When a disaster overwhelms a community, FEMA's Public Assistance program reimburses state, local, and tribal governments — for the emergency response, and for rebuilding the public infrastructure the storm took out. Here is where that money has gone.
Federal share obligated, by state and territory. A handful of catastrophic storms — Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, Maria — concentrate most of the spending in a few places.
Every PA project falls into one of eight damage categories — grouped into the immediate emergency work, the longer permanent work of rebuilding, and the management cost of running the grants.
Federal share obligated by year. Recovery spending isn't steady — it spikes with the catastrophic events that drive it: Katrina in 2005, Sandy in 2012, the 2017 hurricane season, and the pandemic in 2020.
Which individual declarations drew the most Public Assistance dollars. The list is a roll call of the worst storms of the century — plus the one event that wasn't a storm at all.
Figures come from OpenFEMA's Public Assistance Funded Projects Details, every funded project with a declaration date in 2000 or later. "Federal share obligated" is the federal government's committed portion — not the full project cost, and not necessarily the amount finally spent. One disaster can fund tens of thousands of separate projects across many applicants.