Trump's FEMA risks "flying blind" into hurricane season

President Trump's campaign to dismantle FEMA is on the verge of a high-stakes stress test, as the U.S. hurtles toward peak disaster season under uniquely dangerous conditions.Why it matters: Extreme weather is growing deadlier and more destructive. But instead of strengthening the systems that help states respond, the Trump administration is gutting FEMA, banning climate change research and urging governors to go it alone.State of play: With less than two weeks until the start of Atlantic hurricane season, leaks from inside the government continue to suggest that FEMA is understaffed, underfunded and underprepared.Acting FEMA head Cameron Hamilton was fired earlier this month after testifying to Congress that eliminating the agency — as Trump has called for — is not "in the best interests of the American people."His successor, David Richardson, has no experience managing natural disasters and acknowledged in private meetings that the agency doesn't yet have a fully formed hurricane response plan, the Wall Street Journal reported."As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood," warned an internal review obtained by CNN. "Thus FEMA is not ready."The big picture: Trump — whose budget proposes more than $646 million in cuts to FEMA — has signed executive orders aimed at streamlining the federal disaster agency and shifting more responsibility to the states."I say you don't need FEMA. You need a good state government," Trump said during a tour of the Los Angeles wildfires in January. "FEMA is a very expensive, in my opinion, mostly failed situation."FEMA, which was created under President Jimmy Carter and is part of the Department of Homeland Security, has shed roughly 1,000 workers and over a dozen senior leaders as a result of DOGE cuts.DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told Trump in March that she would move to "eliminate" FEMA, though that would ultimately require an act of Congress.Zoom in: Miami hurricane specialist John Morales warned that staffing cuts at FEMA are "yet another reason hurricane season 2025 has a greater chance of being the most tragic in memory."Morales — who was brought nearly to tears on live TV last year during his coverage of Hurricane Milton — told Axios he feels like he's "flying blind heading into this hurricane season."The FEMA cuts and reductions at the National Weather Service — as well as the elimination of disaster databases maintained by federal scientists — could potentially cost lives, he said.As tornadoes have ripped across parts of the central and southern U.S. in recent days, local leaders pleaded for federal aid.St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said Monday, days after a deadly tornado outbreak in her city: "This is where FEMA and the federal government has got to come in and help our communities. Our city cannot shoulder this alone. The state of Missouri cannot shoulder this alone."Asked whether FEMA was on the ground yet, she said no.The White House and FEMA did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.Flashback: Trump has a long history of spreading misinformation about natural disasters and FEMA — including during the campaign, when Hurricanes Helene and Milton impacted multiple southern states.He has also threatened to weaponize disaster relief against blue states, demanding, for example, that California implement voter ID in exchange for federal wildfire aid.Between the lines: "I think we're all in agreement about [FEMA] reform, but let's do it smartly and be able at the same time to complete the mission," Pete Gaynor, who ran FEMA for about two years during Trump's first term, told Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick earlier this year,The frequency and extremity of disasters themselves have strained FEMA's "workforce in unprecedented ways," a U.S. Government Accountability Office report found early last year.The agency is on track to run out of disaster relief funds by July or August for the third consecutive year, and the administration canceled billions of dollars in grants for disaster preparedness.As climate change worsens the severity of storms in disaster-prone states, many of them are still reeling from one storm (Helene) when the next one hits (Milton).But the timing of Trump's FEMA overhaul couldn't be worse, experts warn."If you're serious about making a big policy change, and shifting the balance of responsibility from federal to state government, you have to give states a chance to legislate to fill the gap," Sarah Labowitz of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Axios."A lot of state legislatures are meeting now and winding down their legislative sessions before there's a clear policy landscape from the administration, and while disaster season is getting started," she added.Go deeper: These states could suffer the most without FEMAAxios' Martin Vassolo contributed to this report.

Comments

World news

Taiwan alleges China is using cash to win developing nations to its stand on the island

washington times

<a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/spurs-vs-man-utd/live/528776">Spurs v Man Utd: Latest from Bilbao ahead of Europa League final</a>

about 3 hours ago

How switching to a flip phone deepened my friendships

Vox

Comments

Similar News

U.S. defense industry reacts to Trump's Golden Dome announcement

Trump stops civil rights investigations into local police departments

Donald Trump is now receiving disapproving marks on nearly every key issue - only scoring well with the border

Trump and Harris agree on “no tax on tips.” They’re both wrong.

Trump Gets the Middle East Right

E.U. Offers Emergency Funding for Radio Free Europe After Trump Cuts

European unity against Putin in peril if Trump moves to ease sanctions

South Africa's leader aims to salvage relationship with Trump in White House visit

Trump to meet with South African president amid tensions over aid, Afrikaners, Israel: Live updates

Donald Trump Jr says the ‘calling is there’ for him to run for president

What is Donald Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defence system?

Can Mandela's former negotiator fix fractious relations with Trump?

