Storms, floods, and fires are ever more extreme.

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I've never been a big fan of FEMA.

FEMA's a disaster.

FEMA's a dirty way.

People are waking up in droves to the FEMA camps.

Can the agency survive the stories that have been told about it?

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American Emergency, the Movement to Kill FEMA, is a brand new series from WNYC's on the media.

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Small businesses are hanging in there.

From Marketplace, I'm Sabrina Beneshire in New York.

Small business owner's confidence was a bit higher last month, but so were their prices.

That's the read from the National Federation of Independent Business Monthly survey out this morning.

Marketplace's Nancy Marshall-Genzor has the details.

The National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB, says its Small Business Optimism Index for April edged up from March, but it's still below the index's long-term average.

Almost a third of the small business owners surveyed have increased prices. That's well above the NFIB's average.

16% of owners said inflation was their biggest problem, up from March. More than half reported supply chain disruptions also higher than March, and small business owners told the NFIB they're having trouble finding qualified workers. About a third said they had job openings they couldn't fill in April, up two points from March.

And more business owners say this is not a good time to expand.

Spending on things like new equipment, vehicles, buildings, or land is below the NFIB's historical average.

The NFIB says small businesses aren't just sitting on the sidelines.

It appears many of them have left the playing field altogether.

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