Latest news with #Fema
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Man responsible for US disaster response ‘didn't know it was hurricane season'
The acting head of Fema told colleagues he was not aware America had a hurricane season, according to a report. Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) were left baffled when David Richardson, who has led the agency since early May, said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season during a briefing on Monday, according to four sources familiar with the situation. The US hurricane season officially began on Sunday and lasts through November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast last week that this year's season is expected to bring as many as 10 hurricanes. A spokesman for the department of homeland security (DHS) which oversees Fema insisted Mr Richardson was joking when he made the remark. Mr Richardson said during the briefing that there would be no changes to the agency's disaster response plans despite having told staff to expect a new plan in May, the sources told Reuters. There is mounting concern that the departures of a raft of top Fema officials, staff cuts and reductions in hurricane preparations have left the agency ill-prepared for a storm season forecast to be above normal. Hurricanes kill dozens of people and cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually across the US every year. The storms have become increasingly more destructive and costly. A DHS spokesman said: 'Despite mean-spirited 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.' Mr Richardson's remark spurred confusion among agency staff and reignited concern about his lack of familiarity with its operations, three sources told Reuters. Mr Richardson, who has no disaster response experience, said he will not be issuing a new disaster plan because he does not want to make changes that might counter the Fema review council, the sources said. Donald Trump created the council to evaluate Fema. Its members include Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, governors and other officials. In a May 15 staff town hall, Mr Richardson said a disaster plan, including tabletop exercises, would be ready for review by May 23. The back-and-forth on updating the disaster plan and a lack of clear strategic guidance has created confusion for Fema staff, said one source. Mr Richardson has evoked his military experience as a former Marine artillery officer in conversations with staff. Before joining Fema he was assistant secretary at the department for homeland security's office for countering weapons of mass destruction, which he has told staff he will continue to lead. Mr Richardson was appointed as the new chief of Fema last month after his predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, was abruptly fired. Mr Hamilton had publicly broken with Mr Trump over the future of the agency, but sources told Reuters that Trump allies had already been manoeuvring to oust him because they were unhappy with what they saw as Hamilton's slow-moving effort to restructure. Mr Trump said Fema should be shrunk or even eliminated, arguing states can take on many of its functions, as part of a wider downsizing of the federal government. About 2,000 full-time Fema staff, one-third of its total, have been terminated or voluntarily left the agency since the start of the Trump administration in January. Despite Ms Noem's prior comments that she plans to eliminate Fema, in May she approved Mr Richardson's request to retain more than 2,600 short-term disaster response and recovery employees whose terms were set to expire this year, one of the sources said, confirming an earlier report by NBC News. Those short-term staff make up the highest proportion of Fema employees, about 40 per cent, and are a pillar of the agency's on-the-ground response efforts. Fema recently sharply reduced hurricane training and workshops for state and local emergency managers due to travel and speaking restrictions imposed on staff, according to Reuters. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Climate
- Telegraph
Man responsible for US disaster response ‘didn't know it was hurricane season'
The acting head of Fema told colleagues he was not aware America had a hurricane season, according to a report. Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) were left baffled when David Richardson, who has led the agency since early May, said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season during a briefing on Monday, according to four sources familiar with the situation. The US hurricane season officially began on Sunday and lasts through November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast last week that this year's season is expected to bring as many as 10 hurricanes. A spokesman for the department of homeland security (DHS) which oversees Fema insisted Mr Richardson was joking when he made the remark. Mr Richardson said during the briefing that there would be no changes to the agency's disaster response plans despite having told staff to expect a new plan in May, the sources told Reuters. There is mounting concern that the departures of a raft of top Fema officials, staff cuts and reductions in hurricane preparations have left the agency ill-prepared for a storm season forecast to be above normal. Hurricanes kill dozens of people and cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually across the US every year. The storms have become increasingly more destructive and costly. A DHS spokesman said: 'Despite mean-spirited 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.' Mr Richardson's remark spurred confusion among agency staff and reignited concern about his lack of familiarity with its operations, three sources told Reuters. Mr Richardson, who has no disaster response experience, said he will not be issuing a new disaster plan because he does not want to make changes that might counter the Fema review council, the sources said. Donald Trump created the council to evaluate Fema. Its members include Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, governors and other officials. In a May 15 staff town hall, Mr Richardson said a disaster plan, including tabletop exercises, would be ready for review by May 23. The back-and-forth on updating the disaster plan and a lack of clear strategic guidance has created confusion for Fema staff, said one source. Mr Richardson has evoked his military experience as a former Marine artillery officer in conversations with staff. Before joining Fema he was assistant secretary at the department for homeland security's office for countering weapons of mass destruction, which he has told staff he will continue to lead. Cuts to Fema Mr Richardson was appointed as the new chief of Fema last month after his predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, was abruptly fired. Mr Hamilton had publicly broken with Mr Trump over the future of the agency, but sources told Reuters that Trump allies had already been manoeuvring to oust him because they were unhappy with what they saw as Hamilton's slow-moving effort to restructure. Mr Trump said Fema should be shrunk or even eliminated, arguing states can take on many of its functions, as part of a wider downsizing of the federal government. About 2,000 full-time Fema staff, one-third of its total, have been terminated or voluntarily left the agency since the start of the Trump administration in January. Despite Ms Noem's prior comments that she plans to eliminate Fema, in May she approved Mr Richardson's request to retain more than 2,600 short-term disaster response and recovery employees whose terms were set to expire this year, one of the sources said, confirming an earlier report by NBC News. Those short-term staff make up the highest proportion of Fema employees, about 40 per cent, and are a pillar of the agency's on-the-ground response efforts. Fema recently sharply reduced hurricane training and workshops for state and local emergency managers due to travel and speaking restrictions imposed on staff, according to Reuters.
TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- Climate
- TimesLIVE
Emergency services staff confused after head said he was unaware of US hurricane season, sources say
Staff at the federal emergency management agency (Fema) were left baffled on Monday after the head of the US disaster agency said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation. The remark was made during a briefing by David Richardson, who has led (Fema) since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in another context. The US hurricane season officially began on Sunday and lasts until November. The national oceanic and atmospheric administration forecast last week that this year's season is expected to bring as many as 10 hurricanes. A spokesperson for the department of homeland security, Fema's parent agency, said the comment was a joke and Fema is prepared for hurricane season. The spokesperson said under homeland security secretary Kristi Noem and Richardson 'Fema is shifting from bloated, DC-centric deadweight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens'. Richardson said during the briefing there would be no changes to the agency's disaster response plans despite having told staff to expect a new plan in May, the sources told Reuters. Richardson's comments come amid widespread concern that the departures of a raft of top Fema officials, staff cuts and reductions in hurricane preparations will leave the agency ill-prepared for a storm season forecast to be above normal. Democrats criticised Richardson after the Reuters report. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer posted the Reuters headline about Richardson on X and said he was 'unaware why he hasn't been fired yet'. Representative Bennie Thompson, the senior Democrat on the House homeland security committee with oversight of Fema, issued a statement to Reuters that read: 'Suffice to say, disaster response is no joke. If you don't know what or when hurricane season is, you're not qualified to run Fema. Get someone knowledgeable in there.' Hurricanes kill dozens of people and cost hundreds of millions annually across a swath of US states every year. The storms have become increasingly more destructive and costly due to the effects of climate change. Richardson's comment purporting ignorance about hurricane season spread among agency staff, spurring confusion and reigniting concern about his lack of familiarity with Fema's operations, said three sources. Richardson, who has no disaster response experience, said during Monday's briefing, a daily all-hands meeting held by phone and video conference, he will not issue a new disaster plan because he does not want to make changes that might counter the Fema Review Council, the sources said. President Donald Trump created the council to evaluate Fema. Its members include Noem, governors and other officials. In a May 15 staff town hall, Richardson said a disaster plan, including tabletop exercises, would be ready for review by May 23. The back-and-forth on updating the disaster plan and a lack of clear strategic guidance have created confusion for Fema staff, said one source. Richardson has evoked his military experience as a former marine artillery officer in conversations with staff. Before joining Fema, he was assistant secretary at the department of homeland security office for countering weapons of mass destruction, which he has told staff he will continue to lead. Richardson was appointed as the new chief of Fema last month after his predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, was abruptly fired. Hamilton had publicly broken with Trump over the future of the agency, but sources told Reuters Trump allies had been manoeuvring to oust him because they were unhappy with what they saw as Hamilton's slow-moving effort to restructure Fema. Trump has said Fema should be shrunk or even eliminated, arguing states can take on many of its functions, as part of a wider downsizing of the federal government. About 2,000 full-time Fema staff, one-third of its total, have been terminated or voluntarily left the agency since the start of the Trump administration. Despite Noem's prior comments that she plans to eliminate Fema, in May she approved Richardson's request to retain more than 2,600 short-term disaster response and recovery employees whose terms were set to expire this year, one source said, confirming an earlier report by NBC News. The short-term staff make up the highest proportion of Fema employees, about 40%, and are a pillar of the agency's on-the-ground response efforts. Fema recently sharply reduced hurricane training and workshops for state and local emergency managers due to travel and speaking restrictions imposed on staff, according to prior Reuters reporting.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Trump's new Fema chief says he didn't know the US had hurricane season, report says
