As damage from Hurricane Helen continues and new storms loom, Americans are left wondering what happened to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA responds to disasters, not disasters.
Cleanup and replenishment efforts continue in the mountains near western North Carolina, and relief efforts have spread to parts of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. But with the absence or slow response of government agencies tasked with assisting in emergencies, Peter Schweitzer and Eric Eggers investigate why FEMA became less effective in the latest episode. Drill down.
Hurricane Helen has killed hundreds of people in the storm's path. The storm surge reached 30 feet in some places. The road has been washed away and is now impassable. Private charities are flocking to the area and conducting airlift operations to deliver supplies to people. And FEMA has made that job even harder.
The problem is a shift in organizational priorities known as mission creep. This frees up time, energy, money, and talent for other priorities. FEMA is currently spending millions of dollars to keep illegal immigrants who cross the southern border, although a White House spokesperson initially tried to deny that. The reason, Schweitzer says, is rooted in bureaucracy and its evolution.
“This is a classic story about government. When you're a government agency, there are only a few things you can really do well…and what we're seeing with FEMA is getting involved with illegal immigration, which diverts resources. It diverts personnel. It also defeats the purpose of training, because the kind of work they have to do now in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia. “It's very different,” Schweitzer said.
The founders of a private group calling itself “Operation Heli” complained to CNN this weekend about FEMA's lack of presence. Tim Kennedy, another man who also worked on the airlift, said he was frustrated with FEMA's actions when they finally reached their destination. “They're here, but they're in the way. They're not helping,” he said.
But such mission creep is something federal agencies do to stretch their budgets.
“So why would they do that?” Schweitzer asks. “Money. Money. Money that can be used for disaster relief is limited. [each year]. So FEMA is saying, “Let's participate in a number of other things that will increase the amount of money we get from the federal government every year.'' ”
He also addressed the Trump campaign's claim that FEMA is giving money to immigrants that should be given to victims of the storm.
“What is 100% true is that FEMA's emergency food and shelter program has been restructured to provide funding to 'families and individuals encountered by the Department of Homeland Security.'
How much money? Mr. Schweitzer continued, “$685 million was reallocated to funds for illegal aliens, as reported by many media outlets,” he said.
FEMA's reputation certainly wasn't helped this week when administrators of FEMA's Office of Resilience were exposed on a recording of a conference call in which they discussed the topic “Embracing Equity in Disaster Relief.” . Conference organizers urged participants to shift away from a utilitarian approach (the greatest good for the greatest number) and instead think about something called “disaster equity.”
The moderator asks what exactly “fairness in disaster situations” is.
This points to a second reason for FEMA's poor responsiveness. That's FEMA becoming politicized.
So when FEMA announce $800 million of the funding will go toward programs that “aggressively build infrastructure in disadvantaged communities,” they said, citing racial demographics. Appalachia, where most of the hurricane damage occurred, is a predominantly white region of the country.
As Eggers points out, the phenomenon of becoming political is not unique to FEMA. Two years ago, the U.S. Agency for International Development spent $2.6 billion of its budget to “advance gender equality around the world.”
The host also mentions another surprising story that was first reported. washington post. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has withheld its most accurate hurricane tracking forecasts from the public for the past four years, raising concerns that it is withholding information that could help people prepare for deadly storms. are.
The 2020 contract between NOAA and an insurance affiliate called RenaissanceRe Risk Sciences was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. postThis means that NOAA must keep its most accurate predictions about a hurricane's path secret for five years.
Readers and viewers who would like to support us are encouraged to contact us below. samaritan's wallet and Salvation ArmyBoth men had been in the area since the initial call for help. Many churches organize groups of volunteers to go to the area and assist with rebuilding and cleanup efforts.
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