​Electric cooperatives depend on FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund to help finance the restoration of electric power to consumer-members after presidentially declared disasters, including floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes​ and ice storms. Disasters can have a disproportionate impact on electric co-ops, due in large part to small communities having to share the cost of recovery. Without this assistance to help manage storm response expenses and ensure smooth recoveries from natural disasters, many co-op consumer-members living in disaster-stricken areas would face significantly higher electric rates.