Fema chief David Richardson (File Image) The recently installed head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) told employees on Monday that he did not know the United States had a hurricane season, according to Reuters. David Richardson, who assumed Fema leadership in early May, made this statement during a briefing. Staff were uncertain whether the comment was intended as humour or should be taken at face value. The official hurricane season commenced on Sunday and continues through November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently predicted up to 10 hurricanes for this year's season. A department of homeland Security spokesperson clarified that the remark was intended as humour, affirming Fema's hurricane preparedness. They stated that under Secretary Kristi Noem and Richardson's leadership, Fema is transitioning to a streamlined disaster response organisation that enables states to provide citizen relief. During the briefing, Richardson indicated there would be no modifications to existing disaster response protocols, despite previous communications to staff about a new plan in May, sources informed Reuters. The timing of Richardson's remarks has heightened existing concerns about FEMA's storm season readiness, given recent senior staff departures, workforce reductions, and decreased hurricane preparations. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 무릎에서 소리나거나 무거운 느낌 드는 분만 읽으세요. 큰딸민지 더 알아보기 Undo Democratic leaders responded critically. Senate leader Chuck Schumer posted on X, questioning why Richardson remains in position. "And I'm unaware of why he hasn't been fired yet." Representative Bennie Thompson issued a statement to Reuters saying: "Suffice to say, disaster response is no joke. If you don't know what or when hurricane season is, you're not qualified to run FEMA. Get someone knowledgeable in there." Annual hurricane damage costs hundreds of millions and claims numerous lives across US states. Climate change has intensified these storms' destructiveness and financial impact.
The Guardian
29-05-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
‘Flooding could end southern Appalachia': the scientists on an urgent mission to save lives
The abandoned homes and razed lots along the meandering Troublesome Creek in rural eastern Kentucky is a constant reminder of the 2022 catastrophic floods that killed dozens of people and displaced thousands more. Among the hardest hit was Fisty, a tiny community where eight homes, two shops and nine people including a woman who uses a wheelchair, her husband and two children, were swept away by the rising creek. Some residents dismissed cellphone alerts of potential flooding due to mistrust and warning fatigue, while for others it was already too late to escape. Landslides trapped the survivors and the deceased for several days. In response, geologists from the University of Kentucky secured a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and raced around collecting perishable data in hope of better understanding the worst flooding event to hit the region in a generation. On a recent morning in Fisty, Harold Baker sat smoking tobacco outside a new prefabricated home while his brother James worked on a car in a makeshift workshop. With no place else to go, the Baker family rebuilt the workshop on the same spot on Troublesome Creek with financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). 'I feel depressed, everyone else is gone now. The days are long. It feels very lonely when the storms come in,' said Baker, 55, whose four dogs also drowned in 2022. With so few people left, the car repair business is way down, the road eerily quiet. Since the flood that took everything, Harold and James patrol the river every time it rains. The vigilance helped avert another catastrophe on Valentine's Day after another so-called generational storm. No one died but the trauma, like the river, came roaring back. 'I thought we were going to lose everything again, it was scary,' said Baker. At this spot in July 2022, geologist Ryan Thigpen found flood debris on top of two-storey buildings – 118in (3 metres) off the ground. The water mark on Harold's new trailer shows the February flood hit 23in. Troublesome creek is a 40-mile narrow tributary of the north fork of the Kentucky River, which, like many waterways across southern Appalachia, does not have a single gauge. Yet these rural mountain hollers are getting slammed over and over by catastrophic flooding – and landslides – as the climate crisis increases rainfall across the region and warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico turbocharge storms. Two years after 45 people died in the 2022 floods, the scale of disaster grew with Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 230 people with almost half the deaths in Appalachia, after days of relentless rain turned calm streams into unstoppable torrents. Another 23 people died during the February 2025 rains, then 24 more in April during a four-day storm that climate scientists found was made significantly more likely and more severe by the warming planet. The extreme weather is making life unbearable and economically unviable for a chronically underserved region where coal was once king, and climate skepticism remains high. Yet little is known about flooding in the Appalachian region. It's why the geologists – also called earth scientists – got involved. 'This is where most people are going to die unless we create reliable warning systems and model future flood risks for mitigation and to help mountain communities plan for long-term resilience. Otherwise, these extreme flooding events could be the end of southern Appalachia,' said Thigpen. Amid accelerating climate breakdown the urgency of the mission is clear. Yet this type of applied science could be derailed – or at least curtailed – by the unprecedented assault on science, scientists and federal agencies by Donald Trump and his billionaire donors. Danielle Baker, Harold's sister-in-law (James's wife), had her bags packed a week in advance of the February flood and was glued to local television weather reports, which, like the geologists, rely on meteorological forecasting by the taxpayer-funded National Weather Service (NWS). She was 'scared to death' watching the creek rise so high again. But this time the entire family, including 11 dogs and several cats, evacuated to the church on the hill where they waited 26 hours for the water to subside. 