Trump’s new FEMA head stuns employees by telling them he didn’t know US had a hurricane season, report says | EUROtoday

The just lately put in head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency alarmed employees members on Monday when he reportedly stated he was unaware that the U.S. has a hurricane season, which formally started on June 1.

The reported feedback are the newest signal of upheaval on the federal disaster-management company, which the Trump administration says it desires to “eliminate,” handing lots of its tasks to state governments.

The feedback from David Richardson, who has been overseeing FEMA since May, got here throughout a briefing with employees members, Reuters experiences, citing 4 sources conversant in his feedback.

Richardson, a former Marine artillery officer and Homeland Security official, has no formal disaster-management expertise.

During the briefing, Richardson additionally allegedly stated he was holding off on unveiling a brand new catastrophe plan in order to not contradict the administration’s evaluate of FEMA actions, regardless of beforehand saying in May one could be prepared by later that month.

The company rapidly downplayed the reporting, telling Reuters the feedback had been a joke and that FEMA was ready for the approaching hurricane season.

“FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens,” the agency said in a statement.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently warned this year’s hurricane season, which runs through November, has a 60 percent chance of above-normal conditions.

The agency has been in turmoil throughout the Trump administration.

It has reportedly cut back on training for state and local emergency managers, and acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton was fired in May, after he testified in Congress he didn’t think the administration should shutter the disaster response body.

Hurricane preparations inside FEMA have reportedly slowed in the face of the roughly 2,000 people who have been fired or resigned under Trump.

“As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood,” in line with an inside company evaluate ready on the course of Richardson that was obtained by CNN . “Thus FEMA is not ready.”

In January, Trump created a FEMA Review Council to find out the way forward for the company.

The administration has criticized FEMA from a lot of angles, starting from arguments that it’s inefficient, to inaccurate claims the company diverted emergency funding to deal with migrants.

On the marketing campaign path, Trump additionally falsely claimed then Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden didn’t go to the catastrophe zones in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, and that the federal authorities didn’t assist folks in Republican-leaning areas.

Trump has additionally threatened to withhold wildfire assist to California if it doesn’t agree to varied coverage calls for.