Under its public assistance program, FEMA pays most of the cost to state and local governments of rebuilding their damaged infrastructure -- more than $13 billion in the last decade. In addition to replacing and repairing government-owned highways and bridges, the agency pays for debris removal and overtime expenses for police and emergency workers. It helps repair hospitals and schools, and covers such smaller items as stop signs, traffic signals and public tennis courts.
Generally, FEMA covers 75 percent of the cost, with state and local governments splitting the rest. Attempts to increase the local share have been beaten back over the years by local government and members of Congress. Some critics contend that federal taxpayers are paying too high a price -- essentially subsidizing some local governments that under-insure their public property.
FEMA also administers the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides the bulk of the nation's flood policies. (Private insurers do not insure against flood damage, which they consider too risky. Losses from wind damage are covered by private policies and insurance pools set up by state governments and others). As of 2002, the agency had about 4.5 million policies in place covering more than $600 billion worth of property, much of it along the coast.
Claim payouts have averaged about $1 billion a year for the last decade, according to Buckley, who helps oversee the agency's mitigation division, which includes the flood program.
Ivan, a withering Category 3 hurricane that barreled across the Florida Panhandle last year and flooded thousands of homes, changed that. It generated 30,000 claims valued at $1.3 billion. Including the other three hurricanes that struck Florida in 2004, FEMA and the private insurers it works with paid out $2 billion.
But as bad as last year was, this year is likely to be far worse. Katrina caused extensive flooding from Miami, near where it crossed over into the Gulf of Mexico, and all along the Gulf Coast from Alabama to New Orleans.
"Last year was a record year. This is going to be much more than that," Buckley added. "I can't even imagine what it is going to be."
Researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.