'The people in this community are the best you could meet, but it's a ghost town now. I didn't want to rebuild so close to the creek, but we had nowhere else to go. Every time it rains, I can't sleep,' she said, wiping away tears with her shirt. Danielle was unaware of Trump's plans to dismantle Fema and slash funding from the NWS and NSF. 'A lot of people here would not know what to do without Fema's help. We need more information about the weather, better warnings, because the rains are getting worse,' she said. A day after the Guardian's visit in mid-May, a NWS office in eastern Kentucky scrambled to cover the overnight forecast as severe storms moved through the region, triggering multiple tornadoes that eventually killed 28 people. Hundreds of staff have left the NWS in recent months, through a combination of layoffs and buyouts at the behest of Trump mega-donor Elon Musk's 'department of government efficiency' (Doge). Yet statewide, two-thirds of Kentuckians voted for Trump last year, with his vote share closer to 80% in rural communities hit hard by extreme weather, where many still blame Barack Obama for coal mine closures. 'It doesn't matter if people don't believe in climate change; it's going to wallop them anyway. We need to think about watersheds differently. This is a new world of extremes and cascading hazards,' said Thigpen, the geologist. The rapidly changing climate is rendering the concept of once-in-a-generation floods, which is mostly based on research by hydrologists going back a hundred years or so, increasingly obsolete. Geologists, on the other hand, look back 10,000 years, which could help better understand flooding patterns when the planet was warmer. Thigpen is spearheading this close-knit group of earth scientists from the university's hazards team based in Lexington. On a recent field trip, nerdy jokes and constant teasing helped keep the mood light, but the scientists are clearly affected by the devastation they have witnessed since 2022. The team has so far documented more than 3,000 landslides triggered by that single extreme rain event, and are still counting. This work is part of a broader statewide push to increase climate resiliency and bolster economic growth using Kentucky-specific scientific research. Last year, the initiative got a major boost when the state secured $24m from the NSF for a five-year research project involving eight Kentucky institutions that has created dozens of science jobs and hundreds of new student opportunities. The grant helped pay for high-tech equipment – drones, radars, sensors and computers – the team needs to collect data and build models to improve hazard prediction and create real-time warning systems. After major storms, the team measures water levels and analyzes the sediment deposits left behind to calculate the scale and velocity of the flooding, which in turn helps calibrate the model. The models help better understand the impact of the topography and each community's built and natural environment – important for future mitigation. In these parts, coal was extracted using mountaintop mine removal, which drastically altered the landscape. Mining – and redirected waterways – can affect the height of a flood, according to a recent study by PhD student Meredith Swallom. A paleo-flood project is also under way, and another PhD student, Luciano Cardone, will soon begin digging into a section of the Kentucky riverbank to collect layers of sediment that holds physical clues on the date, size and velocity of ancient floods. Cardone, who found one local missionary's journal describing flooding in 1795, will provide a historical or geological perspective to catastrophic flooding in the region, which the team believe will help better predict future hazards under changing climatic conditions. All this data is analyzed at the new lab located in the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) department where super-powerful computers are positioned around a ceiling-to-floor black board, with a groovy lamp and artwork to get the creative mathematical juices flowing. So far the team has developed one working flood risk model for a single section of the Kentucky River. This will serve as a template, as each watershed requires its own model so that the data is manageable, precise and useful. This sort of applied science has the capacity to directly improve the lives of local people, including many Trump voters, as well as benefiting other mountainous flood-prone areas across the US and globally. But a flood warning system can only work if there is reliable meteorological forecasting going forward. Reports suggest NWS weather balloons, which assess storm risk by measuring wind speed, humidity, temperature and other conditions that satellites may not detect, have been canceled in recent weeks from Nebraska to Florida due to staff shortages. At the busiest time for storm predictions, deadly heatwaves and wildfires, weather service staffing is down by more than 10% and, for the first time in almost half a century, some forecasting offices no longer have 24/7 cover. Trump's team is also threatening to slash $1.52bn from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the weather service's parent agency, which also monitors climate trends, manages coastal ecosystems and supports international shipping, among other things. 