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 Home > News & Policies > September 2004

Hurricane Relief

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 27, 2004

Responding to Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne

Today's Presidential Action

  • Today, President Bush submitted to the Congress a supplemental budget request totaling over $7.1 billion to help Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and other affected areas respond to the damage caused by Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne.
  • The funds requested will go primarily to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is leading an inter-agency response and recovery effort in states hit by the storms.
  • Funding will also be provided to the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce (NOAA), Defense, Homeland Security (Coast Guard), Interior, Justice, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs. Funds are also being sought for the Corps of Engineers, USAID, and the Small Business Administration. These funds will provide for a variety of disaster-relief efforts and the repair and restoration of Federal government facilities.
  • With this request, the total supplemental budget request for Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne will exceed $12.2 billion.

Presidential Action: Funding Response, Recovery, and Repairs

  • The $7.1 billion request will be divided among several Federal agencies:
    • FEMA-led direct assistance to families and individuals, including payments to help cover uninsured damage to property and public infrastructure: $4.5 billion.
    • Emergency repairs for eligible highways and roads damaged by Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne: $600 million.
    • Repair of Department of Defense facilities, including military hospitals and clinics and family housing: $889 million.
    • Small Business Administration loans for affected small businesses and homeowners: $472 million.
    • Department of Agriculture financial assistance to agricultural producers suffering crop and other losses: $400 million (estimate).
    • Corps of Engineers restoration of navigational channels, repair and rehabilitation of coastal areas, and other projects in affected areas: $81 million.
    • Repairs to major Federal facilities, including Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics, national wildlife refuges and national parks, and key structures owned and run by the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Forest Service, and the Federal Aviation Administration: $132 million.
    • International disaster and famine assistance funds to mitigate damage in Grenada, Jamaica, Haiti, and other nations affected by recent hurricanes: $50 million.

Background: Federal Recovery Efforts for Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Ivan

  • For several weeks, Federal agencies have worked to help Florida, Alabama, and other areas respond to Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Ivan. As damage caused by these hurricanes has become known, the Federal Government has contributed emergency response efforts including the following (as of September 23):
    • Financial assistance provided to the victims of Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Ivan has reached $298.7 million for 532,027 applicants.
    • Storm victims have received $136.3 million for other needs, such as replacement of essential property not covered by insurance or other agencies.
    • Twenty-nine disaster recovery centers have been established in affected counties. These centers have provided information on assistance programs to 73,498 storm victims.
    • More than 2.5 million gallons of clean water, 6.8 million pounds of ice, and 7.2 million Meals Ready to Eat have been delivered for distribution throughout the affected areas. FEMA and the Department of Agriculture continue to transport food assistance to the Florida panhandle despite road, bridge, and airfield damage throughout the region.
    • The FEMA National Disaster Medical System has deployed approximately 350 medical personnel to create nine Disaster Medical Assistance Teams. These teams are working in the hardest-hit areas of Florida's Panhandle. To date, they have assisted in treating 1,500 people in medical facilities for all the hurricanes.
    • FEMA has inspected about 230,000 damaged homes and placed 723 homeless families in manufactured homes. Another 442 manufactured homes are ready to be leased.
    • FEMA now has 4,234 employees deployed to Florida and 464 local hires helping with the recovery. These include 884 community relations personnel working in the affected neighborhoods.
    • The Small Business Administration has approved $85.47 million in low-interest loans for home and business repair.
    • The Department of Labor has announced $60 million in National Emergency Grants to provide temporary jobs and support to 4,200 eligible workers.
    • Plastic sheeting has been installed on 22,631 homes, and 139,481 waterproof tarps have been delivered to emergency operations centers for distribution.
    • More than half of the estimated 26 million cubic yards of debris left by Hurricanes Charley and Frances has been removed.

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