WASHINGTON >> The Federal Emergency Management Agency does not have enough funding to ride out the remainder of the hurricane season, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday.

The announcement comes as FEMA is conducting search and rescue operations in remote sections of Appalachia five days after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and moved north, causing widespread destruction and the deaths of at least 175 people across six states. President Joe Biden has in recent days approved major disaster declarations for the states affected by the storm.

“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mayorkas told reporters Wednesday while en route to meet with officials in South Carolina. “We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.”

— The Associated Press