FEMA Employees Warn Trump Cuts Amount to 'Abandonment of the American People'

People will die if we're not ready

And Trump fired them for saying so

Brad Reed for Common Dreams

20 years ago, Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans

More than 180 federal emergency relief workers have signed a letter warning that Donald Trump's administration is severely harming their ability to respond to future disasters.

The letter, which was sent to members of Congress on Monday, painted a dire picture of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under Trump's watch.

"Since January 2025, FEMA has been under the leadership of individuals lacking legal qualifications, Senate approval, and the demonstrated background required of a FEMA administrator," the employees stated.

With truth comes consequences

"Decisions made by FEMA's Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator (SOPDA) David Richardson, former SOPDA Cameron Hamilton, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem erode the capacity of FEMA... hinder the swift execution of our mission, and dismiss experienced staff whose institutional knowledge and relationships are vital to ensure effective emergency management."

The employees then detailed several specific ways that the Trump administration has hamstrung the agency, which they said would be tantamount to "the effective dissolution of FEMA itself and the abandonment of the American people" if not corrected.

First, they faulted Noem for requiring personal review for all contracts, grants, and mission assignments costing more than $100,000, which they described as an improper impoundment of agency funds that "reduces FEMA's authorities and capabilities to swiftly deliver our mission."

They then took aim at Richardson, whom they lambasted as wholly unqualified for his position.

"Hurricane season has begun, yet FEMA continues to lack an appointed administrator with the mandated qualifications to fulfill this role," they warned. "The dangers of unqualified leadership were a significant lesson learned from Hurricane Katrina."

Hurricane Erin's likely effects on us

 

Hurricane Erin forecast to slide past coastal Rhode Island on Thursday

But pay attention to changes. A shift to the west could change everything.

High surf, rip currents likely

Why 2025 became the summer of flash flooding in America

People die while Trump cuts funds for emergency prep, weather forecasting

Jeffrey Basara, UMass Lowell

The National Weather Service has already issued more than 3,600 flash flood warnings across the United States in 2025, and that number is increasing as torrential downpours continue in late July. There’s a good chance the U.S. will exceed its yearly average of around 4,000 flash flood warnings soon.

For communities in Texas, New Mexico, West Virginia and New Jersey, the floods have been deadly. And many more states have seen flash flood damage in recent weeks, including New York, Oklahoma, Kansas, Vermont and Iowa.

What’s causing so much extreme rain and flooding?

Much of the central and eastern U.S. has had above-normal precipitation over the three months from April 23 through July 24, 2025. Blues are 150% to 200% of normal. Purples are even higher. NOAA National Water Prediction Service

I study extreme precipitation events along with the complex processes that lead to the devastating damage they cause.

Both the atmosphere and surface conditions play important roles in when and where flash floods occur and how destructive they become, and 2025 has seen some extremes, with large parts of the country east of the Rockies received at least 50% more precipitation than normal from mid-April through mid-July.

Disasters are for the greater glory of Trump

He cannot fail. He can only be failed.

Noah Berlatsky

Donald Trump presents himself as strong, indomitable, and always forceful. But when disaster strikes — whether hurricane, flash flood, or pandemic — he’s oddly helpless.

To hear Trump tell it, he has infinite power to do good and no power to do bad, and anyone who says otherwise is an enemy of the country. To believe in MAGA is to believe in his simultaneous omnipotence and impotence, depending on whichever is convenient for partisan purposes.

This dynamic has been on full display following the recent disaster in central Texas.

Torrential rains and floods early July 4 accounted for 129 deaths so far, and with many people still missing, the toll is expected to continue to rise. Trump traveled to the affected area last Friday, and his response when questioned about the government response was studiously ignorant.

“Nobody has any idea how and why a thing like this could happen,” he insisted. (Trump, of course, is a climate change denier.)

When a reporter asked what his message is to families who say earlier alerts about the flooding could’ve saved lives, Trump responded that “only an evil person would ask a question like that.”

Last year, however, Trump was that evil person, insisting (nonsensically and falsely) that California Gov. Gavin Newsom had exacerbated California wildfires by preventing firefighters from accessing water.

This kind of partisan hypocrisy is the norm for Trump. In fact, it’s so typical, and so obvious, that it almost stops being hypocrisy and becomes a kind of ethos.

Trump is never responsible for anything and any disaster is always someone else’s fault, whether that someone is God or Gavin Newsom.

