From the Huff Post: FEMA Worker Warns: Disaster Aid Could Be ‘Severed’ Thanks To Mass Firings

“A whistleblower at the Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that disaster aid could be “severed” amid a wave of firings under President Donald Trump.

The employee, a military veteran who now manages a team at FEMA, told HuffPost the agency has been crippled after more than 200 employees were fired over the past few weeks. The whistleblower has requested anonymity over fears of retaliation.”

From the NY Times: Senior Leaders Are Leaving an Already-Depleted Disaster Agency

“More than a dozen of the senior leaders at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including those with the most experience in leading disaster recovery, have either been fired or have resigned, thinning its management ranks weeks ahead of hurricane season.

The departures in the senior ranks are in addition to job cuts and resignations of about 1,000 of the agency’s roughly 17,000 employees.

Those changes represent a significant loss at an agency that was already struggling with personnel shortages as it tried to help communities recover from catastrophic storms and wildfires in western North Carolina and Los Angeles, among other missions.long with about 1,000 rank-and-file workers, FEMA is losing some of the managers most experienced in handling emergency efforts.”

From the Conversation: Why people rebuild in Appalachia’s flood-ravaged areas despite the risks?

Thanks to Chris Jones for the citation.

From the GAO: High-Risk Series: Heightened Attention Could Save Billions More and Improve Government Efficiency and Effectiveness

“Since GAO’s 2023 update to the High-Risk List, Congress and executive branch agencies have taken actions resulting in notable improvements across the 37 high-risk areas. These efforts over the last two years resulted in about $84 billion in financial benefits. However, the progress made overall varied. Ten areas improved their standing and three regressed, while the others maintained their position, were rated for the first time, or were newly added. Lasting solutions to high-risk problems could save billions of dollars, improve service to the public, and increase government performance and accountability.

We added a new high-risk area on Improving the Delivery of Federal Disaster Assistance. Recent natural disasters—including wildfires in Southern California and hurricanes in the Southeast—demonstrate the need for federal agencies to deliver assistance as efficiently and effectively as possible and reduce their fiscal exposure.”

From Rolling Stone: What Dismantling FEMA Will Really Mean When the Next Disaster Strikes

FEMA workers and disaster survivors open up about Donald Trump’s call for “fundamentally reforming or overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA”

From NPR: Trump administration drops work on stronger building codes for disasters

For the past 25 years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has helped develop building codes, the construction standards that help houses survive hurricanes, wildfires and earthquakes. Now, the Trump Administration has ordered that to stop, according to people involved with the work.

NPR has learned that FEMA is dropping out of the latest effort to improve building codes, taking its name off recommendations that its experts have already developed and submitted, according to several people with knowledge of the changes.

Article on The Power of Diversity by Dr. Lori Peek, Director of the Natural Hazards Center of the University of CO.

“Over the past 25 years, I’ve witnessed the hazards and disaster community grow larger and substantially more diverse. Our numbers make us stronger, but diversity is our superpower. It allows us to see challenges from many angles and develop comprehensive programs and policies to address seemingly intractable problems. Put simply, our distinct perspectives help us to help more people.

This stance obviously runs counter to recent efforts to dismiss the very notion of diversity. That’s why it feels important to discuss the terminology and emphasize some of the ways it matters in the hazards and disaster field.

When it comes to diversity, I’m referencing two distinct but intertwined concepts—demographic diversity and functional diversity.”

From CNN:Trump administration plans for sharp FEMA cuts fuel worries for some Republicans, state officials

“The Trump administration’s future blueprint for FEMA has been tightly held and Republicans pressing for specifics have gotten very few details back. Through backchanneling with the administration, some Republican lawmakers say their understanding is that states would get block grants approved by the president directly. Proponents say this plan cuts out bureaucracy and that states know what’s best for their communities.But cutting the agency entirely could overburden many states who would have to mobilize recovery resources and personnel on their own. The head of the National Emergency Management Association, which represents state emergency management agencies, has been trying without success to get a seat at the table with DOGE to make her case.?

“There’s certainly room for improvements in FEMA,” president of the National Emergency Management Association, Lynn Budd, told CNN. “The states right now are not prepared to take on all of the tasks that FEMA does for us.”

From Politico: FEMA email: Firings will affect ‘majority of our staff’
After firing 200 probationary employees this weekend, FEMA was directed “to make a list” of anyone who worked on climate or equity. Two excerpts:

“The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to fire Federal Emergency Management Agency staff who have worked on addressing climate change or promoting equity and diversity, according to interviews and emails obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News — on top of the hundreds of probationary employees it removed during Presidents Day weekend.

The already-strapped disaster agency is being directed to “come up with employee reductions far beyond the probationary list,” a top FEMA official wrote in an internal email sent recently to senior agency staff.”

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