The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced more than $1.6 billion in federal funding for states, tribal nations, territories, local jurisdictions and operational partners nationwide for disaster preparedness and resilience on Sept. 23. The announcement represents the single largest federal preparedness investment in the current cycle.
The administration framed the funding as aligned with President Donald Trump’s America First Resilience Strategy, according to FEMA. The grants fund planning, training, equipment and infrastructure investments designed to reduce the impact of future disasters before they occur.
Recipients span the full range of state, local and tribal emergency management partners across the country. The announcement came on the same day FEMA issued several smaller, region-specific grant announcements, including $10.5 million in hazard mitigation grants to Colorado communities, more than $24 million in resilience funding for the Mid-Atlantic region and more than $19 million in firefighter grants to departments in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary James Mullin has emphasized empowering local officials to lead disaster planning, positioning federal funds as enabling tools rather than top-down mandates, according to FEMA.
The $1.6 billion disbursement comes as the federal government manages simultaneous disaster response operations in Hawaii, where Hurricane Lowell damaged agricultural operations and earthquake recovery continues, and in Colorado, where more than 53 counties received USDA disaster designations on the same day.
State emergency management directors, represented nationally by the National Emergency Management Association, have called for sustained federal investment in preparedness programs as disaster frequency and severity increase across the country.