I believe that the cuts to the former United States International Development (USAID), which eliminated it as an operational organization have real impact. USAID now has been sucked into the United States State Department and has a staff of 15. See this article from the Washington Post, Trump’s USAID cuts cripple American response to Myanmar earthquake

There are plenty of ideas for reforming the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Most of them are programmatic and center around changes to how different portions the federal government administers different programs, e.g. the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). 

I was told, way back when, that after the Hurricane Katrina debacle, Craig Fugate was approached to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He “reportedly” declined to be considered. Later, he led FEMA for the entire Obama Administration.

I don’t think you can call it “penny wise and pound foolish.” That would be too kind. Maybe a better saying would be “Policy stupid and pound foolish.” See this article from the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), FEMA Halts Rule that Protects Against Future Floods

There is an excellent article at NPR, Trump wants states to handle disasters. States aren't prepared  I recommend it to your reading.

Just another day in the turmoil of the last two months. See article, ‘This is horrifying’: FEMA reviewing disaster aid that could help migrants

What is at stake is how we treat human beings impacted by a disaster. It would appear, that we all might need to start carrying our passports with us at all times. Remember movies about World War II and a German soldier walks up to you and says, “mir deine Papiere.“ Meaning, Show me your papers! (identification). Basically, who are you? What are you doing? Where are you going?

Events like this one gets everyone’s attention, and not just because of cancelled flights, What We Know About the Closure of Heathrow Airport

The details are not spelled out specifically, but if you take the gist of the latest Presidential Executive Order, it is not hard to read the tea leaves, Trump signs order to shift disaster preparations from FEMA to states, local governments

We will be reading many more stories about the Los Angeles urban conflagration. Here is just one of those from the Washington Post, What went wrong the night Altadena burned

There are many countries looking to react to the transformation of United States foreign relations and change is policies and attitudes toward decades long history of cooperation and collaboration, including treaties.  I noted this article about the quick transformation being asked for in Germany under the leadership of the expected new chancellor Friedrich Merz, Merz, Challenges Germans to Make a Bold Strategic Shift. Will They Do It?

This is the latest technology to come to television news organizations trying to improve their sharing of information visually. Check out the video at the end of this article, Miami CBS station to debut virtual reality studio  I’ve seen this already on the CBS evening news as they give national weather forecasts. The video I mention gives you a better idea of how a studio looks—basically, walls of green screens.

When you suffer a loss from a catastrophic fire, that is not the time to investigate the history of your insurance company’s payment of claims. I reminded my daughter 30 years ago when she found a cheaper auto insurance company that she also needed to consider their track record for paying claims. A few years after being married to her husband, he said, “The best thing about being married to Emily is USAA” (an insurance company—I have had for over 50 years).

It has been an accepted fact that climate change is real and that it is impacting the frequency, severity and I add, duration of natural disasters. You can measure that in numbers for how many disasters there are today and how the costs of disasters have skyrocketed in recent years.

This will add up to about 25% of the entire workforce, which includes the National Weather Service (NWS). I don’t know about you, but if I cut 25% of my staff, I could not maintain the same level of services that I had provided before.

Many times, people think about the disaster response and recovery only in terms of what government does. Another major contributor to disaster relief in all cases comes from the nonprofit sector. In this podcast we have an example of what one individual with a vision and mission can accomplish. Check out the Disaster Zone Podcast: Disaster Accountability Project

Jason McNamara, a former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Chief of Staff offered some ideas for reforming FEMA, given the establishment of a council to do that very thing. I’ve blogged on the council before. I’m still waiting to hear about the composition of that body, the only thing we know is it will be chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Secretary of Defense (DOD).

Back a few weeks (dog weeks at that) I shared the idea that there is nothing sacred to cost cutters and the Federal Emergency Management Institute (EMI) could be in jeopardy. So today there is this from the Washington Post, FEMA cancels firefighter training amid uncertainty over Trump cuts  While it says “Fire” it also includes all emergency management classes being cancelled for the time being.

As emergency managers we know that one, if not the key factor, in being successful in our career and profession is gaining and maintaining strong interpersonal relationships. Those are numerous with a wide variety of people representing a plethora of organizations that range from government to business and the nonprofit sectors. I’d also add the “Fourth Estate” with that being the media.