After A Year Of Shitstain Gutting America's Science And Emergency Response, "People Will Suffer - It's Just That Simple"

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FEMA, bereft of strong leadership and sinking under low morale and large gaps in its workforce, went into hurricane season without a plan in place. Gutted weather-balloon networks in Alaska failed to adequately warn residents in advance of what would become one of the most destructive storms in state history. It took administration officials more than 72 hours to authorise the deployment of federal search-and-rescue teams after the Guadalupe river in Texas surged into a summer camp and through nearby communities in July, a flood that left more than 135 people dead.

Even as Trump sought to slash federal funding, the cost of disasters continued to climb. In the first half of 2025 alone, damage from weather and climate disasters across the nation totaled more than $101bn, according to Dr Adam Smith, who tracked the data for NOAA until the federal database that cataloged these costs was discontinued in May. “That cost is by far the most costly first half of any year on record dating back to 1980,” he said. Smith now works as the senior climate impacts scientist for the non-profit Climate Central, where he is continuing to build the database.

“We are in the perfect storm,” said Monica Medina, who served as the principal deputy administrator of NOAA during the Obama administration. Ever-escalating threats are being met with a crumbling safety net, she added, as mismanagement and cuts in funding corrode an emergency response system already close to the brink. “We need to have a whole new attitude about preparedness for the types of weather events we are seeing,” she said. “People will suffer. It is just that simple."

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Congressionally appointed advisory councils that provide science-based recommendations were disbanded, and Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, put FEMA on a much tighter rein, requiring personal approval for spending over $100,000 – an amount easily surpassed by often-costly disaster contracts and grants – gumming up the agency’s ability to rapidly respond when disasters struck. More than a dozen FEMA workers were investigated and put on forced leave after they signed an open letter to Congress warning of the dangerous outcomes that could come from the administration’s changes. Now on its third acting administrator in less than a year – none of whom were approved by Congress or had substantial emergency experience – leadership is frail and staff have reported exceedingly low morale, with confusion about core mission and fears of reprisal for speaking out.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/04/donald-trump-disaster-response-preparedness