The rescuers deployed in the response phase are not full-time employees. They are employees of whatever agency operates the FEMA-funded USAR/water rescue team. So, for example, the FDNY and NYPD have a joint water rescue and urban search and rescue team that deployed to North Carolina. FEMA pays for their training, their equipment, and pays their salaries when they are deployed, but when they are not deployed they are paid for by the agencies that they work for (i.e. the FDNY and NYPD). The arrangement is mutually beneficial - the home agencies benefit from having great equipment and highly-trained specialty teams in their backyard, and FEMA benefits from having assets that can be deployed nationwide (or even worldwide in some cases) when a disaster overwhelms state and local authorities. Get rid of FEMA and that relationship is no longer mutually beneficial. New York is not going to pick up the tab to continue to fund a team that will deploy to North Carolina.FEMA doesnt have the resources either, without mutual aid.
"A Government Accountability Office report earlier this year found FEMA was 6,000 employees short of its staffing targets, forcing it to function at 65% of its operating capacity."
Federal agencies have deployed 3,600 employees in Helene response
Biden promises feds will stay as long as necessary, and FEMA says it may tap volunteers from other agencies to aid in response.www.govexec.com
Fatigue and moral have been a problem at FEMA for many, many years.
FEMA & Natural Disasters | FEMA reform or dissolution?
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waynecountywolf
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Sure they will come- they always have (IF its managed properly). NC will pay them because the Feds paid NC. FEMA does not do what many suppose they do. I am not for disbanding FEMA,BTW; I was simply addressing that assistance does come in many forms across each state, neighboring states and yeah, even NY and California. "Neighbors" do help neighbors and they are eventually reimbursed IF they supply proper documentation.
Believe me, I know how this works and mutual aid came from many many entities-local small towns as well as large cities, health departments and law enforcement local and nationwide, search and rescue came in many forms as well (small volunteer fire depts from say Bladen County) and you are correct FEMA does have Incident Management Teams (but not enough to cover Helene)-mutual aid has been this way for years. Who do you think turned on the power in NJ or NY after Sandy? (well NY wouldnt allow non union power companies to work so the power companies gave the middle finger across the river as they turned on power in a neighboring state that did allow non union power companies form say Alabama to do their job).
FEMA cannot do this alone, either.
waynecountywolf
Active Member
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Go back to page whatever # I replied in my OP what I was addressing. Didnt mean for some to take that to another level..I do think I addressed that in my immediate previous post as well.
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FEMA aid subject to government wide domestic aid funding now. Direct payments to individuals supposedly not impacted but what a mess.
zzlpolitics.com
Politics - OMB freezes all DOMESTIC and foreign grants, loans (excludes SS, Medicare)
White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion Trillions of dollars could be on hold, according to an Office of Management and Budget memo. “ The White House budget office is ordering a pause to all grants and loans disbursed by the federal government, according to an internal memo...
zzlpolitics.com
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Call me skeptical. With this morning's stunt pausing nearly all federal spending, I would have zero confidence that the feds would reimburse my state for any disaster response, particularly if I lived in a blue state. I'm sure it would be something along the lines of, "hey New York, thanks for sending your people to North Carolina to help but you had a tan looking guy on your team so you aren't getting anything from us." And if I'm in charge of a department with a FEMA team, that FEMA team will be the first thing to be cut in the next budget year. My number one priority is to make sure that my own people are taken care of, not people 1,000 miles away.
We declared states of emergency in all 50 states during the pandemic.FEMA doesnt have the resources either, without mutual aid.
"A Government Accountability Office report earlier this year found FEMA was 6,000 employees short of its staffing targets, forcing it to function at 65% of its operating capacity."Federal agencies have deployed 3,600 employees in Helene response
Biden promises feds will stay as long as necessary, and FEMA says it may tap volunteers from other agencies to aid in response.
Fatigue and moral have been a problem at FEMA for many, many years.
Katrina completely broke FEMA in 2005 (“You’re doing one helluva job, Brownie”); it needed fixing and it took years. The pandemic broke FEMA in 2020; it’ll take years to completely rebuild it (and nothing will be done to improve it from now through 1/20/2029).
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“… Throughout the disaster, Edwards has been critical of FEMA while also sharing FEMA resources and fact-checking misinformation about the agency in his email newsletter.
In one newsletter, he explained that the agency “has shipped 13 million meals and 13 million liters of water utilizing the $20 billion in funds that I helped to draft and pass for disaster relief just two days before Hurricane Helene hit.”
Since the storm, FEMA has distributed over $600 million in direct and public assistance funding.
