The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is “not ready” for hurricane season, which starts June 1, an internal document warns as President Trump eyes eliminating the department entirely. |
Internal slides obtained by The Hill state that, “As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood, thus FEMA is not ready.”
The slides also state that per a hurricane season 2025 assessment, “resources are reduced” and the “quality of people lost cannot be replaced right away.”
And it says the routine readiness process “has been derailed this year due to other activities like staffing and contracts.”
FEMA is the federal agency in charge of coordinating responses to disasters, working alongside states and localities to do so. It also helps communities rebuild after they’ve been hit.
The agency has become a major target of the Trump administration, with the president and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem expressing interest in axing it. The slides obtained by The Hill raise concerns about this approach.
“If an organization hears it should be eliminated or abolished, the resources and cooperation are not there. Intent cannot be wind down and be ready to support [the] nation in a major response,” the slides state.
CNN, which first detailed agency documents saying FEMA is “not ready” for hurricane season, reported that the finding comes at acting agency head David Richardson’s direction.
The Department of Homeland Security told CNN that FEMA “is fully activated in preparation for Hurricane Season.”
“The slide was used during a daily meeting Acting Administrator David Richardson has held every day titled Hurricane Readiness Complex Problem Solving. In other words, exactly what the head of an emergency management agency should be doing before Hurricane Season,” a spokesperson told the news outlet. |
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