Tennesseans have gotten more than $27M in FEMA aid since 2015

FEMA has sent more than $27.2 million to Tennessee for individual disaster assistance since 2015, with more coming to the state by the day as residents grapple with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene .

Why it matters: FEMA checks are a top talking point right now as the agency faces a funding shortfall while dealing with dueling disasters: the devastation of Helene and the potentially calamitous landfall of Hurricane Milton .

Zoom in: The numbers illustrate Americans' urgent financial needs in the immediate aftermath of a disaster — a point that's painfully obvious in Tennessee and throughout the Southeast right now.

• More than $210 million in federal support has already been doled out for Helene recovery across the region as of Monday .
• Some $632,000 has already been approved for Helene-related disaster assistance in Tennessee, according to FEMA.

The big picture: Florida, Louisiana and Texas residents have received the lion's share of FEMA direct assistance since 2015, per newly gathered data.

• The tally reflects the toll of storms like 2017's Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and 2021's Ida. But the full impact of Helene and the looming Hurricane Milton remains to be seen.

Driving the news: The map above shows the total amount given to recipients in each state as part of FEMA's Individuals and Households Program (IHP) between January 2015 and April 2024.

• It's based on data collected by Sarah Labowitz of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace through Freedom of Information Act requests, and assembled into the "Disaster Dollar Database."
• The database covers 170 incidents for which IHP was activated, including hurricanes, floods and fires.

By the numbers: Tennesseans got aid for eight incidents in that timeframe, including for the Gatlinburg wildfires , flooding in Waverly and Nashville-area tornadoes in 2020 and 2023 .

Reality check: " Helene is going to change the map," Labowitz tells Axios.

• Expect big jumps in Tennessee as well as North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Apply for assistance: Residents in eight counties in northeast Tennessee can apply for individual federal aid tied to Helene. Relief centers in the region can connect residents to resources.

How it works: IHP is meant as an immediate financial lifeline — not as an insurance replacement — for people whose lives have been upended by natural disasters.

• The average IHP award between January 2015 and April 2024 was about $5,700 nationally, and around 40% of applicants were deemed eligible.

Zoom out: The Individuals and Households Program amounts to just a portion of FEMA's post-disaster relief spending.

• FEMA spent about $12.7 billion nationally on IHP over the covered period, compared to about $52.3 billion on "Public Assistance," which helps fund community rebuilding efforts.

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