The N.C. Governor’s office estimated in December that there is nearly $60 billion in damage across the region. …”
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Noem tries to dodge questions about Musk having access to personal data at FEMA, then comes out with:
Noem [cross-talk over Bash question]: “We can’t trust the government anymore.”
Bash [after processing what Noem said] “… But you are the government.”
Noem: “Yes, that’s what I’m saying. That the American people are saying that we have had our personal data shared and not there in the public …”
Bash: “Yeah but now Elon Musk has access to it“
Noem:
“Yes but Elon Musk is part of the Administration helping us identify where we can find savings [claims he has gone through processes to get proper authority] and his information that he has is looking at programs not focusing on personal data and information.”
Bash: “ He’s not focusing on it but he has access to it.”
Noem: “uh we’ll be continuing to talk to him about what all he has access to but this audit needs to happen … people’s personal information has been out there in these case [works?] that have been closed a long time that people are getting responses now that they haven’t had before.”
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Bash: [can and should Trump shut down FEMA even though it’s authorized by statute?]
Noem: “He can and I believe that he will do that evaluation with his team and he’s talking about it which I’m grateful for. He’ll work with Congress though to make sure that it’s done correctly and that we’re still there to help folks that have a terrible disaster or crisis in their life. He’s been very clear that he still believes there is a role for the Federal Government to come in and help get people back up on their feet but there’s a lot of fraud and waste and abuse out there. And since President Trump has taken over and come back into this Administration we’ve seen incredible changes …
Bash: What’s your recommendation [mumble]?
Noem: “He’s talked a lot about doing block grants to the states and to local officials. I was a governor and when I was governor of South Dakota we saw 12 different natural disasters that hit our state that were FEMA-related that we had FEMA disasters so I knew it from that level and I knew every single time that I and the local county emergency management directors, the mayors, the city councils and county commissioners they made way better decisions than somebody sitting in Washington DC.”
Bash: [If Trump asks your advice as DHS Secretary about getting rid of FEMA what would you say?]
Noem: “I would say yes, get rid of FEMA the way it exists today. We still need the resources and the funds and the finances to go to people [like Helene and California fires] but you need to let the local officials make the decisions how that is deployed so it can be deployed much quicker and we don’t need this bureaucracy that is picking and choosing winners.”
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DHS Exposes how FEMA Officials Under the Biden Administration Systematically Refused Aid to Disaster Survivors on Purely Political Discrimination, Refers Case to the Department of Justice | Homeland Security
An internal investigation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) found that throughout the Biden Administration, FEMA employees systematically refused to visit the houses of disaster survivors that displayed signs and flags they disagreed...
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State emergency officials say new rules and delays for FEMA grants put disaster response at risk
State emergency management officials say they're facing funding challenges from the federal government that threaten the country's ability to respond to crises
State emergency officials say new rules and delays for FEMA grants put disaster response at risk
State emergency management officials say they're facing funding challenges from the federal government that threaten the country's ability to respond to crises
“… In an emailed statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the new requirements were necessary because of “recent population shifts" and that changes to security grants were made “to be responsive to new and urgent threats facing our nation.”
…
FEMA, a part of DHS, divided a $320 million Emergency Management Performance Grant among states on Sept. 29. But the next day, it told states the money was on hold until they submitted new population counts. The directive demanded that they omit people "removed from the State pursuant to the immigration laws of the United States” and to explain their methodology.
The amount of money distributed to the states is based on U.S. census population data. The new requirement forcing states to submit revised counts “is something we have never seen before,” said Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association, a group representing emergency managers. “It’s certainly not the responsibility of emergency management to certify population.”
With no guidance on how to calculate the numbers, Hawaii’s Amundson said staff scrambled to gather data from the 2020 census and other sources, then subtracted he number of “noncitizens” based on estimates from an advocacy group.…”
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“…State emergency officials say new rules and delays for FEMA grants put disaster response at risk
State emergency management officials say they're facing funding challenges from the federal government that threaten the country's ability to respond to crises
State emergency officials say new rules and delays for FEMA grants put disaster response at risk
State emergency management officials say they're facing funding challenges from the federal government that threaten the country's ability to respond to crisesabcnews.go.com
“… In an emailed statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the new requirements were necessary because of “recent population shifts" and that changes to security grants were made “to be responsive to new and urgent threats facing our nation.”
…
FEMA, a part of DHS, divided a $320 million Emergency Management Performance Grant among states on Sept. 29. But the next day, it told states the money was on hold until they submitted new population counts. The directive demanded that they omit people "removed from the State pursuant to the immigration laws of the United States” and to explain their methodology.
