As Hurricane Season Starts, FEMA Director: "We're Probably Short A Few Thousand Employees"
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Wednesday that the disaster aid and recovery agency is still significantly understaffed, nearly two years after recovery efforts during the devastating 2017 hurricane season were hindered by a lack of staffing.
In a hearing June 12, acting FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor told the House Committee on Homeland Security that the agency is prepared and ready to tackle any potential disasters in coming months. But Gaynor’s exchange grew heated as Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) pressed the FEMA head about staffing levels.
“Are you fully staffed?” Thompson asked repeatedly. Ultimately, Gaynor asserted that the agency’s full-time staffing quota has been met, but that the agency is significantly understaffed with regards to the part-time employees who are critical to addressing disasters and wide-scale crises. “It has been a struggle for FEMA to make sure that we have enough disaster responders,” Gaynor said, acknowledging that “we’re probably short a few thousand employees.”
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Staffing isn’t the only issue plaguing FEMA. Climate scientists have repeatedly connected global warming to the uptick in disasters across the country, noting that rising temperatures help increase and worsen major storms. But under the Trump administration, mentions of climate change have disappeared from agency reports and assessments. Gaynor himself declined to answer Wednesday whether he believed in climate change, asserting instead that FEMA is prepared for any potential issue. “We are an ‘all hazards’ agency… that’s how we approach it,” he said. When asked repeatedly whether his agency was prepared for future crises, Gaynor stated, “I think we have all the tools necessary.”
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https://thinkprogress.org/fema-short-staffed-hurricane-season-2019-74093f98acb4/