If Trump is never responsible for disaster, it makes sense that he shouldn’t prepare for disasters. He can’t prevent or fix anything, so trying is just a waste of money. That twisted logic has guided Trump’s policy, and there is good reason to believe that it worsened the crisis in Texas — and will lead to worse and worse disasters throughout Trump’s term.

FEMA Rescue chief quits, frustrated at Trump policies that slow down disaster response

"At every turn they've made it more difficult for the agency and the people left here to do our job" 

Brad Reed for Common Dreams

Ken Pagurek, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue branch, unexpectedly resigned on Monday over what CNN reports was frustration with the Trump administration's slow response time to the catastrophic floods in Texas earlier this month that left more than 130 people dead.

Sources tell CNN that Pagurek told colleagues this week that bureaucratic hurdles imposed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Secretary Kristi Noem were a tipping point because he felt that they had slowed down his unit's response to the Texas floods.

Pagurek's resignation letter, which was obtained by CNN, made no specific mention of the response to the Texas floods and instead talked in generalities about his decision to return to the Philadelphia Fire Department, where he had worked prior to spending more than a decade at FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue unit.

"This decision was not made lightly, and after much reflection and prayer, it is the right path for me at this time," Pagurek wrote. "I have been continually inspired by the unwavering dedication, unmatched courage, and deep-seated commitment we share for saving lives and bringing hope in the face of devastation."

This did not stop Trump administration officials from taking shots at Pagurek on his way out the door, however.

"It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight," one unnamed DHS spokesperson told CNN. "We're being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job."

Rhode Island funds key storm tools hurt by Trump/MAGA budget cuts

URI programs secure state funding for CHAMP, StormTools, and MyCoast, to continue providing critical services for Rhode Island

Kristen Curry

In the past, hurricanes hit the Rhode Island coastline without warning;
now RI-CHAMP provides early-warning alerts to state
emergency managers on coastal flooding and wind impacts
caused by hurricanes and nor’easters, giving coastal
communities critical time to prepare. (Coastal Resources Center)

EDITOR'S NOTE: GoLocal reports the Trump regime has also wiped out funding for beach restoration, forcing the state and towns to come up with cash to carry on the work. Similarly, GoLocal notes how Charlestown is trying to get state funds for more permanent repairs to the Charlestown Breachway after federal funds were denied. Thank you, MAGA.   - Will Collette

Rhode Island legislators have endorsed a powerful complement of tools developed and housed at the University of Rhode Island so they can continue to benefit the state coastline and residents, approving $200,000 in the 2026 fiscal year budget. Legislators and researchers say that support to keep URI’s critical CHAMP, STORMTOOLS, and MyCoast programs going demonstrates that URI, and Rhode Island, will continue to lead in coastal safety analysis, early warnings, and resilience.

Bringing together URI’s Coastal Resources Center, Rhode Island Sea Grant, Graduate School of Oceanography,  Environmental Data Center, and the departments of Marine Affairs and Ocean Engineering, a successful team drawing on the best of URI, the tools were developed and launched to respond to the needs of Rhode Island’s emergency managers, partner communities, state regulatory agencies, and military, to plan for and respond to storms and associated flooding.

“We’ve been working together on these projects for 10 years,” says Austin Becker, chair of URI’s Department of Marine Affairs and director of URI’s graduate certificate in Coastal Resilience, “and the collaboration has been truly wonderful.”

Funding for research and development came from the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Defense, and numerous other sources. In the years since, URI has dedicated significant expertise and resources to develop the powerful suite of tools, which play key roles in addressing coastal storm risks.

The Rhode Island state funding affirms support in the Ocean State for technology and tools that prepare for weather impact in advance.

“This is a huge win,” says Becker. “This will allow us to keep these tools in operation, supporting the climate resilience needs of Rhode Island. It’s gratifying to see the state recognize the value of this work to municipalities and agencies from the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) and Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency to the Department of Environmental Management and Department of Health.”

As federal funding priorities changed, Rhode Island pivoted to maintain support for these critical emergency preparation and management tools, as support from community users demonstrated the value of the tools.

The initial bill was sponsored by Rhode Island Rep. Terri Cortvriend (Middletown, Portsmouth), who first came to Rhode Island as a boat captain. She founded a marine plumbing firm here and is familiar with coastal issues as a member of the state’s marine trade association, but says she advocated for the provision out of concern over seeing Rhode Island lose funding for these critical decision support tools.

