Less than 2 A few months before the official start of hurricane season, the country’s major disaster response agencies are facing an uncertain future. Employees working across the Federal Emergency Management Agency have told Wired that rapid erosion of tools, external partnerships and practices, as well as the reduction in staffing and the looming threat of senior staff leaving, even if the season reaches a slightly unscathed state as they head towards summer, is bad news for the country. FEMA staff who spoke to Wired were allowed anonymous as they were not allowed to speak to the media.
The agency said, “We haven’t seen any major drastic changes yet, but it doesn’t need much to screw completely. [disaster] There’s a response,” says one employee. “We’re set up for a really, really bad situation.”
FEMA was established as an independent body in 1979 by an executive order signed by President Jimmy Carter. Since 9/11, it has moved under the Department of Homeland Security. In recent years, expensive disasters such as Hurricane Ian, Ida, Helen and others, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, have caused agents Spending to surge.
Agents have been my favorite target for a long time. Conspiracy theorist. But last year, after Hurricane Helen tore parts of North Carolina, Donald Trump was encouraged by right-wing influencers. Amplified false information Puts political bullseye at FEMA, which leads to his second president, about the agency’s response to the storm.
During his first week of office, Trump signed Presidential Order It establishes a council to consider past disasters managed by FEMA, assesses its current ability to respond to events, and the order criticizes the agency’s “effectiveness, priorities, and capabilities.” In late March, Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem publicly said at the Cabinet meeting that DHS “we will eliminate FEMA.” According to the report, one day later Politics Washington Post, Noem quickly came up with plans to cut agencies down to disaster response By October And then it moves it in the White House range.
“Unlike previous administrations’ unprepared and inadequate responses to natural disasters like Hurricane Helen, the Trump administration is committed to ensuring that Americans are affected. [sic] Geoff Harbaugh, a pre-administrator of FEMA’s Diplomacy, will continue to be managed uninterrupted without close coordination with local and state officials ahead of the 2025 hurricane season. Emergency management is best when headed by local and state authorities. ”
Who exactly is on the Review Council appointed by the White House (Noem and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses, Cochair’s secretary appointed by the executive order reveals the mystery. The lawmakers argue It was tapped to serve, but the official members’ public list has not been published. The January executive order requires the council to meet by April 24th, but the board’s only lawsuit so far is Public Comments “To deepen understanding [the public’s] FEMA experience during disasters. “CNN at the meeting in late March It has been reported Noem and other officials discussed the possibility of rescinding the executive order that fully established the council. (Wired asked FEMA for a list of council members and for updates on when they were planning to meet. The agency did not provide these details.)
