Latest news with #hurricaneseason
Fast Company
11 hours ago
- Climate
- Fast Company
FEMA staff baffled: agency chief didn't know ‘what or when hurricane season is'
Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. 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 some other context. The U.S. 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 spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA's parent agency, said the comment was a joke and that FEMA is prepared for hurricane season. The spokesperson said under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Richardson '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.' 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. 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 criticized Richardson following the Reuters report. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer posted the Reuters headline about Richardson on X and said he was 'unaware of 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 of dollars annually across a swath of U.S. 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 videoconference, that 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. President Donald Trump created the council to evaluate FEMA. Its members include DHS head 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. CONFUSION 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 DHS' 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 that Trump allies had already been maneuvering 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 in January. 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 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%, 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.
Washington Post
18 hours ago
- Climate
- Washington Post
No hurricane season? Acting FEMA chief's remark was a joke, DHS says.
The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was joking when he said that he didn't know the United States had a hurricane season, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes FEMA, said on Monday. David Richardson's comment to staff at a briefing on Monday was first reported by Reuters and drew swift, concerned reactions from Democratic lawmakers. The Atlantic hurricane season began Sunday and ends Nov. 30, with a 60 percent chance of above-normal activity this year and three to five major hurricanes expected, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Independent
a day ago
- Climate
- The Independent
Trump's new FEMA head stuns staff by telling them he didn't know US had a hurricane season, report says
The recently installed head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency alarmed staff members on Monday when he reportedly said he was unaware that the U.S. has a hurricane season, which formally began on June 1. The reported comments are the latest sign of upheaval at the federal disaster-management agency, which the Trump administration says it wants to 'eliminate, ' handing many of its responsibilities to state governments. FEMA since May, came during a briefing with staff members, Reuters reports, citing four sources familiar with his comments. Richardson, a former Marine artillery officer and Homeland Security official, has no formal disaster-management experience. During the briefing, Richardson also allegedly said he was holding off on unveiling a new disaster plan so as not to contradict the administration's review of FEMA activities, despite previously saying in May one would be ready by later that month. The agency quickly downplayed the reporting, telling Reuters the comments were a joke and that FEMA was prepared for the coming hurricane season. "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,' the agency said in a statement. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently warned this year's hurricane season, which runs through November, has a 60 percent chance of above-normal conditions. The agency has been in turmoil throughout the Trump administration. It has reportedly cut back on training for state and local emergency managers, and acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton was fired in May, after he testified in Congress he didn't think the administration should shutter the disaster response body. Hurricane preparations inside FEMA have reportedly slowed in the face of the roughly 2,000 people who have been fired or resigned under Trump. 'As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood,' according to an internal agency review prepared at the direction of Richardson that was obtained by CNN . 'Thus FEMA is not ready.' In January, Trump created a FEMA Review Council to determine the future of the agency. The administration has criticized FEMA from a number of angles, ranging from arguments that it's inefficient, to inaccurate claims the agency diverted emergency funding to house migrants. On the campaign trail, Trump also falsely claimed then Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden didn't visit the disaster zones in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, and that the federal government didn't help people in Republican-leaning areas.
CBS News
a day ago
- Climate
- CBS News
Acting head of FEMA said he wasn't aware U.S. has a hurricane season, sources say
Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were confused and dispirited on Monday after the acting head of the agency said during a daily briefing that he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to three sources familiar with the meeting. The remark was made by David Richardson at the conclusion of an 8:30 a.m. daily operational briefing typically attended by hundreds of FEMA staffers and interagency partners. Reuters was first to report the comment. Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer, has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally or as a joke, but current and former employees who spoke with CBS News said the comment flustered many who genuinely believe Richardson was truly surprised to learn that a hurricane season had started. Others suggested that any joke made by the leader about the upcoming season was delivered in poor taste, offending agency staff already suffering from low morale amid a flurry of resignations, firings, leadership overhauls and polygraph tests distributed to staffers. Acting FEMA chief David Richardson Department of Homeland Security The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1 and lasts through November. NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, recently predicted it will be an above-average hurricane season that could bring 13 to 19 named storms, with six to 10 becoming hurricanes and three to five strengthening into major hurricanes.
