FEMA must be fixed, but stay federal

The history of mismanagement of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is profound. It has weathered criticism over the decades for slow response, wasted money and more. But for Long Islanders, a broken FEMA would be a government disaster on top of a natural disaster. 

The Government Accountability Office’s September report to Congress acknowledges these errors in adding a new category, “Improving the Delivery of Federal Disaster Assistance,” to its list of high-priority things to fix.

The report lays out issues that hinder its mission of emergency response, from staffing shortages to diminished resources, and concludes, “… the federal government will likely need to meet its disaster response mission with fewer available resources this year,” and says these factors “could reduce effectiveness of federal disaster response for upcoming disasters.”

That’s a blunt warning for Long Islanders and all Americans — especially first responders and emergency management agencies across the country and at all levels of government. Nassau and Suffolk counties have benefited from about $6.36 billion in disaster relief money since FEMA was founded in 1979, according to a Newsday nextLI analysis, with $2.5 billion alone as a result of Superstorm Sandy. While there are many valid criticisms of the Sandy response, it would have been worse with no federal help.

President Donald Trump said in June he may close FEMA at the end of the 2025, providing no federal assistance for events like hurricanes, wildfires and floods. Trump wants states to bear the responsibility of planning for and responding to natural disasters. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, on the agency’s website, said she and Trump in just 200 days “… have successfully reformed federal disaster response after decades of failure and neglect.” Trump has said governors are “… supposed to fix those problems ...”

While Trump leads a large caucus of officials who want FEMA closed because of its massive expenses, the GAO report shows a better path forward — reforming the monolithic government agency while improving states' responsiveness. “Recent disasters further demonstrate the need for governmentwide action to deliver assistance efficiently and effectively and reduce the federal government’s exposure,” the GAO states.

So, what can be done to reform FEMA?

First, states and local municipalities will need to take a more active role in mitigating disaster impact and helping communities rebuild. This applies to localized calamities where federal resources may not be needed. While New York is one of the states on the forefront of disaster planning and mitigation, some states are not. Natural disasters are more frequent and more intense than when the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act giving the federal government the authority to help local governments was signed into law in 1988.

States and local governments need to increase training of emergency managers and first responders to handle natural disasters, particularly concurrent threats, which are happening more frequently. And national and state officials have to improve forecasting and alert systems, while providing training for residents so they can better prepare themselves.

Some states and local governments have weakened building codes in the past decade to fast-track construction. The result is more buildings susceptible to natural disasters, which leaves FEMA to pay for rebuilding. States and local governments should instead strengthen building codes.

And FEMA, along with local governments, needs to put cash in the hands of victims made homeless much quicker. People, businesses and small governments need low or zero interest loans to rebuild, and the application process has to be sped up using AI and technology.

A bill in Congress, the "Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act," would, among other things, create a unified application for people to apply for disaster relief aid. The bill was moved out of House committee on Sept. 3. It deserves Congress' full attention.

The federal government’s usual response of throwing more money at a problem is itself a problem. But putting disaster response and mitigation entirely on states is not only misguided, it endangers American lives and poses a national security risk. How will America respond if China or Russia increase cyberattacks while we cope with two massive natural disasters at the same time?

We have been lucky this hurricane season with wind patterns that have kept the storms — fewer than predicted so far — off our coast, but we cannot hope that Mother Nature will spare the East Coast in the future. Washington and federal officials need to commit the full power of the federal government to FEMA and storm mitigation and remediation, while at the same time working with rather than against states to help them better prepare.

FEMA is a bloated, inefficient bureaucracy, but it provides lifesaving help and critical money for communities to not only rebuild after a natural disaster but rebuild stronger. When a major storm, and hopefully not a hurricane next hits Long Island, people will be looking to FEMA and the federal government for help. Will it be able to respond effectively?