Introducing the measure, Cortvriend asked her peers to join her in supporting Rhode Island’s homegrown coastal resilience technologies. “As we face increasing risks to our population due to more frequent and severe storms,” she said, “it is imperative that we equip our decision-makers and emergency managers with the tools necessary to mitigate impacts, enhance recovery, and reduce both human suffering and economic losses. These tools provide crucial data and predictions for emergency management, resilience planning, and community engagement across our state.”

Stephen McCandless M.S. ’21, GIS coordinator for the town of Charlestown, said the tools are essential for emergency management, planning, and coastal policy work in Rhode Island.

“These tools have proven indispensable in our ability to manage and prepare for coastal hazards,” he said. “We rely on them regularly in our operations.”

Rhode Island back in court with Trump, this time over disaster prep funds

Attorney General Neronha suing Trump Administration for unlawfully cutting billions in disaster mitigation funding

RIFuture.news

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha today joined a coalition of 20 states in suing the Trump Administration over its decision to illegally shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) bipartisan Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, designed to protect communities from natural disasters before they strike.

For the past 30 years, the BRIC program has provided communities across the nation with resources to proactively fortify their infrastructure against natural disasters. By focusing on preparation, the program has protected property, saved money that would have otherwise been spent on post-disaster costs, reduced injuries, and saved lives.

“There’s no denying that Rhode Island is particularly susceptible to the ever-increasing effects of climate change, which is why we need to stay ahead of the curve on mitigating risk,” said Attorney General Neronha. 

Emergency preparedness, Trump-style

Trump and Texas Republicans Show How Not to Prepare for the Climate Crisis

Kenny Stancil for the Revolving Door Project

More than 120 people, including dozens of young summer camp attendees, have died in Central Texas from flooding intensified by the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis. With search-and-rescue operations ongoing and active flash flood warnings in the region, the death toll is expected to continue climbing.

Over last weekend, Texas officials quickly tried to blame the carnage on inadequate warnings from the National Weather Service (NWS), which has been gutted by the Trump administration. Donald Trump himself lied about this, too. When asked if he thinks the federal government should rehire recently fired meteorologists, he erroneously claimed that “nobody expected” this flooding and that NWS staff “didn’t see it.”

However, NWS provided accurate forecasts and warnings despite everything that Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE wrecking crew have been doing to impair the agency.

We sorely need a return to the Rooseveltian ideal of big government that works for working people, including by phasing out the fossil fuel industry and protecting us from increasingly frequent and severe storms, heatwaves, and wildfires.

That’s not to suggest that the Trump administration’s ill-advised cuts to the federal forecasting apparatus couldn’t have contributed to lethal havoc on the ground. Local NWS offices were missing key officials, which may have undermined swift and cohesive coordination between forecasters and local emergency managers.

'Unforgivable': FEMA Missed Thousands of Calls from Texas Flood Victims After Noem Fired the people who answer the phones

A preview of what will happen when it's Charlestown's turn to deal with a disaster

Stephen Prager for Common Dreams

Outrage continues to grow against U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem over her response to the deadly floods that ravaged Texas last week.

According to a Friday report from The New York Times, more than two-thirds of phone calls to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from flood victims went unanswered after Noem allowed hundreds of contractors to be laid off on July 5, just a day after the nightmare storm.

According to The Times, this dramatically hampered the ability of the agency to respond to calls from survivors in the following days:

On July 5, as floodwaters were starting to recede, FEMA received 3,027 calls from disaster survivors and answered 3,018, or roughly 99.7 percent, the documents show. Contractors with four call center companies answered the vast majority of the calls.

That evening, however, Noem did not renew the contracts with the four companies, and hundreds of contractors were fired, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter.

The next day, July 6, FEMA received 2,363 calls and answered 846, or roughly 35.8 percent, according to the documents. And on Monday, July 7, the agency fielded 16,419 calls and answered 2,613, or around 15.9 percent, the documents show.

Calling is one of the primary ways that flood victims apply for aid from the disaster relief agency. But Noem would wait until July 10—five days later—to renew the contracts of the people who took those phone calls.

The Texas Flash Flood Is a Preview of the Chaos to Come

Trump approach to emergency preparedness is a disaster

By Abrahm Lustgarten for ProPublica

On July 4, the broken remnants of a powerful tropical storm spun off the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico so heavy with moisture that it seemed to stagger under its load. 

