In March, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she was going to eliminate FEMA. (Credit: bilanol/Adobe Stock)
Hurricane season starts in two weeks, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency doesn’t yet have a plan for it, according to a report from ABC News.
An internal document prepared for David Richardson, who was recently named acting head of FEMA, warned that the agency isn’t prepared to handle hurricane-related disasters. “As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood, thus FEMA is not ready,” the document said.
Staffing limitations and lack of coordination with states will also have an impact on FEMA’s operations during hurricane season, the document said.
On a staff conference call last week, after the document’s creation, Richardson said he and his team had since sat down for “about 90 minutes” and had come up with a plan that’s “about 80% or 85% there.” He said the agency would be working to get the plan to 97% or 98% sometime in the next week.
Richardson was appointed to head FEMA this month after the prior acting administrator, Cam Hamilton, was fired for publicly opposing the Trump administration's proposals to dismantle the agency.
On the conference call, Richardson said the intent for this disaster season is to return primary responsibility to the states and coordinate federal assistance when deemed necessary.
“You can imagine that makes FEMA look very, very different,” he said. “What it's going to look like in the end, we'll find out. Remember, the president's a bold man. The president has a bold vision, he makes bold statements."
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told ABC News that the internal document was taken “grossly out of context.”
“This is just another example of a long line of internal leaks from people who clearly couldn't care less about Americans facing disaster and prefer to manufacture petty drama for their own self-aggrandizement,” the spokesperson said.
At his first all-hands meeting, Richardson warned employees who disagree with the president’s vision to stay out of the way.
"Don't get in my way if you're those 20% of the people," he said. "I know all the tricks. Obfuscation. Delay. Undermining. If you're one of those 20% of the people and you think those tactics and techniques are going to help you, they will not because I will run right over you. I will achieve the president's intent. I am as bent on achieving the president's intent as I was on making sure that I did my duty when I took my Marines to Iraq."
In March, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she was going to eliminate FEMA. During a House panel last week, Noem said she didn’t have a plan to eliminate FEMA yet but that one would be coming from the White House soon.
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