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King: Congress Needs To Confront Mounting Costs Of Natural Disasters

David Goldman
/
Associated Press
A member of a South Florida urban search and rescue team sifts through a debris pile for survivors of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018.

As the cost of Hurricane Michael - already in the billions - continues to mount, Maine U.S. Sen. Angus King says Congress should start planning for the costs of natural disasters, and not just add them to the federal budget deficit. “I believe we ought to start budgeting for it instead of taking it, borrowing every time that we do it," King says. "There ought to be a contingency account because it is becoming so regular.”

King sits on the Armed Services Committee. He says he is particularly concerned that the military does not set aside money for disaster damage to its facilities, and points to the devastation of Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida caused by Hurricane Michael.

“A lot of our bases around the world are very vulnerable," he says. "If a storm like this hit Norfolk, Virginia, we would be in real trouble because the Navy is so concentrated there.”

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.