	Overview

Since FY1989, Congress has appropriated just under $271 billion (constant 2008 dollars) for disaster assistance in 34 appropriations measures, primarily supplemental appropriations acts, after significant catastrophes occurred in the United States. The median annual funding during the 20-year period FY1989 through the present was $2.7 billion; the mean annual funding was $12 billion ($241 billion/20)—both in current dollars. In FY2001 and FY2002, supplemental appropriations for disaster assistance exceeded $26 billion, most of which went toward recovery following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In FY2005 and FY2006, after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma struck in 2005, supplemental appropriations for disaster assistance have reached an all-time high. 110-116 , signed into law on November 13, 2007, provided a total of $6.355 billion for continued recovery efforts related to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, and for other declared major disasters or emergencies. The majority of the funding (just over $8.8 billion) in the law is for disasters occurring in 2008 which included Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, wildfires, and flooding. Other funding in the law includes $135 million for wildfire suppression, and a $100 million direct appropriation for the American Red Cross for reimbursement of disaster relief and recovery expenditures associated with emergencies and disasters that have also taken place in 2008. This report provides summary information on emergency supplemental appropriations legislation enacted since 1989 after significant catastrophes. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma

In response to the widespread destruction caused by three catastrophic hurricanes at the end of the summer of 2005, the 109 th Congress enacted four emergency supplemental appropriations bills. After Hurricanes Rita and Wilma struck, the 109 th Congress enacted two other supplementals; the costs of both were offset by rescissions. 109-148 ) rescinded roughly $34 billion in funds previously appropriated (almost 70% of which was taken from funds previously appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security) and appropriated $29 billion to other accounts primarily to pay for the restoration of federal facilities damaged by the hurricanes. The sixth supplemental measure enacted as part of P.L. Table 2 provides information on the appropriations made in the six supplementals enacted after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Another supplemental, the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 was passed three months later on September 30, 2008 ( P.L. 110-329 ). The amount provided in the statute for disaster relief as a result of the 2005 hurricane season is roughly $1.3 billion.
This report provides summary information on emergency supplemental appropriations enacted after major disasters since 1989. During the 20-year span from FY1989 through the present, Congress appropriated almost $271 billion in constant 2008 dollars. Most of the appropriations were preceded by a presidential request for supplemental funding.
In 2008 a number of major natural disasters took place including Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, the California wildfires, and the Midwest floods. To date however, the most costly disasters occurred in the summer of 2005 when Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma made landfall in Gulf Coast states. Since Hurricane Katrina struck in August of 2005, more than $151 billion has been appropriated for supplemental disaster funding, most of it needed for the recovery from the 2005 hurricanes. Portions of the appropriations were offset by rescinding more than $34 billion in previously appropriated funds, explained in the section titled "Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma."
Prior to FY2005 and the hurricanes, only the terrorist attacks of 2001 led to supplemental appropriations legislation that exceeded $20 billion. Congress appropriated a total of more than $26 billion for disaster assistance in response to the attacks. Other supplemental appropriations legislation enacted after catastrophic disasters (or several significant disasters that occurred in short time intervals) range from almost $366 million in FY2001 before the terrorist attacks (largely due to the Nisqually earthquake in the summer of 2001) to more than $12 billion for the Midwest floods of 1993 and the Northridge earthquake of 1994.
At times, the supplementals enacted by Congress have included only disaster funding. The supplementals enacted after Hurricane Hugo and the Loma Prieta earthquake, in addition to the first two enacted after Hurricane Katrina, serve as examples. On other occasions, however, disaster funding has been part of larger pieces of legislation that appropriated funds for purposes other than disaster assistance.
The most recent supplemental disaster assistance appropriation occurred on September 30, 2008 when the President signed into law H.R. 2638, the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009. The statute, P.L. 110-329, provides $21.3 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations for relief and recovery from hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters.
This report will be updated as events warrant.