenses as insurance deductibles keep rising.

An atmospheric river, whose moisture spanned a remarkable 7,000 miles across the Pacific from the Philippines to the Pacific Northwest, caused record river levels and destructive flooding across Washington state this week.

A task force created by President Donald Trump plans to recommend the most sweeping overhaul of FEMA in decades, dramatically reducing the federal agency’s role in disaster response by cutting its workforce in half and rolling out a new block grant system designed to get aid to communities faster and with less bureaucratic hassle.

At the December 9 City Council meeting, Council members undertook consideration of several Helene Recovery agenda items as the City and community continue to move forward with recovery related projects and needs. Below is a list of the items, grouped by topic or category,  actions, and impacts. 

Mayor Ken Welch announced Monday that the city would open applications for the $159.8 million Sunrise St. Pete program Dec. 15. The government shutdown delayed the launch of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-funded disaster recovery initiative.

Governor Gavin Newsom spent the day on Capitol Hill meeting with key congressional leaders in both parties as part of his continued push to secure long-delayed federal wildfire recovery funding from the White House for Los Angeles families nearly one year after the catastrophic Palisades and Eaton Fires.

Apple CEO Tim Cook pledged donations for relief and reconstruction in Asia following devastating storms, floods, and fires in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong. This aligns with Apple's history of crisis support, blending philanthropy with safeguarding its vital supply chain in the region.

The number of people killed by floods and landslides on Indonesia's Sumatra island rose to 708 on Tuesday, the disaster agency said, as authorities rushed to repair infrastructure and deliver aid to cut-off areas.

U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) reintroduced today the Clean Up Disasters and Emergencies with Better Recovery and Immediate Support Act or Clean Up DEBRIS Act. This bill would allow common interest communities, condominiums, and other private housing cooperatives to receive debris removal assistance from the federal government after a natural disaster or emergency.

The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded an additional $4 million in funding to support disaster-relief jobs and continued employment and training for North Carolina residents affected in September 2024 when Hurricane Helene brought the worst flooding in a century to the area. 

Officials with the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management announced a reduction of some state emergency response operations on Friday, and a transition from a response to a recovery phase following the Western Alaska storms as winter sets in.

Oregon’s U.S. senators are urging their peers on a powerful budgeting committee to send emergency funding to Oregon and other states where national lands and parks were recently burned by wildfires.

Governor Rhoden announced on Monday that the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development approved South Dakota’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Relief Action Plan for North Sioux City.

Arkansas farmers and ranchers who receive federal disaster and relief aid through the U.S. Department of Agriculture will get an exemption from state taxes on these payments.

The new funds, totaling $4 million, represent the remaining portion of a $10 million Disaster Recovery Dislocated Worker Grant that the U.S. Department of Labor initially awarded to North Carolina in 2024 in the wake of Helene.

The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded $1 million in grant funding to support disaster-relief jobs and employment and training services for Alaska residents in the aftermath of severe storms and flooding caused by Typhoon Halong. 

Those who intend to seek Community Development Block Grants for disaster recovery no longer have a Nov. 28 deadline to file their paperwork. According to the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, there is no set date for the intent to apply or the actual application to be submitted.