$36.5B for hurricanes, fires

Photo: The Canadian Press

Hurricane destruction in Puerto Rico. 

The House is on track to backing President Donald Trump's request for billions more in disaster aid, $16 billion to pay flood insurance claims and emergency funding to help the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico stay afloat.

Thursday's hurricane aid package totals $36.5 billion and sticks close to a White House request, ignoring — for now — huge demands from the powerful Florida and Texas delegations, who together pressed for some $40 billion more.

Yet President Donald Trump criticized the U.S. territory early Thursday, saying it shouldn't expect federal help to last "forever." In a series of tweets, the president said "electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes" and blamed Puerto Rico for its looming financial crisis and "a total lack of accountability."

He tweeted: "We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!"

A steady series of disasters — massive flooding in Texas, hurricane damage in Florida, and a humanitarian crisis in hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico — could be putting 2017 on track to rival Hurricane Katrina and other 2005 storms as the most costly set of disasters ever. Katrina required about $110 billion in emergency appropriations.

The bill combines $18.7 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency with $16 billion to permit the financially troubled federal flood insurance program pay an influx of Harvey-related claims. Another $577 million would pay for western firefighting efforts.

Up to $5 billion of the FEMA money could be used to help local governments — especially Puerto Rico's central government and the island's local governments — remain functional as they endure unsustainable cash shortfalls in the aftermath of Maria, which has choked off revenues and strained resources.