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.”

The Diva would appreciate donations so that she can pay for needed technical support to maintain the website she has managed for 14 years.  News of the various agencies and institutions is very important these days in light of the massive federal cuts in staffing and funding. I am sorry to say an earlier request for donations did not get much response.

Note that a DONATE NOW button is available in the right hand column of the homepage, under my photo. But that column does not display if you use your cell phone to read the articles, I just realized.

From the WashPost: FEMA is losing scores of employees. What does that mean for disaster recovery? Cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency could affect people across the country who are struggling to rebuild and prepare for disasters.

“Hundreds of Federal Emergency Management Agency employees were fired as part of a wave of terminations of federal workers over the holiday weekend and Tuesday, according to agency officials. The cuts, which come in addition to the firing of more than 200 last week, target probationary and contract employees and could affect people across the country who are struggling to rebuild and prepare for disasters.”

From EEnews: FEMA docs for addressing climate change disappear from websites. The two funding notices are needed by states to apply for $1.35 billion in mitigation grants.”

“The Trump administration has removed public documents from FEMA websites that described plans to spend $1.35 billion in federal funds this year to protect against climate impacts and promote racial equity.

The two documents, called notices of funding opportunity, were taken down Thursday as the administration moves to end government climate programs and diversity efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency published them shortly before President Donald Trump took office to explain its goals and priorities for two of the nation’s main disaster grant programs.

The Biden administration and Congress had vastly increased funding in recent years for both programs, which pay for mitigation projects to harden infrastructure or structures against future disasters. President Joe Biden heralded the increased funding as part of his effort to address climate change.”

From CNN: Exclusive: FEMA firings reveal roiling tension and confusion within the Department of Homeland Security, Some excerpts:

“One week into the Trump administration, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a directive that the Federal Emergency Management Agency should stop sending money to non-governmental organizations that she characterized as helping “illegal aliens.”

But the memo didn’t address money that flowed to state and local governments, fueling confusion at the agency charged with administering federal payments related to migrant housing. FEMA personnel were directed to continue sending those payments.

This week, four FEMA employees, including its chief financial officer, were fired and accused by the Department of Homeland Security of circumventing leadership. And more than $80 million in federal grant money to New York City to help shelter migrants was clawed back.

The internal back and forth that led to the firings, details of which have not been previously reported, reflects the turmoil at FEMA, as well as a level of tension that has developed between career officials at the agency and top political appointees at DHS.”

From Politico: Trump’s acting FEMA leader undercuts president’s claims about disaster money

A document filed in court by the acting FEMA administrator, Cameron Hamilton, undercuts the administration’s misinformation campaign on disaster aid.

From the WashPost: Noem says she would recommend Trump ‘get rid’ of FEMA.Trump has launched a review of the relief agency, which has faced conspiracy-fueled criticisms amid recovery from last year’s major hurricanes.

“Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said Sunday that she would recommend to President Donald Trump that he “get rid of FEMA the way it exists today” and allow local officials to have more say about how federal aid is used after disasters.”