The death toll from Hurricane Helene has risen as of Wednesday morning to more than 200 deaths, 97 of them in North Carolina. As those hardest hit by the storm figure out how to piece their businesses and lives back together, the Biden administration has some bad news: FEMA is going to run out of money after Helene.

In comments to the media Wednesday, federal Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will need more money to get through hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30. His comments come as residents of western North Carolina continue to be airlifted out of harm’s way and deal with no water, power, or, in some cases, food.

“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” said Mayorkas. “We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.”

Before adjourning in August, Congress allocated $20 billion for FEMA’s disaster-relief fund. It was part of a short-term government spending bill, or “continuing resolution,” to cover the government through mid-December. However, the severity of Helene is expected to drain FEMA’s reserves.

In comments with Mayorkas and Gov. Roy Cooper during a Raleigh visit on Wednesday, President Joe Biden told media that he promised that the federal government will cover six months of a 100% federal cost share for debris removal and emergency protective measures from Hurricane Helene.

“That is a big deal for the state of North Carolina because that will allow us to fill in some cracks and crevices in other places with our state money, and the fact that you have done this so quickly is truly extraordinary,” Cooper told Biden Wednesday. “We pledge to invest this money as effectively and quickly as we possibly can. Thank you again Mr. President, and I know we will continue to stay in touch about this because I will continue to bother you about it.”

Also on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced from her tour of Florida that Americans impacted by Helene will get a one-time $750 per person allocation from FEMA for essential items like food, water, baby formula, and other emergency supplies.

The number was widely ridiculed, though, as critics point to the $1 billion the Biden/Harris administration has spent through FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program (SSP) on housing and other services for illegal immigrants in the United States.

“They have taken the FEMA emergency food and shelter program and, over time, siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars into basically making it an illegal immigrant resettlement program,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Fox News Thursday.

The SSP program issues grants and “provides financial support to non-federal entities to provide humanitarian services to noncitizen migrants following their release from the Department of Homeland Security,” according to its website.

Also according to its website, federal funding for SSP topped $1 billion over the last two years with the NYC Office of Management and Budget getting the largest grant at $20 million. 

FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, FY 2023 – FY 2024. Source: www.fema.gov/grants/shelter-services-program

“Right now in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, all of these states are hurting because of this truly natural disaster, not a Biden-Harris-made disaster,” said Moody. “They’re saying we need more money. And of course, they need more money because they’ve been laundering it from the intended purpose of this fund that Congress set forth.”

Gov. Roy Cooper is encouraging North Carolinians who’ve been impacted by Hurricane Helene to quickly register for FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program, through which they may qualify for disaster-related financial assistance to repair storm-related damage to homes and replace personal property, and help finding a temporary place to stay.

In his comments with Cooper and the North Carolina media, Biden closed with: “Nobody can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore, I hope they don’t, they must be brain dead if they do,” he said.