Then, colliding with another soggy system sliding north off the Pacific, the storm wobbled and its clouds tipped, waterboarding south central Texas with an extraordinary 20 inches of rain. 

In the predawn blackness, the Guadalupe River, which drains from the Hill Country, rose by more than 26 vertical feet in just 45 minutes, jumping its banks and hurtling downstream, killing 109 people, including at least 27 children at a summer camp located inside a federally designated floodway.

Over the days and weeks to come there will be tireless — and warranted — analysis of who is to blame for this heart-wrenching loss. Should Kerr County, where most of the deaths occurred, have installed warning sirens along that stretch of the waterway, and why were children allowed to sleep in an area prone to high-velocity flash flooding? 

Why were urgent updates apparently only conveyed by cellphone and online in a rural area with limited connectivity? Did the National Weather Service, enduring steep budget cuts under the current administration, adequately forecast this storm?

Those questions are critical. But so is a far larger concern: The rapid onset of disruptive climate change — driven by the burning of oil, gasoline and coal — is making disasters like this one more common, more deadly and far more costly to Americans, even as the federal government is running away from the policies and research that might begin to address it.

States Fear Critical Funding From FEMA May Be Drying Up

Trump wants states to handle emergencies, but where's the money?

By Jennifer Berry Hawes for ProPublica

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem (a.k.a. "ICE Barbie) is
FEMA's boss and controls what they do

Upheaval at the nation’s top disaster agency is raising anxiety among state and local emergency managers — and leaving major questions about the whereabouts of billions of federal dollars it pays out to them.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency still has not opened applications for an enormous suite of grants, including ones that many states rely on to pay for basic emergency management operations. Some states pass on much of that money to their most rural, low-income counties to ensure they have an emergency manager on the payroll.

FEMA has blown through the mid-May statutory deadline to start the grants’ application process, according to the National Emergency Management Association, with no word about why or what that might indicate. The delay appears to have little precedent.

“There’s no transparency on why it’s not happening,” said Michael A. Coen Jr., who served as FEMA’s chief of staff under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

FEMA’s system of grants is complex and multifaceted and helps communities prepare for and respond to everything from terrorist attacks to natural disasters.

In April, the agency abruptly rescinded a different grant program that county and local governments were expecting to help them reduce natural hazard risks moving forward. The clawback of money included hundreds of millions already pledged. FEMA also quietly withdrew a notice for states to apply for $600 million in flood mitigation grants.

On top of that, on June 11, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem began requiring that she review all FEMA grants above $100,000. That could slow its vast multibillion grants apparatus to a crawl, current and former FEMA employees said.

Trump’s Plan to Push FEMA’s Role to the States Will Be a Fiscal Disaster

Trump wants to end disaster assistance to the states

By Sarah Labowitz, Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, and Debbra Goh , Emissary

When the next Sandy hits Rhode Island, are we going to be on our own? (Judy Gray)

The late spring and early summer are typically a time when the U.S. federal government prepares for hurricane season—the period from June 1 to November 30 that produces the biggest and most costly disasters in the United States. But this year is different.

Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continue to argue that FEMA, the primary federal disaster response organization, should cease to exist. 

There is no Senate-confirmed FEMA administrator because the White House has not nominated someone who meets the congressionally mandated basic qualifications for the role. 

Acting Administrator David Richardson still has not produced a viable plan for how FEMA will manage the hurricane season. The agency’s most experienced leadership has left or been forced out—most recently Jeremy Greenberg, who coordinated whole-of-government storm response. 

And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) remains understaffed to perform critical weather forecasting functions that allow emergency managers to anticipate extreme weather conditions and position themselves for disaster response.

All of this makes the arrival of hurricane season unusually concerning. But three striking trends threaten to jeopardize a system already under strain: a backlog in federal disaster response requests, an inability of states to fill the federal funding gap, and a shift of accountability to states. Taken together, these factors could suggest major problems not just for the coasts, but for the whole country.

Why Would Trump Gut FEMA and NOAA?

Because he can

By Robert Kuttner 

Resident Anne Schneider, right, hugs her friend Eddy Sampson as they survey damage caused by Hurricane Helene, October 1, 2024, in Marshall, North Carolina.

