Hurricane season begins: Are FEMA and NOAA prepared amid staffing cuts and FEMA chief's 'unaware' remark?

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), responsible for responding to emergency situations, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), tasked with tracking weather conditions to predict hurricanes, have suffered dramatic cuts from the federal government at the start of the hurricane season from June 1. Concerns have risen about the lack of preparedness of these agencies to predict and tackle hurricanes in advance due to a general lack of resources.
Ever since President Donald Trump took office in January, the Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE) has severely pulled back on funding given to organizations crucial in tracking and dealing with climate catastrophes along the coast. This has resulted in several staff cuts, restrictions on travel and training, and a drain of experienced professionals capable of dealing with worst-case scenarios.
'My nightmare is a major catastrophic storm hitting an area that is reeling from the impact of all of this nonsense from the Trump administration and people will die. And that could happen in Florida, that could happen in Texas, that could happen in South Carolina,' said Susan Cutter, the director of the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina, in a statement to the Associated Press.
Out of the 122 offices of the National Weather Service (NWS), 8 are down by more than 35% in staffing. Around 2,000 people from the full-time staff at FEMA have left the agency since Trump took office leading experts to raise concern over 'brain drain' in crucial agencies. Several emergency management training sessions have either been canceled or moved online this year. Many attendees' travel to the National Hurricane Conference was restricted this year.
The launch of weather balloons, which are crucial for understanding the flow of currents and predicting storms about to hit the US, has been restricted due to lack of staffing. Former NOAA meteorologist Jeff Masters, now at Yale Climate Connections, said to the Associated Press, 'Hurricane forecasts, I'm expecting not to be as accurate this year because of that lack of balloon data.'
The government has responded to such criticism by reasserting that all agencies are fully capable of dealing with any disasters and the move is meant to give individual states more responsibility in addressing local catastrophes. 'FEMA is shifting from bloated DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens,' Associate FEMA Administrator Geoff Harbaugh said to the Associated Press.
Only the National Hurricane Center, which is responsible for tracking developments in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Caribbean, has been spared by the administration and is running at full staff capacity. The agencies are also incorporating artificial intelligence into their tracking systems this year for more accurate predictions. No additional budgeting has been provided to states to help them deal with local disasters.
Local agencies like the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency have started to take matters into their own hands. 'We have just opened our 10th, about to open our 11th DRC, Disaster Recovery Centers,' said Scott Simmons, chief communications officer for the MEMA. 'FEMA has sent just shy of 300 people to the state of Mississippi to help residents apply for what needs to be done in the wake of that storm system.' Short-term duty assignments and reassignments are being used by the NWS to fill staffing gaps.
Amid rising concerns over national agencies' disaster-management capabilities, a statement made by Acting Chief of FEMA, David Richardson, has sent alarm bells ringing. Many staffers and interagency partners who attended Monday's (June 2) daily operational briefing reported Richardson expressing his unawareness about the fact that the US had a hurricane season. Though many were left puzzled by whether he meant it as a fact or joke, most people expressed that the chief genuinely seemed to be in a state of shock.
The DHS tried to defend Richardson with a public statement that said, 'Despite meanspirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this Hurricane Season. FEMA is laser-focused on disaster response, and protecting the American people.' Richardson is a former Marine Corps officer who served overseas and was the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) assistant secretary in dealing with weapons of mass destruction. He has no direct experience in dealing with high-stakes catastrophes.
Despite these developments, representatives of the FEMA and NOAA say they are prepared to deal with any catastrophe.