City awaits $1.4M FEMA reimbursement for Hurricane Milton

St. Petersburg is expected to receive $1.4 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help offset emergency response costs from 2024’s Hurricane Milton, but city officials say the reimbursement remains tied up in a lengthy review process before any funds reach local governments.

The award was included in FEMA’s recent announcement of nearly $55 million in disaster recovery and mitigation funding for Florida. While much of the statewide package supports infrastructure projects and future storm preparedness, St. Petersburg’s allocation is designed to reimburse costs the city has already incurred.

Deputy Chief of Emergency Services Brett Ciskoski said the funding is largely tied to overtime worked by firefighters and rescue personnel who responded before, during and after Hurricane Milton.

“The money has been set aside, but there is a tremendous amount of administrative validation in the process,” Ciskoski told the Catalyst. “FEMA has allocated it, but it cannot be awarded until it goes through the Florida Division of Emergency Management.”

Like many local governments responding to federally declared disasters, St. Petersburg paid those expenses upfront. The reimbursement is intended to restore city funds rather than provide new operating dollars to Fire Rescue.

“It doesn’t go back to Fire Rescue because the city already prepaid those costs,” Ciskoski said.

The reimbursement falls under FEMA’s Public Assistance Program, which helps state and local governments recover eligible emergency response and infrastructure expenses after disasters. Before reimbursement is issued, agencies must document expenditures and complete multiple layers of state and federal review.

Although the city is waiting for those funds, officials are also focused on projects intended to reduce damage during future storms.

Ciskoski said St. Petersburg has an active application through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to repair and strengthen Fire Rescue headquarters and the city’s master fire station.

“There is an outstanding application for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program,” he said. “It’s for repairs for fire headquarters and the master fire station across the street from headquarters.”

Unlike Public Assistance funding, which reimburses costs after a disaster, Hazard Mitigation grants are awarded for projects that reduce future storm damage and improve the resilience of public infrastructure.

Ciskoski declined to discuss whether St. Petersburg expects additional FEMA reimbursements tied to Hurricanes Helene or Milton, referring questions about other pending claims to the city’s finance staff.

The federal funding package announced this week spans multiple recovery programs across Florida. In addition to reimbursements for emergency operations, FEMA approved funding for debris removal, wastewater system repairs, hazard mitigation projects and disaster case management. The agency also approved funding to elevate six flood-prone homes in Tampa through its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

For St. Petersburg, however, the immediate focus remains recovering money already spent during Hurricane Milton, while pursuing additional funding to harden critical public safety facilities before the next major storm.