Trump wants to cut federal disaster aid as costs skyrocket

Hurricane Helene’s unprecedented devastation led to pledges of nearly $650 million in federal aid through January, more than triple the amount spent on Michael a few years before.

Experts say Georgians should prepare for more record-setting storms — and perhaps to shoulder more of the skyrocketing costs.

That prediction comes as President Donald Trump has proposed shifting the cost of disaster aid to the states and possibly doing away with the Federal Emergency Management Agency altogether. The president has recently denied requests for aid from some states and has discontinued a FEMA grant program that helped states prepare for extreme weather and protect infrastructure against damage.

It’s not clear that Georgia and other states can absorb the full cost of major disasters — or the hits that my come as Trump and Republicans in Congress try to reduce federal spending on many fronts. But many Georgia Republicans say that effort is long overdue.

State Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, said federal spending is out of control, and he welcomes a hard discussion about priorities, including disaster spending. And if that forces Georgia to reconsider its own spending priorities, Tillery supports that, too.

“Everything should be on the table to balance the books so the country itself doesn’t sink,” said Tillery, chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee.

Others say only the federal government has the resources to pay for massive storms such as Helene, which devastated large swathes of the Southeast.

“You can’t expect state government to take everything on. It has to be federal as well,” said state Rep. Edna Jackson, D-Savannah, whose district was slammed by Helene. “We are part of the United States of America. These disasters are happening everywhere.”

But even some supporters of robust federal aid say it’s time to rethink spending on natural disasters. Even if federal aid continues, they say the costs to Georgia taxpayers are likely to rise as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts and other catastrophes.

Rising disaster costs

Until the Trump administration discontinued the program this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tracked the number of natural disasters that caused damage across the country costing at least $1 billion in today’s dollars.

In the 1980s, nine such disasters affected Georgia, some which hit multiple states. The number of billion-dollar disasters multiplied in subsequent decades: 14 in the 1990s, 25 in the 2000s and 37 in the 2010s.

In the first half of this decade, there have already been 49 billion-dollar disasters affecting Georgia. Last year alone there were 13 — nearly as many as in all the 1990s.

Severe storms and hurricanes caused the most damage in Georgia, but droughts, winter storms, floods, freezes and wildfires all took a toll.

Experts say billion-dollar disasters are proliferating for a couple reasons.

First, the frequency and severity of disasters is increasing. Second, people are moving to parts of the country that are susceptible to disasters, and their economies are booming.

“It doesn’t matter how many hurricanes you get, more and more people are still moving to Miami,” said Manann Donoghoe, a senior research associate at the Brookings Institution.

With more people and development in places facing more disasters, the costs are skyrocketing.

The costs of those disasters is spread among insurance companies, state and local governments and private property owners. But federal disaster relief plays a big role in covering the costs.

That funding varies by year, depending on the number of major disasters. In 2020, the state received only about $16 million in federal disaster relief, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which tracks spending for the federal government’s three main disaster relief programs.

But Georgia received nearly $250 million in disaster relief in 2017 due to Hurricane Irma and two outbreaks of tornadoes and severe storms, according to Carnegie’s tally.

And last year Hurricane Helene and Tropical Storm Debby led to pledges of $747 million in federal aid through January — a figure that has likely grown as more people applied for aid.

That money helps state and local governments pay to remove debris, repair roads other and infrastructure and address lifesaving needs. It also helps residents repair homes and helps communities rebuild.

Typically, FEMA pays 75% of disaster recovery costs, while state and local governments cover the rest. But state costs can still be substantial.

Earlier this year the General Assembly approved a revised 2025 budget that includes nearly $863 million in Helene-related expenses.

Much of the money covers the state’s own cleanup and repair costs. But the budget also includes hundreds of millions of dollars in relief for farmers and timber producers, hospitals, libraries and others in need.

Like most states, Georgia has not routinely budgeted in advance for major disaster-related costs or even tracked all that spending over time. Colin Foard, who has studied disaster funding for the Pew Charitable Trusts, said disasters are “episodic” and states often focus more on other priorities that require annual attention.

But with the frequency and cost of major disasters rising, a recent Pew report recommended states start tracking such spending more carefully and budget for disasters in advance.

Pew also recommends spending more to mitigate risk in advance through such actions as strengthening infrastructure and buying flood-prone properties for removal. A Georgia House of Representatives study committee recently recommended the state create an office to lead planning for disaster recovery, mitigation and resilience.

Foard acknowledged that it won’t be easy for states to become more proactive about disasters.

“It can be difficult for states to prioritize risk (reduction) when they have so many other priorities they’re balancing,” he said.

Cuts could squeeze states

Indeed, state officials face many hard choices as the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress prepare to cut funding for Medicaid, food stamps and other programs. States likely will have to decide whether to make up some of the difference if those cuts come to pass.

With major health and welfare programs on the chopping block, Trump’s effort to cut disaster spending has received less attention. This week the president suggested he will phase out FEMA after this year’s hurricane season.

“We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it down to the state level,” Trump told reporters Tuesday, according to CNN. “A governor should be able to handle it, and frankly, if they can’t handle it, the aftermath, then maybe they shouldn’t be governor.”

Some wonder whether states can handle a much higher share of disaster costs. In a recent report, credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings said shifting disaster costs “could lead to lasting financial and credit pressure for states and local governments, particularly if they are unable to adapt to policy or financial shifts in a timely manner.”

Still, Donoghoe, the Brookings researcher, said states should pay more.

With the federal government picking up most of the recovery costs, he said disaster-prone states have little incentive to mitigate those costs. He said if states paid a higher share of the costs, they’d have an incentive to invest in more resilient infrastructure, approve stricter zoning laws and take other steps to mitigate costs.

Donoghoe said federal disaster funding will still be needed because states don’t have the financial resources to handle the most devastating incidents.

“Realistically,” he said, “you need the financial support of the federal government when the states are overwhelmed.”