Stephanie Sy:
President Trump has signaled in the past that major changes would be coming to FEMA after this hurricane season. But last month, he had praise for FEMA’s work after the deadly July 4 flooding in Texas, saying his administration had — quote — “fixed it up in no time.”
Even so, the Trump administration is attempting to reallocate some $4 billion in funds meant to help local communities protect against natural disasters, a move a federal judge blocked this week.
So what has the turmoil at FEMA meant for people affected by natural disasters?
Sarah Labowitz, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has been looking into just that.
Sarah, thanks for joining us.
So I understand you and your team track how much federal spending is going to disaster recovery. What does the data tell us about disaster response under this Trump administration? And what stands out to you when compared to previous administrations?
Sarah Labowitz, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Well, one thing that’s really standing out to me is how long it’s taking to approve disaster declaration requests.
When a disaster hits, a governor typically makes a request to the federal government for help. And what we’re seeing is that those requests are really stacking up, so that FEMA help is getting to places much slower than it was under the previous administration and even under the first President Trump administration.
The other thing that we’re seeing is that the administration is no longer approving requests for mitigation funding. And that’s the funding that jurisdictions use to anticipate the next disaster to make themselves more resilient for the future. And that funding has really dried up.