June 1 marked the beginning of hurricane season, a period whose existence was news to Trump’s head of FEMA, David Richardson, who had no prior experience managing disaster relief. Richardson was appointed to replace FEMA acting chief Cameron Hamilton, who was fired summarily after telling a congressional subcommittee that he didn’t think FEMA should be shut down.

Trump’s attack on FEMA goes beyond even the Project 2025 design, which proposed to cut FEMA and turn some of its functions over to the states. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in March that she wanted FEMA shut down entirely (she later backpedaled and spoke of shrinking and reforming it). But most states have nothing like FEMA’s capacity or experience, and don’t want FEMA reduced or closed.

Due to actions early in Trump’s term, FEMA has lost an estimated 2,000 employees out of about 6,100, according to The Wall Street Journal. Many of these were nominally probationary employees, but due to the agency’s need to quickly staff up in an emergency, these tended to be experienced staffers who work for FEMA part of every year.

More damage is coming in the Big Beautiful Budget Bill. Trump’s budget request called for cutting FEMA by $646 million.

This is occurring as FEMA’s much-depleted sister agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is predicting as many as 19 hurricanes this summer and fall, including three to five major ones likely to cause massive damage. 

To add injury to insult, Trump has rejected bipartisan requests to continue the Biden policy of covering 100 percent of the costs of relief and recovery operations after major disasters. The usual split is 75 percent federal, matched by 25 percent state.

In April, FEMA refused to declare a major disaster in Washington state to provide funding for recovery from a bomb cyclone in November 2024; and denied North Carolina more funding for cleanup after Hurricane Helene. In September 2024, Helene caused massive damage in six Southeastern states. The agency was generally praised for its response, including by North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, but its resources were spread very thin. This season, they will be even thinner.

Trump pulls US out of world agreement to fight pandemics

World Health Assembly adopts Pandemic Agreement, ups funding for WHO

Lisa Schnirring

In a historic development, the World Health Assembly (WHA) at its plenary session today adopted a Pandemic Agreement, which is designed to better prepare the world and form a more equitable response to the next pandemic.

The WHA, made up of World Health Organization (WHO) member states, is the WHO's decision-making body. Yesterday, the Pandemic Agreement passed the committee A with 124 voting in favor, none against, and 11 abstaining.

In the making for 3 years, the agreement has been the subject of intense negotiations by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body appointed by WHO member states. In a WHO statement today, Teodoro Herbosa, MD, secretary of the Philippines Department of Health and president of this year’s WHA, said, now that the agreement has passed, health leaders must urgently implement its key elements, which include systems to ensure more equitable access to life-saving pandemic-related health products.

"As COVID was a once-in-a-lifetime emergency, the WHO Pandemic Agreement offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build on lessons learned from that crisis and ensure people worldwide are better protected if a future pandemic emerges," he said.

Prep for hurricanes before they hit - hurricane season officially began yesterday

Hurricane forecasts have been more accurate than ever

NOAA funding cuts could change that and cost lives and property loss

Chris Vagasky, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Radar shows a NOAA Hurricane Hunter flying through
Tropical Storm Idalia during a mission in 2023. Nick Underwood/NOAA

The National Hurricane Center’s forecasts in 2024 were its most accurate on record, from its one-day forecasts, as tropical cyclones neared the coast, to its forecasts five days into the future, when storms were only beginning to come together.

Thanks to federally funded research, forecasts of tropical cyclone tracks today are up to 75% more accurate than they were in 1990. A National Hurricane Center forecast three days out today is about as accurate as a one-day forecast in 2002, giving people in the storm’s path more time to prepare and reducing the size of evacuations.

Accuracy will be crucial again in 2025, as meteorologists predict another active Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

Yet, cuts in staffing and threats to funding at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – which includes the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service – are diminishing operations that forecasters rely on.

I am a meteorologist who studies lightning in hurricanes and helps train other meteorologists to monitor and forecast tropical cyclones. Here are three of the essential components of weather forecasting that have been targeted for cuts to funding and staff at NOAA.

Trump denies disaster aid, tells states to do more

Red states shocked that Trump is screwing them, too

Turn-downs include Arkansas, West Virginia, North Carolina

by Alex Brown, Rhode Island Current

You're on your own, Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Colin Murphey)

In the wake of recent natural disasters, state leaders across the country are finding that emergency support from the federal government is no longer a given.

