Lessons from the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season: What philanthropy can do better

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season saw 18 tropical events, including 11 hurricanes. In the United States, Helene and Milton stand out among the most significant, with damages in the billions. It will take the affected communities years to recover.  

Hurricane Milton: Implications of repeated storms 

Milton was the third storm to hit Florida in three months and the second to hit in two weeks. The combination of storm surge, heavy rainfall, wind damage, and tornadoes led to $160 billion-$180 billion in economic loss and damages. In Sarasota County, it destroyed million-dollar homes on barrier islands, impacting the donors nonprofits and foundations rely on for disaster relief funding. It also hit manufactured housing communities, home to many in the tourism and service industries that drive the state’s economy. And as a result of repeated storms, insurance companies have been leaving Florida or  increasing insurance rates, creating a crisis of underinsurance that Milton will exacerbate. 

Hurricane Helene: The challenge of underinvestment 

Floods don’t attract as much funding as hurricanes and tropical storms. But what happens when the hurricane leads to flooding, as Helene did in six states, causing upwards of $53 billion in North Carolina alone? Insurance companies also treat flooding differently, so philanthropic funding is needed even more.  

Hardest hit by flooding was the Central Appalachia region, where years of disinvestment by government and philanthropy left the region ill prepared. “Appalachia receives a fraction of the philanthropic support other regions see, with funders in rural Central Appalachia having access to only one-tenth the resources of their urban counterparts,” says Ryan Eller, executive director of the Appalachia Funders Network. “This disparity is all the more striking considering the magnitude of challenges here, even before the storm—broadband, health care, and food deserts; intergenerational poverty born from extraction; and the ongoing opioid crisis.” The losses from Helene went beyond infrastructure and financial losses—lives, ecologically rich lands, and irreplaceable cultural sites. “It’s a deep wound to the fabric of our region.” 

These disparities mean that Central Appalachia is at a disadvantage and will need significant funding to recover.  Still, the storm helped draw attention to the issues Eller outlines and, more positively, to the region’s community capacity to do so much more with an influx of government and philanthropic investment.  

How much relief funding has been invested in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season?

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) annually publishes the State of Disaster Philanthropy (SODP) report using Candid data, but the lag in data reporting means it’s always two years behind. Our most recent report looked at 2022 disasters. But as I wrote in April about giving for the Maui wildfires, we gain a unique perspective when looking at data soon after the disaster.  

As of December 12, 2024, Candid’s tracking of press releases and other funding announcements have found 227 grants and pledges worth nearly $278 million for Hurricanes Helene and Milton. This doesn’t come close to the billions of dollars of damage.  

Is 2024 Atlantic hurricane season relief funding better than usual? 

Yes. If all pledges are fulfilled, $272 million is significantly more than was pledged for all storms in some years—including 2017 (which saw Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria), when just $255.7 million was disbursed, despite much more being pledged. And that’s just two of 2024’s storms. 

The largest in-kind donor for Helene, Direct Relief, pledged $74 million in medication and medical supplies, as well as $250,000 in cash assistance. The largest cash donor was Asheville-based Dogwood Health Trust, which committed $10 million to the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and $40 million for local agencies’ immediate response activities. CDP encourages giving grants locally as much as possible.  

Dogwood Health Trust is also investing in longer-term initiatives, including $4 million for housing support and rebuilding and $10 million for the Western North Carolina Small Business Initiative, which will support recovery for the 45,000 small businesses affected.  

On average, over 50% of disaster relief funding goes to immediate response and relief, while just 10% goes to reconstruction and recovery. However, some funders, like the Lilly Endowment, have provided both kinds of grants. Their first two grants split $15 million between American Red Cross and Salvation Army for direct activities or subgrants across the six affected states. A third grant provides $7.5 million to the North Carolina Community Foundation to support recovery needs across Western North Carolina.  

What can philanthropy do? 

An important next step is for funders to honor their pledges. Funders that have yet to award grants might consider investing in capacity building and resilient rebuilding.  

 Investment in both hard infrastructure and community preparedness are critical. People may know what they need to do to secure their homes or to prepare for evacuation or sheltering in place, but they may not have the resources to make it happen. Investments in parametric insurance that are triggered by floods or power outages could help low-income families stay safe.  

In the U.S., Central Appalachia is most at risk of struggling to recover because they were already experiencing underinvestment before suffering immense damage. Funders need to build long-term relationships with community organizations, partner with other funders, provide flexible funds, and commit to investing long-term to build back better.  

Photo credit: Save the Children