'To build an effective and trusted warning system we need hyper-local data, including accurate weather forecasts and a more robust network of gauges,' said Summer Brown, a senior lecturer at the University of Kentucky's earth and environmental sciences department. 'The thought of weakening our basic weather data is mind-boggling.' It's impossible not to worry about the cuts, especially as the grand plan is to create a southern Appalachian flood and hazard centre to better understand and prepare the entire region's mountain communities for extreme weather and related hazards, including flash floods, landslides and tornadoes. For this, the team is currently awaiting a multimillion-dollar grant decision from the NSF, in what until recently was a merit-based, peer-reviewed process at the federal agency. The NSF director resigned in April after orders from the White House to accept a 55% cut to the $9bn budget and fire half of its 1,700-person staff. Then in an unprecedented move, a member of the governing body stepped down, lambasting Musk's unqualified Doge team for interfering in grant decisions. The NSF is the principal federal investor in basic science and engineering, and the proposed cut will be devastating in the US and globally. 'Rivers are different all over Appalachia, and if our research continues we can build accurate flood and landslide models that help communities plan for storms in a changing climate,' said Jason Dortch, who set up the flood lab. 'We've submitted lots of great grant proposals, and while that is out of our hands, we will continue to push forwarded however we can.' Fleming-Neon is a former mining community in Letcher county with around 500 residents – a decline of almost 40% in the past two decades. The town was gutted by the 2022 storm, and only two businesses, a car repair shop and a florist, reopened. The launderette, pharmacy, dentist, clothing store and thrift shop were all abandoned. Randall and Bonnie Kincer, a local couple who have been married for 53 years, run the flower shop from an old movie theater on main street, which doubles up as a dance studio for elementary school children. The place was rammed with 120in of muddy water in 2022. In February it was 52in, and everything still reeks of mould. The couple have been convinced by disinformation spread by conspiracy theorists that the recent catastrophic floods across the region, including Helene, were down to inadequate river dredging and cloud seeding. The town's sorry plight, according to the Kincers, is down to deliberate manipulation of the weather system paid for by mining companies to flood out the community in order to gain access to lithium. (There are no significant lithium deposits in the area.) Bonnie, 74, is on the brink of giving up on the dance classes that she has taught since sophomore year, but not on Trump. 'I have total confidence in President Trump. The [federal] cuts will be tough for a little while but there's a lot of waste, so it will level out,' said Bonnie, who is angry about not qualifying for Fema assistance. 'We used all our life savings fixing the studio. But I cannot shovel any more mud, not even for the kids. I am done. I have PTSD, we are scared to death,' she said breaking down in tears several times. The fear is understandable. On the slope facing the studio, a tiered retainer wall has been anchored into the hill to stabilize the earth and prevent an avalanche from destroying the town below. And at the edge of town, next to the power station on an old mine site, is a towering pile of black sludgy earth littered with lumps of shiny coal – the remnants of a massive landslide that happened as residents cleaned up after the February storm. Thomas Hutton's house was swamped with muddy water after the landslide blocked the creek, forcing it to temporarily change course towards a residential street. 'The floods have made this a ghost town; I doubt it will survive another one. If you mess with mother nature, you lose,' said Hutton, 74, a retired miner. The geologists fly drones fitted with Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) – a remote sensing technology that uses pulsed lasers to create high-res, 3D, color models of the Earth's surface, and can shoot through trees and man-made structures to detect and monitor changes in terrain including landslides. The affordability and precision of the China-made Lidar has been a 'game-changer' for landslides, but prices have recently rocketed thanks to Trump's tariff war. The Lidar picked up fairly recent deforestation above the Fleming-Neon power plant, which likely further destabilized the earth. The team agrees that the landslide could keep moving, but without good soil data it's impossible to know when. Last year's NSF grant funded new soil and moisture sensors, and mini weather stations, which the landslide team is in the process of installing on 14 steep slopes in eastern Kentucky – the first time this has been done – including one opposite Hutton's house. Back at the lab, the geologists will use the data the sensors send back every 15 minutes to create models – and eventually a website where residents and local emergency managers can see how the soil moisture is changing in real time. The end goal is to warn communities when there is a high landslide risk based on the soil saturation – and rain forecast. 'We have taken so many resources from these slopes, we need to understand them better,' said Sarah Johnson, a landslide expert. 'We're not sitting in an ivory tower making money from research. The work we do is about making communities safer.'
