There will likely be hundreds of articles written about proposed changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). I came across this one in my Google Feed, Another viewpoint: Federal emergency management could use reform, not elimination  

This comes from Jeannette Sutton’s post on LinkedIn. I thought it important enough to share it here with you. Remember the first place to really start off on the wrong foot in a disaster is to screw up the warning. Watch for an upcoming Disaster Zone Podcast on warnings with Dr. Sutton as the guest.

It will likely be seven or eight months from now before we know what recommendations are made by the council established by executive order to examine how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can be reformed

Just another sign of the times. No reason was given, but the 2025 annual Emergency Management Higher Education Symposium has been cancelled.

It has been said that about the only humans that like change are babies. Change my diaper! We are experiencing a firehose of change at the federal level for the last two weeks. More is coming…

Check out this Disaster Zone Podcast: Forecasting the Future  All of which was recorded back in December 2023. It might be the topics discussed will help you adjust to the changes we are experiencing today.

Certainly, things are running at breakneck speed back in Washington D.C. There are Presidential Nominations for department heads, new Presidential Executive Orders and then especially troubling to me is an “ex officio” organization with what appears to be unlimited access to federal department records. That would be DOGE 

I have written much about this topic already. There is an entire litany of reasons that have been proposed, some of them outlandish and just not based on facts but even reality and geography.

If you don’t mind hot humid summer weather and are in need of more sunshine, maybe these Two Emergency Management Positions in Houston are just the solution.

Working in the profession of emergency management is not getting easier, it is getting harder. Not only are we trying to provide the best information to our constituents about an ongoing disaster, but we have to now fight misinformation (what we might have called rumors before)) Then there is outright disinformation which is meant to create any manner of confusion for whatever nefarious reasons the person or organization might have.

Everyone is recognizing the challenges governments are facing with the onslaught of misinformation and disinformation. See this Government Technology article, States Work to Fight Disinformation During Emergencies 

A blizzard of news has many emergency managers wondering – What comes next? Well, this comes next…

The question in most minds today is what will remain and what will change in the new Trump Administration? Out with the old, in with the new…which is still to be determined.

It is likely only the general emergency management community that is vitally interested in who the Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be. In the past they have tapped FEMA Region 9 to have a regional administrator move up and take the reigns in Washington, DC until a permanent administrator is appointed.  Surprise! That did not happen. I expect the administrator in FEMA Region 9 has their hands full with the Los Angeles firestorm response and recovery processes that have already started.

Yikes! There is this from late last night, White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion

A few days ago there was another executive order that paused all foreign aid. Well, who cares about that—I don’t care!  No skin off my back, etc, etc. Now that worm as turned, and it is every grant program everywhere that is in the “pause hopper.” 

Before one can begin to change something like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) you need to understand what is existing.  I found these two articles trying to address that question. The first is an AP story and is much more expansive in defining elements of FEMA’s programs—not too long to reach however. A more comprehensive explanation.

I did an earlier blog post about what might be in the Federal Emergency Management’s (FEMA) future, but I seem to have been a minimalist in some of my thinking. It had been suggested in some quarters that the split in disaster costs should shift more burden on the states, now at 75% federal and 25% state and local. Project 2025 suggested that split should be 25% federal and 75% state and local.

I went looking for something more recent, since I had seen and read it earlier—but could not find it. Instead, I found this:

“The rising cancellation rates [for property insurance] are part of a broader trend captured by the Treasury Department, which analyzed information for 246 million insurance policies issued by 330 insurers nationwide from 2018 through 2022. The result is the most comprehensive look yet at the effect of climate change on the American home insurance market.” This is what is detailed in this article from the NY Times, More Americans, Risking Ruin, Drop Their Home Insurance