Under President Donald Trump, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied federal assistance for tornadoes in Arkansas, flooding in West Virginia and a windstorm in Washington state. It also has refused North Carolina’s request for extended relief funding in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

While it’s not uncommon for the feds to turn down some requests for disaster declarations, which unlock federal aid, state leaders say the Trump administration’s denials have taken them by surprise. White House officials are signaling a new approach to federal emergency response, even as Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threaten to shut down FEMA altogether.

How Climate Change Could Upend the American Dream

Tremendous potential to gut home ownership

by Abrahm Lustgarten for ProPublica

Houses in the Altadena and Pacific Palisades neighborhoods were still ablaze when talk turned to the cost of the Los Angeles firestorms and who would pay for it. Now it appears that the total damage and economic loss could be more than $250 billion. This, after a year in which hurricanes Milton and Helene and other extreme weather events had already exacted tens of billions of dollars in American disaster losses.

As the compounding impacts of climate-driven disasters take effect, we are seeing home insurance prices spike around the country, pushing up the costs of owning a home. In some cases, insurance companies are pulling out of towns altogether. And in others, people are beginning to move away.

One little-discussed result is that soaring home prices in the United States may have peaked in the places most at risk, leaving the nation on the precipice of a generational decline. That’s the finding of a new analysis by the First Street Foundation, a research firm that studies climate threats to housing and provides some of the best climate adaptation data available, both freely and commercially. The analysis predicts an extraordinary reversal in housing fortunes for Americans — nearly $1.5 trillion in asset losses over the next 30 years.

The implications are staggering: Many Americans could face a paradigm shift in the way they save and how they define their economic security. Climate change is upending the basic assumption that Americans can continue to build wealth and financial security by owning their own home. In a sense, it is upending the American dream.

Homeownership is the bedrock of America’s economy. Residential real estate in the United States is worth nearly $50 trillion — almost double the size of the entire gross domestic product. Almost two-thirds of American adults are homeowners, and the median house here has appreciated more than 58% over the past two decades, even after accounting for inflation. In Pacific Palisades and Altadena, that evolution elevated many residents into the upper middle class. Across the country homes are the largest asset for most families — who hold approximately 67% of their savings in their primary residence.

That is an awful lot to lose: for individuals, and for the nation’s economy.

Try to imagine a Category Four hurricane hitting Rhode Island

If FEMA didn’t exist, could states handle the disaster response alone?

Ming Xie, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Photo by another Trump-Musk endangered agency,
the National Weather Service

Imagine a world in which a hurricane devastates the Gulf Coast, and the U.S. has no federal agency prepared to quickly send supplies, financial aid and temporary housing assistance.

Could the states manage this catastrophic event on their own?

Normally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA, is prepared to marshal supplies within hours of a disaster and begin distributing financial aid to residents who need help.

However, with Donald Trump questioning FEMA’s future and suggesting states take over recovery instead, and climate change causing more frequent and severe disasters, it’s worth asking how prepared states are to face these growing challenges without help.

What FEMA does

FEMA was created in 1979 with the job of coordinating national responses to disasters, but the federal government has played important roles in disaster relief since the 1800s.

During a disaster, FEMA’s assistance can begin only after a state requests an emergency declaration and the U.S. president approves it. The request has to show that the disaster is so severe that the state can’t handle the response on its own.

FEMA’s role is to support state and local governments by coordinating federal agencies and providing financial aid and recovery assistance that states would otherwise struggle to supply on their own. FEMA doesn’t “take over,” as a misinformation campaign launched during Hurricane Helene claimed. Instead, it pools federal resources to allow states to recover faster from expensive disasters.

During a disaster, FEMA:

• Coordinates federal resources. For example, during Hurricane Ian in 2022, FEMA coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Defense and search-and-rescue teams to conduct rescue operations, organized utility crews to begin restoring power and also delivered water and millions of meals.

• Provides financial assistance. FEMA distributes billions of dollars in disaster relief funds to help individuals, businesses and local governments recover. As of Feb. 3, 2025, FEMA aid from 2024 storms included US$1.04 billion related to Hurricane Milton, $416.1 million for Hurricane Helene and $112.6 million for Hurricane Debby.

• Provides logistical support. FEMA coordinates with state and local governments, nonprofits such as the American Red Cross and federal agencies to supply cots, blankets and hygiene supplies for emergency shelters. It also works with state and local partners to distribute critical supplies such as food, water and medical aid.

The agency also manages the National Flood Insurance Program, offers disaster preparedness training and helps states develop response plans to improve their overall responses systems.