Canada in talks with US to join Trump's Golden Dome defence system

Musk to attend Trump's meeting with South Africa's president

Bhutanese Nepalis fled ethnic cleansing for the US. Trump is returning them to the refugee camps

House Republican goes scorched earth on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ in Fox News appearance

The forgotten book that foretold Trump’s power grab

Why Trump&#8217;s biggest global allies aren&#8217;t very happy with him

How Trump's $175billion Golden Dome missile defence can make US 'invulnerable' to nukes from China, Russia, or North Korea - as Beijing warns it will trigger a new arms race amid growing WW3 fears

South African president visits the U.S. And, GOP divided over Trump's tax bill

World news

Taiwan alleges China is using cash to win developing nations to its stand on the island

Systemic, not technical, issues may explain Pakistan's success with Chinese jets

U.S. defense industry reacts to Trump's Golden Dome announcement

Builder who won £5.4m on lottery 'didn't get a penny' and ended up 'a squatter'

Poland seizes hidden shipment of Boeing jet tyres being smuggled into Russia

Putin set to launch brutal summer attack on Ukraine as time is ticking for Russia

Hunter Biden threatened to knock out CNN’s Tapper amid long-running feud: ‘Go f*** yourself, Jake!’

‘Ape,’ ‘monkey’ and worse: Former Chick-fil-A employee accuses coworkers of monstrous racist abuse

Las Vegas gym shooting: Body cam captures moment police confront gunman

Who is Andriy Portnov? Former Ukrainian politician killed on school run in Spain

Donald Trump is now receiving disapproving marks on nearly every key issue - only scoring well with the border

Mapped: Where and how Israel has ramped up its latest attack on the Gaza Strip

Trump stops civil rights investigations into local police departments

JD Vance didn’t vote for his half-brother in Cincinnati’s mayoral primary despite posting endorsement

Senator says Rubio protesters ‘making progress’ for speaking in English

How to stop birds flying into windows – and whether those predator stickers actually work

Israel-Gaza latest: Week old baby among 82 killed in Israeli military strikes, hospital says

Undocumented migrant, 24, is arrested after he pretended to be a teen to enroll in Ohio high school

Senate passed ‘no tax on tips.’ Here is who could see massive drops in their bill to Uncle Sam

UK's Starmer suggests that a policy which denied retirees fuel subsidies will be changed

UK court orders singer Chris Brown freed on $6.7 million bail in assault case

A renowned mountain guide puts clients on Everest summit less than a week after they left London

Inside the Roman gym where the future pope kept a high heart rate and a low profile

Bell Canada working to restore internet after almost 140,000 affected in Ontario, Quebec

South Africa's leader aims to salvage relationship with Trump in White House visit

A suicide car bomber strikes a school bus in southwestern Pakistan, killing 5 people

Japan's agriculture minister resigns after a rice gaffe causes political fallout

Chinese fleet caught in contested waters near Japan and Taiwan

Russian economy collapse as profits plummet 42% at country's biggest steel firm

Horror in Spain as British woman plunges 60ft to her death in holiday hotspot

World's oldest pyramid built 22,000 years before Egypt's discovered on tropical island

Donald Trump Jr says the ‘calling is there’ for him to run for president

Kid Cudi set to take the stand and testify against Diddy. Here’s what’s been said at trial so far

Cucumbers under recall after salmonella outbreak tied to 15 states left 9 people hospitalized

Virginia Congressman Gerald Connolly dies at age 75 after cancer battle

Married Kohl’s CEO affair with a Walmart exec was retail’s dirty little secret. When it was exposed, it upended retail

Trump to meet with South African president amid tensions over aid, Afrikaners, Israel: Live updates

What is Donald Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defence system?

Thailand vows to tighten control on cannabis after smuggling cases involving tourists soar

Iran vows to keep enriching uranium despite US demand for halt in new deal talks

In Syria, a Shiite shrine and community navigate a changed landscape

Map shows scale of flooding across southern France which left three people dead

In peaceful Banff Rockies, Canada vows to help rebuild war-battered Ukraine

Canada Post urged to end door-to-door mail delivery. What other countries have considered it?

Suspect who assaulted tourist from Toronto in Vancouver's seawall released from secure medical facility

<a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/spurs-vs-man-utd/live/528776">Spurs v Man Utd: Latest from Bilbao ahead of Europa League final</a>

How switching to a flip phone deepened my friendships

Tutankhamum breakthrough as Boy King's mystery death 'solved'

Spain panic as homeless pushed out of key airport 'will relocate' to hub used by Brits

Weaponry that makes China's formidable 'mothership' drone such a threat

House Republican goes scorched earth on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ in Fox News appearance

Shakira concertgoers issued with urgent health warning in New Jersey

British surgeon in Gaza compares Palestine to ‘slaughterhouse’ as Israel intensifies its attacks

Hawaiian Airlines plane evacuated after U.S Navy servicemember made bomb threat, officials say

Andriy Portnov: Ex-Ukraine presidential adviser shot dead during school run in Madrid

Burkina Faso's military leaders turn to 'Africa's Che Guevara' to rally struggling country

Iran executes a man convicted over the 2023 attack on the Azerbaijan Embassy that killed 1 person

Why Trump’s biggest global allies aren’t very happy with him

Why Trump’s biggest global allies aren’t very happy with him