20 Years After Katrina, FEMA On The Chopping Block, Agency Run By Guy Who Said He Didn't Know About Hurricane "Season"

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In many ways, Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call for states and the federal government. Analyses following the storm revealed major failures in evacuation communication, horrific conditions in the Superdome evacuation center and a lack of effective collaboration between FEMA and affected states. This led to major shifts in disaster management policies, including the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006. This legislation reestablished FEMA as a separate agency within the Department of Homeland Security and developed new regional offices to facilitate disaster response with states. It also addressed discrimination in disaster assistance for non-English speakers and those with disabilities.

But this progress could be in jeopardy in the wake of recent changes spearheaded by the Trump administration. Earlier this summer, President Donald Trump pledged to dismantle FEMA following this year’s hurricane season, pushing more responsibility to states and local municipalities that don’t always have the funding or expertise to handle a major disaster. His administration has gutted grants aimed at helping communities prepare for disasters and now requires survivors to provide email addresses to secure FEMA aid, which could be difficult for people with limited internet access, The New York Times reports.

“Effective response and recovery from disasters relies on strong local and state leadership. While Federal assistance was always intended to supplement state actions, not replace those actions, FEMA’s outsized role created a bloated bureaucracy that disincentivized state investment in their own resilience,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, wrote in a statement to Inside Climate News. “President Trump is committed to right-sizing the Federal government while empowering State and local governments by enabling them to better understand, plan for, and ultimately address the needs of their citizens.”

Disaster experts have criticized Trump’s appointment of David Richardson as acting FEMA administrator due to his lack of experience, echoing the situation two decades ago, when the agency’s chief had a background in the horse-show industry. Though the Trump administration pulled back a bit on its language surrounding a total unraveling of FEMA in the wake of the recent Texas floods, the agency’s full-time staff has fallen by a third since the start of the year and major additional cuts may still loom, The Associated Press reports. Jackson told Inside Climate News that the new “FEMA Review Council, comprised of top experts in their field, will recommend to the President how FEMA may be reformed in ways that best serve the national interest.”

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26082025/todays-climate-hurricane-katrina-aftermath-legacy-trump-fema-cuts/

Staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency were caught off-guard and left bewildered when the disaster relief agency’s new acting head David Richardson told personnel that he was previously unaware the United States has a hurricane season, which started Sunday. Richardson made the comments during a briefing Monday morning, multiple sources told CNN. While some interpreted the remark as a joke, others said it raised concerns about the recently appointed acting administrator, who has no prior experience managing natural disasters.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CNN the comment was made in jest, adding, “FEMA is laser focused on disaster response, and protecting the American people.” It remains unclear whether Richardson’s comment – joking or not – reflects a lack of knowledge before assuming his current role. In recent weeks, he has repeatedly referenced FEMA’s preparations for hurricane season in meetings and interviews.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appointed Richardson – a former Marine combat veteran and martial-arts instructor – in early May, firing President Donald Trump’s first acting FEMA chief just hours after he broke from other Trump officials and told lawmakers he did not support eliminating FEMA. Richardson has promised to enforce Trump’s agenda. In an all-hands meeting on his first day at FEMA, Richardson told agency staff he will “run right over” anyone who tries to prevent him from carrying out the president’s mission, CNN previously reported.

Since then, the Department of Homeland Security has installed more than a half-dozen of its officials into key roles at FEMA to effectively run the agency. Most of them, like Richardson, have little experience handling disasters. In Monday’s meeting, Richardson announced that FEMA will not release an updated disaster plan for this hurricane season as previously promised, saying the agency does not want to get ahead of Trump’s newly formed FEMA Review Council, sources said.

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https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/02/politics/david-richardson-fema-head-unaware-hurricane-season