See this story from The Hill, Trump officials refer Biden-era FEMA staff to DOJ for potential criminal charges

This all stems from Hurricane Helen and accusations made about one supervisor telling her staff canvassing homes to avoid those with Trump signs on their property. The story above provides much more details and the fallout from those events.

I’ve been active in the emergency management profession for over thirty years, and I had never heard of 831(b) Plans. As the insurance industry continues to struggle with rising losses and costs, here is a strategy to help minimize those costs while still providing a business with insurance.

CHDS is recruiting for their programs with a December 1 deadline for applications.

In the 2025 edition of their Where Natural Disasters Are Having the Biggest Impact on the Nation’s Food Supply report, Trace One pinpoints where these events are having the greatest impact on farmers and the nation’s food supply. Researchers analyzed and ranked locations at the county and state levels based on their average annual economic loss (expected annual loss) in 2025 dollars within the agricultural sector.

If you might recall, President Trump went to North Carolina early in his administration to view the disaster damages caused by Hurricane Helen. He lambasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for having what he considered a totally botched disaster response. This was the beginning of his call to reform FEMA and make it more efficient and have states pick up more of the bill for disaster damages.

The federal government is in the news multiple times every week and every day. Today there was a headline about the Secretary of Homeland Security purchasing (I should say the US Coast Guard) two new executive jets to support personal travel for the Secretary, price tag $171M.

While we are waiting for the council that was appointed by President Trump to announce its recommendations, there are already changes happening out in communities impacted by disasters. See this New York Times article, How FEMA Is Forcing Disaster-Struck Towns to Fend for Themselves

My father was a railroad engineer. Sometimes he would come home with a story and say, “Is this any way to run a railroad?”

The same thought came to my mind when I saw headline at Bloomberg News, “FEMA Tells Staff to Name Whistleblowers or Risk Losing Job.”

As emergency managers we have to always have our toes in the science side of things in order to better understand the hazards that our community’s face. While you’re not all in California, I thought this news release was significant. It is an  example of the science of tectonics that is still developing and helping us understand what is happening deep in the earth.

You have to go back to around 1989 to when state and local jurisdictions administered portions of the civil defense program that were within the scope of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Those included the Civil Defense Shelter and Supplies along with the Radiological Instrument Program (I administered both of these for the State of Washington). As I recall, funding for both of these were eliminated around 1991. The beginning of the end of that program started with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

It has happened again. From the New York Times, L.A. County Declares State of Emergency Over Immigration Raids

When you are considering who to appoint to senior positions in a federal agency it is important to do robust background check. Perhaps that was done, perhaps not—since President Trump waived background checks for White House staff requiring security clearances.

Predicting the future for what might happen to the profession of emergency management and how it is practiced under the Trump Administration has become almost anyone’s guessing game. While many have shared their ideas for what might lay ahead, I thought that his opinion piece was measured and relevant, see The Shifting Emergency Management Balance

CNN reported that staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had pushed back on DHS instructions to deny Muslim organizations awards from the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

When contacted DHS representatives denied that any such instructions had been given to FEMA.

Who to believe?

Imagine yourself put into this position, DHS employees face mandatory reassignments  Not content with speaking to the need to reallocate personnel resources, they took a swipe at the good work that has been done by the previous administration, ““DHS routinely aligns personnel to meet mission priorities while ensuring continuity across all core mission areas,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Any notion that DHS is unprepared to handle threats to our nation because of these realignments is ludicrous, especially given the abject failure at the hands of CISA in the last administration.” What failure was that?

This story is a few weeks old, but with the government shutdown still ongoing the results are the same, FEMA canceled $11B in disaster payments to states

We have depended upon the private sector to provide the majority of our “risk based” modeling for disasters. See the news release below which shares California’s goal for having a public model. Property insurance has not yet reached “catastrophe” level availability and cost impacts to homeowners, but, but, but…we are getting closer to that point each day.

As predicted, the government shutdown has started to impact home sales. See this, For Homes by the Water, Closing Just Got More Complicated

I have been associated with emergency management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since 1984, which is shortly after the formation of FEMA. There have been ups and downs throughout those three decades that included working with FEMA. Never has something like this come out from that federal agency. See these two stories, From Reuters, US agency halts emergency funds, demands state population data reflecting deportations and then a longer article from the Seattle Times, FEMA Withholds $300 Million in Grants Until States Account for Deportations

I’ve been a strong supporter for the use of drones in emergency management systems and across the board for governments trying to provide best in class services. That all preceded the unprecedented use of drone warfare during the Ukraine war by both sides of the conflict.