The amount of money distributed to the states is based on U.S. census population data. The new requirement forcing states to submit revised counts “is something we have never seen before,” said Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association, a group representing emergency managers. “It’s certainly not the responsibility of emergency management to certify population.”
With no guidance on how to calculate the numbers, Hawaii’s Amundson said staff scrambled to gather data from the 2020 census and other sources, then subtracted he number of “noncitizens” based on estimates from an advocacy group.…”
In another move that has caused uncertainty, FEMA in September drastically cut some states’ allocations from another source of funding. The $1 billion Homeland Security Grant Program is supposed to be based on assessed risks, and states pass most of the money to police and fire departments.
New York received $100 million less than it expected, a 79% reduction, while Illinois saw a 69% reduction. Both states are politically controlled by Democrats. Meanwhile, some territories received unexpected windfalls, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, which got more than twice its expected allocation.
The National Emergency Management Association said the grants are meant to be distributed based on risk and that it “remains unclear what risk methodology was used” to determine the new funding allocation.
After a group of Democratic states challenged the cuts in court, a federal judge in Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order on Sept. 30. That forced FEMA to rescind award notifications and refrain from making payments until a further court order….”
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How FEMA Is Forcing Disaster-Struck Towns to Fend for Themselves
President Trump has said he wants to eventually shift the burden of disaster relief and recovery onto states. It’s already happening.
How FEMA Is Forcing Disaster-Struck Towns to Fend for Themselves
President Trump has said he wants to eventually shift the burden of disaster relief and recovery onto states. It’s already happening.
“…FEMA has been delaying disaster declarations and aid payments to communities, adding new hurdles to access some grant funds and cutting off the flow of money intended to boost resilience and prevent future disasters from causing so much damage.
… Emergency managers and elected officials across the country are adjusting to a system in which they can no longer count on the sort of disaster aid they typically expect from FEMA, which was established in 1979 to coordinate and professionalize disaster response. They are figuring out how to prepare for future disasters without key FEMA grants, raising private funds to replace federal aid and turning to state governments to beef up their preparations. In some places, volunteer disaster recovery squads have sprung up.…”
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“… Since January, Mr. Trump has approved 32 federal disaster declarations, which make available a variety of federal aid programs to communities and individuals. That’s far fewer than the average of more than 60 declarations per year from fiscal years 2015 through 2024, according to the Congressional Research Service. Mr. Trump has rejected nearly a dozen state requests for FEMA aid so far this year, on par with the numbers of rejections during his first administration as well as President Joe Biden’s term, according to FEMA data.How FEMA Is Forcing Disaster-Struck Towns to Fend for Themselves
President Trump has said he wants to eventually shift the burden of disaster relief and recovery onto states. It’s already happening.
How FEMA Is Forcing Disaster-Struck Towns to Fend for Themselves
President Trump has said he wants to eventually shift the burden of disaster relief and recovery onto states. It’s already happening.www.nytimes.com
“…FEMA has been delaying disaster declarations and aid payments to communities, adding new hurdles to access some grant funds and cutting off the flow of money intended to boost resilience and prevent future disasters from causing so much damage.
… Emergency managers and elected officials across the country are adjusting to a system in which they can no longer count on the sort of disaster aid they typically expect from FEMA, which was established in 1979 to coordinate and professionalize disaster response. They are figuring out how to prepare for future disasters without key FEMA grants, raising private funds to replace federal aid and turning to state governments to beef up their preparations. In some places, volunteer disaster recovery squads have sprung up.…”
A steady backlog of pending disaster aid requests has persisted this year, sitting at a dozen as of Tuesday. Under previous administrations, there have rarely been more than a handful of outstanding requests at any given time. It is up to states to request FEMA’s help; they take the lead in evaluating what kind of aid is needed and where…”
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More than $36 million in FEMA funds for Colorado and counter-terrorism programs on hold, court challenges continue
More than $36 million in FEMA funds for Colorado and counter-terrorism programs on hold, court challenges continue
State is using existing federal funds to cover salaries and counter-terrorism programs in the interim.
www.cpr.org
“… The terms and conditions for Federal Emergency Management Agency grants include a requirement to share immigration data with federal officials, assist in deportations, and provide updated population estimates.
…
In September, a federal judge agreed and ruled that linking immigration-enforcement provisions to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants is unconstitutional and barred the Trump administration from doing so.
On Tuesday, the same judge chastised FEMA for continuing to use the terms, calling the agency’s efforts “ham-handed” and ordering it to remove the terms within a week.
“The administration cannot bully the states into doing federal civil immigration enforcement by withholding congressionally approved funding,” said Lawrence Pacheco, a spokesperson for Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, about the ruling. …”