US EditionFEMA Staff Warn Funding Cuts Could Spell Disaster 20 Years After Katrina
Over 180 FEMA employees criticized staff and program cuts, warning of diminished disaster response; about one-third of named signatories were placed on paid administrative leave.
- On Tuesday, federal officials placed several FEMA employees on leave after more than 180 current and former FEMA employees sent a letter to the FEMA Review Council and U.S. Congress warning cuts had eroded readiness.
- Citing the upcoming 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the letter urged Congress to restore FEMA's cabinet-level status and criticized a DHS rule requiring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to approve contracts over $100,000.
- Among signers, 35 employees, including Virginia Case, recalled Hurricane Katrina's 1,833 deaths and $161 billion damage, with Case saying `The public deserves to know what's happening, because lives and communities will suffer if this continues`.
- About 30 employees were placed on paid administrative leave, including some active in Texas flood relief, while about 2,000 staff have left FEMA this year, reducing response capacity.
- The dissent letter warned funds are being redirected, citing a 608 million plan to build immigrant detention capacity instead of disaster mitigation, while experts note warmer seas intensify storms faster.
14 Articles
14 Articles
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Hurricane Katrina was a landmark event for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, ushering in major reforms and serving as a key lesson that reverberates across the FEMA workforce 20 years later. It’s no small thing, then, that some FEMA employees have invoked failures in the government’s response to Katrina to warn Congress and the public that changes under the Trump administration risk a similarly catastrophic scenario in the future. More th…
FEMA staff warn funding cuts could spell disaster 20 years after Katrina
More than 180 current and former employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency published a letter Monday warning that debilitating cuts to the agency charged with handling federal disaster response risks a catastrophe like the one seen after Hurricane Katrina.
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