SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Information from the Disaster Dollar Database suggests that Florida could be severely impacted by the dissolution of FEMA, if it were to happen.
The database, which tracks the major sources of grant-based federal funding for disaster recovery in the U.S., found that millions of Floridians benefit from FEMA annually.
[WATCH VIDEO BELOW: Resident shares feelings about FEMA]
If FEMA is eliminated, as Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Trump administration have suggested, one report indicates that disaster relief would be a significant challenge for Florida to manage independently.
“FEMA is a big disappointment,” President Donald Trump said during his first week in office in January. The president has expressed his desire to reduce the agency’s role and leave disaster relief responsibilities to the states.
The Carnegie Disaster Dollar Database highlights that if FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program were to vanish, Florida would need to address the needs of the half a million applicants who rely on this program annually.
Over the past decade, the program has provided an average of $3,398 to 1.7 million households in Florida. Central Florida alone has hundreds of thousands of applicants, with over 103,000 in District 7 and just over 96,000 in District 10 since 2021.
Residents living in flood-prone areas, such as David Piotrowski, a Seminole County resident near Lake Jesup, think FEMA’s assistance is vital to recovery.
“It’s wonderful that they do that for people because it’s an uncontrollable reaction when a hurricane hits,” Piotrowski said. “There’s nothing you can do, and you have to go out and get help.”
He told News 6 he would prefer to see disaster relief continue the way it is right now.
“I prefer FEMA instead of the government,” he said. “I’m sorry, I’m a veteran, but it doesn’t mean I have to respect what people are doing and think that they’re spending money wisely.”
To effectively handle relief efforts, the state would need to establish the necessary infrastructure, including online portals, call centers, and a workforce to manage the operations. Despite the potential challenges posed by FEMA’s possible dissolution, DeSantis expressed confidence in the state’s ability to manage disaster relief independently.
When asked about concerns regarding timely assistance without FEMA, DeSantis responded, “We don’t rely on FEMA. We do it. We lead. We got local partners. We got the best emergency management team from the local and state level anywhere in the country, bar none. Not even close.”
This comes just as hurricane season approaches and as Floridians continue to be worried about storms. More than two-thirds of Floridians are moderately or extremely concerned about hurricanes increasing in strength and frequency, according to a new Florida Atlantic University survey.
