natural disasters

Southeast Arkansas county will receive state relief funds after severe storm damage in June

BY: - August 1, 2023

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a Southeast Arkansas county a disaster area on Tuesday and promised relief funds to the area in light of severe storms in June. Arkansas has seen a wide range of severe storm damage this year, including in Ashley County on June 18, when 30 to 40 mph winds downed power […]

Workers dig for gas lines along Shackleford Road in the devastated Walnut Valley neighborhood Monday afternoon, April 3, 2023. A tornado plowed through west Little Rock Friday afternoon, March 31, damaging hundreds of homes and businesses. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)

FEMA disaster relief fund faces August shortfall as feds scramble to find cash

BY: - July 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund is on track to run out of money as soon as next month, though the agency’s administrator told Congress on Thursday that she’s working with the White House to find a solution. “Our current projections on the disaster relief fund is that we will go […]

Southeast Arkansas residents still recovering from 2021 flooding

BY: - June 12, 2023

Two years later, Brenda Verser of Dumas still has not replaced the carpets in her three-bedroom house. Stanley Weaver of Tillar is still trying to get his kitchen cabinets replaced. Felicia Chaney of Winchester has a tarp on the roof and holes in the ceiling of the double-wide trailer she shares with her six children. […]

A tree made top-heavy by ice tumbled into the side of a house in Pulaski County, Arkansas, during the winter storm of Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 2023. The tree was uprooted as soils became saturated. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

Arkansas seeks federal disaster relief after winter storm earlier this year

BY: - March 20, 2023

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has asked President Joe Biden to issue a disaster declaration for 13 counties that experienced the worst of a four-day winter storm that hit the state in late January and early February. The request for federal public assistance covers 11 counties in southern Arkansas — Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha, […]

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) encouraged his fellow Republicans on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, to pass the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package by Friday to keep the government funded through Sept. 30, 2023.(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Congress rolls out $1.7 trillion spending deal in race to Friday deadline

BY: - December 20, 2022

WASHINGTON — Congress unveiled a $1.7 trillion spending package early Tuesday that would fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, completing the annual process that began this spring when President Joe Biden sent lawmakers his budget request.  Biden’s chief budget official in a statement urged Congress to speedily pass the massive […]

President Joe Biden meets with congressional leaders Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, at the White House. On the agenda was a $37-billion request for disaster relief. Biden met with (L-R) House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

More than $37 billion in disaster aid under scrutiny in congressional lame duck

BY: - November 29, 2022

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration wants Congress to approve more than $37 billion to help communities throughout the country recover from various natural disasters, including Hurricanes Ian, which battered Florida and the Southeast U.S. in late September, and Fiona, which hit Puerto Rico.  The supplemental funding request comes on top of a $9 billion COVID-19 […]