Forbes
a day ago
- Climate
- Forbes
The 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season Starts Now
Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm at the time of this NASA photograph, is pictured in the Gulf of ... More Mexico off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula. This week marks the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, a date that should resonate not only with meteorologists and emergency managers, but also with every business, homeowner and community leader along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. While the historical peak of hurricane activity arrives later in the summer, in some years, we've seen storms form well before the official start. That is why June should be considered more than a ceremonial marker, but a call to pay attention, to stay informed, and to act early. Between 2015 and 2021, the Atlantic hurricane season delivered an unprecedented string of early season named storms, each forming before the traditional June 1 start date. This stretch began with Tropical Storm Ana in May 2015 and included the extraordinary formation of Hurricane Alex in January 2016, an event that hadn't been seen since 1938. From 2015 through 2021, every season had at least one named storm form in May or even earlier, a testament to how warm waters and neutral to La Niña conditions had created a fertile environment for early development. The development of the first tropical storm of the season has transitioned back to a June or later ... More over the past three seasons. The 2025 season is also expected to have a slow start. Yet, 2022 to the present season, have signaled a break from this pattern. In 2022, Tropical Storm Alex arrived on June 5, and in 2023, Tropical Storm Arlene formed just one day into the official season on June 2. Last year took an even more notable turn, with Tropical Storm Alberto not forming until June 19, the slowest start since 2014. With 2025 continuing this trend, these later starts mark a significant shift from the previous pattern of early storms and suggest that the conditions favoring May development may be giving way to new climate signals. Strong upper-level winds, known as wind shear, have been more active in recent springs, disrupting the delicate balance that typically allows tropical systems to organize. In addition, 2023 and 2024 featured a powerful El Niño, which tends to strengthen westerly winds in the Atlantic, making early development less likely. Another very important factor in early season storm suppression are huge dust clouds from the Sahara Desert, carried across the Atlantic all the way to the United States. The latest dust storm is expected to reach the Gulf states this week. All these factors combine to illustrate that while early storm formation can offer a clue about springtime atmospheric patterns, it does not tell the whole story of a season's eventual activity. The recent shift to the first storm forming after the start of the season, compared to just a few years ago when storms regularly formed before June 1, highlights how dynamic and unpredictable hurricane forecasting can be. While the timing of the first named storm each year provides valuable insight into springtime atmospheric patterns, it does not offer a complete forecast of what the rest of the season will bring. After all, 2023 had a slow start yet ended as one of the most active seasons in memory. The real drivers of a season's intensity are the interplay of warm sea-surface temperatures, mid-summer wind shear, the Saharan dust layer reach, and the broader state of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Some of the necessary conditions for storm development are already in place. By spring, we were already seeing record warm ocean temperatures as evidenced by the earliest 90-degree water temperature reading in history at Virginia Key, Florida, just off the coast from Miami. New approaches to forecasting tropical storms are reshaping how we understand and respond to these formidable systems. The emergence of artificial intelligence models, such as Microsoft's Aurora AI project, are providing powerful tools for sifting through massive datasets and delivering more precise storm projections. This cutting-edge technology uses machine learning algorithms to find subtle patterns in atmospheric and oceanic data, offering earlier and more accurate predictions of storm development and intensification. Meanwhile, DTN, the company I work for, recently launched the Hurricane Threat Index to look beyond just wind speeds and surge at landfall. This index incorporates impacts well inland, recognizing that the heaviest rainfall and strongest winds often extend far from the coastline, as recent storms like Harvey and Florence have demonstrated. The model also elevates the importance of multiple risks associated with a hurricane. For example, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Florida's Big Bend region, but the most catastrophic impact occurred in western North Carolina after Helene weakened to a tropical storm. Within the threat index both the hurricane and subsequent flooding would rate a high severity risk and communicated as such to those potentially impacted. These advances in technology and methodology ensure that forecasts are more holistic and more relevant to the evolving risk landscape, helping decision-makers better prepare for the full range of storm threats. As the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season begins, we're reminded that storms don't always follow the patterns of the past. The seven-year stretch of early-season storms, followed by recent seasons with later starts, clearly illustrates how climate variability and long-term changes continue to reshape our understanding of risk. As we stand on the brink of this new season, let's treat June 1 not simply as a date on the calendar, but as a call to action: to plan, and to stay vigilant. In the face of nature's power, preparation remains our most effective and enduring defense.
