FEMA cuts emergency training under Trump as hurricane season looms [View all]
Source: Reuters
May 11, 2025 6:08 AM EDT Updated 36 min ago
WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. federal disaster agency FEMA has sharply reduced training for state and local emergency managers ahead of the start of the hurricane season on June 1, according to current and former officials, memos seen by Reuters, and three sources familiar with the situation. The training cutbacks could leave storm-prone communities less prepared to handle the often devastating aftermath of hurricanes, the sources and some of the current and former officials warned.
Leading forecasters predict a busier-than-average Atlantic hurricane season this year, with 17 named tropical storms, including nine hurricanes. If state directors and local emergency managers are not briefed on the federal government's latest tools and resources, it will impact their ability to prepare for and warn communities of impending storms, said Deanne Criswell, who headed FEMA during President Joe Biden's administration.
Some 2,000 FEMA employees - or about a third of full-time staff - have been fired or accepted incentives to quit since President Donald Trump took office in January and declared that the agency should be abolished and its functions handed over to the states.
Last week, Trump fired FEMA's acting chief, Cameron Hamilton, a day after Hamilton told lawmakers that the agency should be preserved. Hamilton's successor, David Richardson, told FEMA employees on Friday that he would "run right over" any staff opposed to his implementation of Trump's vision for a smaller agency.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/fema-cuts-emergency-training-hurricane-season-looms-2025-05-11/
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