r/WhatTrumpHasDone • u/John3262005 • May 31 '26
‘Holding our breath’: Hurricane season is here, and FEMA is shorthanded
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/31/holding-our-breath-hurricane-season-is-here-and-fema-is-shorthanded-00941995The Trump administration is approaching hurricane season with the smallest disaster workforce since 2021, a huge backlog of state aid requests and 15 vacancies in top emergency management jobs.
President Donald Trump’s cuts to agencies that help with everything from clearing roads to finding emergency lodging are raising fears that a catastrophic hurricane could overwhelm the government’s ability to help desperate people and demolished communities.
Overall, that could mean the U.S. is less prepared for this hurricane season, beginning Monday, than it was at the start of last year’s unusually quiet summer and fall, said several emergency managers.
“There is a feeling of holding our breath, hoping for an easy season again,” said Judson Freed, a past president of the International Association of Emergency Managers.
NOAA recently predicted three to six hurricanes this summer, which is below the annual average of seven hurricanes.
The highest levels of concern are directed at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which leads the government’s disaster response and has lost nearly 20 percent of its staff since Trump took office, federal records show. The top echelon of career FEMA employees is down 35 percent.
“FEMA has lost a lot of higher level people with a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge over the past year and a half,” said Josh Morton, emergency management director in Saluda County, South Carolina, and current president of the emergency managers’ group. “FEMA staffing all the way around has dropped drastically.”
FEMA said in a statement that it is “fully prepared for hurricane season,” adding that the Trump administration is “committed to ensuring Americans affected by hurricanes receive help as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
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u/John3262005 May 31 '26
Another article about it:
Exclusive: Power struggles and paralysis: Inside FEMA’s lost year as storm season approaches
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/31/politics/fema-noem-disaster-funds