Global Health Emergency Corps

Scott F Dowell et al; https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/8/e019424
As a reminder, the GHEC was launched in 2023. Check out how things are going.

“The Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC) offers a novel, structured approach to international crisis response by integrating national, regional and global experts through coordinated networks. It is defined as the body of experts in ministries and agencies in every country who work on health emergencies and the global ecosystem through which they coordinate. By prioritising sovereignty, equity and solidarity, GHEC seeks to overcome historical barriers to global health collaboration while respecting national autonomy in crisis response…..”

From the Bulwark: It’s Hurricane Season. Do You know where your FEMA Director is?

Dark days at the disaster agency under Trump, with senior leaders gone, staffing down, and money not going out the door as expected.

From CNN on 8/18 – An update on the current hurricane in the Atlantic

From Truthout Trump’s FEMA Guts Disaster Mitigation While Funding Migrant Jails

As climate disasters increase, the hamstrung agency’s response efforts will be impeded when they’re needed most.

From CNN: Category 5 Hurricane Erin is one of the fastest rapidly intensifying storms in Atlantic history

From NBC News: Under water: How FEMA’s outdated flood maps incentivize property owners to take risks/

About 75% of the nation’s flood insurance maps are outdated, leaving the door open for property owners to seek their own flood mapping and appeal.

The RAND Corp is offering an online workshop on Recovery Tracking on August 22. See  RAND’s Recovery Tracking Tool: Improving Visibility on the Status and Progress of Recovery Efforts

(1) Hurricane Recovery from 2024: From the WashPost: DHS is delaying millions in already approved North Carolina recovery funds, documents show.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/08/dhs-fema-north-carolina-helene-recovery-funds/

Communities across the region still need to be reimbursed for about a hundred projects including debris removal, waste water treatment repairs, roads and bridges, damaged buildings and parks, as well as for emergency protection.

(2) Above Normal Activity Expected for the rest of [2025] Hurricane Season

From NPR: Federal records contradict what FEMA leader told Congress about Texas flood response/

In the week after floods tore through Texas Hill Country, most survivors were unable to get through to a federal aid hotline because the Department of Homeland Security let funding lapse, according to publicly available contract records and internal FEMA call center logs obtained by NPR.

The call center staffing meltdown appears to have happened because of an administrative bottleneck created by the Trump administration. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem personally signs off on all funding requests for more than $100,000, according to House testimony by FEMA acting administrator David Richardson earlier this month. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

From the Conversation: History shows why FEMA is essential in disasters, and how losing independent agency status hurt its ability to function

“When the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s urban search and rescue team resigned after the deadly July 4, 2025, Texas floods, he told colleagues he was frustrated with bureaucratic hurdles that had delayed the team’s response to the disaster, acccording to media reports. The move highlighted an ongoing challenge at FEMA.

Ever since the agency lost its independent status and became part of the Department of Homeland Security in the early 2000s, it has faced complaints about delays caused by layers of bureaucracy and red tape, leaders at the top with little experience in emergency response, and whiplash policy changes.

Now, the Trump administration is cutting jobs at FEMA and talking about dismantling the agency, which would push more responsibility for disaster response to the states.

Yet, federal emergency management is crucial in America.”

Final two sentences: “The Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle FEMA are shortsighted in my view. Instead, I believe the best move is to restore FEMA as an independent executive agency as it was originally envisioned.”