Explained | What is FEMA and why is the US agency facing scrutiny as Hurricane Milton approaches

Hurricanes Milton and Helene are putting new pressure on the federal government's emergency response agency FEMA, which is already short of money, hit by a politics-fueled disinformation campaign and burdened by its past failures in handling massive storms.

Hurricane Milton was expanding on Tuesday as it chugged past Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula en route to Florida's densely populated Tampa Bay area, still reeling from the devastating Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.

What is FEMA?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is the US government agency whose mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, including hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes and floods.

Its reputation was battered by its poor handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the agency has struggled to recover.

FEMA has a workforce of 20,000 people that can swell to more than 50,000 active members during major disasters, according to its website. It has 10 regional offices and the capacity to coordinate resources from across the federal government.

Officially created in 1979, it became part of the Department of Homeland Security in 2004.

FEMA staffing issues

FEMA says it is currently supporting 111 major disasters and 16 emergency declarations. According to its daily operations briefing, only 9% of its disaster-response workforce is available for Milton.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said on Tuesday the agency was prepared to meet the needs of people in Milton's path. FEMA has staffing options, including reassigning people from its longer-term recovery offices, to support immediate needs, she said.

The agency can also tap into DHS "surge capacity" that allows it to utilize people from agencies within the department, Criswell said. "We have these layers of staffing models because we know that we are going to have to face multiple events at once, just like this," she told CNN.

FEMA funding

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters on Oct 2 that FEMA did not have enough funding for the remainder of the hurricane season, which lasts from June to November. A group of senators from US states in the paths of the hurricanes sent a letter to Senate leaders last week noting the need for additional money for FEMA by the end of this year. Speaker Mike Johnson would not commit to bringing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives back to augment emergency-relief funding before the Nov 5 election.

FEMA is providing aid to hurricane victims from a disaster-relief fund that received $20.3 billion from Congress for the current fiscal year. However, at the request of the Biden administration, the agency is allowed to spend that money faster than anticipated because of the severity of recent disasters.

Disinformation campaign

In addition to real-life disasters, the agency has battled a slew of false rumors about how its funds have been used.

Former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, had used federal emergency money to help people who were in the country illegally. U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene went as far as to say officials control the weather. FEMA has been the target of so many falsehoods it has set up a rumor response page on its website to tamp them down.

One entry addresses the diversion concerns:

"Rumor: Funding for FEMA disaster response was diverted to support international efforts or border-related issues.

"Fact: This is false. No money is being diverted from disaster-response needs. FEMA’s disaster-response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts."

FEMA failures

The US disaster agency has been much-maligned over emergency responses to hurricanes that fell short, including in Puerto Rico in 2017 when it was hit by Hurricane Maria.

Residents accused then-President Trump of being slow to dispatch aid after Maria and clumsy in his public remarks once it was clear the US territory had been devastated.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans and flooded parts of the city as residents crowded into ill-prepared shelters.

Katrina devastated the Gulf of Mexico coast and caused more than 1,800 deaths. It also shattered the reputation of FEMA, which was sharply criticized for its response.