As hurricane and wildfire seasons approach, how the federal government and local governments respond to disasters could be changing, too.
President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating FEMA, the federal agency charged with emergency and disaster management, and has made sweeping layoffs and funding cuts to the agency, raising concerns about the impact on local communities.
On May 7, the acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton testified at a house committee oversight hearing that he did not believe FEMA should be eliminated. The following day Hamilton was fired and replaced with David Richardson.
“As the senior adviser to the president on disasters and emergency management and to the secretary of homeland security, I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the federal emergency management agency,” said Hamilton prior to his termination.
The leadership changes coincide with thousands of FEMA and AmeriCorps staff layoffs as part of the Trump administration’s DOGE efforts to shrink federal services. Sullivan County resident Henry de la Cova was four months into his year-long FEMA Corps assignment when he and his colleagues learned their positions were terminated.
“We were told that right away [we] had to leave the office midday and start packing and preparing to go back,” said de la Cova. He and his team were in North Carolina assisting with disaster recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene, a category 4 hurricane where at least 250 people died in 2024.
De la Cova was part of FEMA Corps, a program under AmeriCorps where young adults support FEMA’s disaster relief and readiness programs across the country. In North Carolina, De La Cova provided grant assistance to local towns and counties recovering from the hurricane and identifying potential locations for government assistance.
He remains worried how local communities will respond with hurricane and wildfire seasons just around the corner. “Once we really get these stronger storms is when we’ll start seeing the impacts of these cuts.”
FEMA has also sharply reduced training for state and local emergency managers that was intended to prepare storm-prone communities following the aftermath of hurricanes.
“The less people they have there to support [disasters], the longer it’ll take for these communities to rebuild,” said de la Cova.
Image: Hurricane Sandy’s extensive damage in 2012. (Credit: FEMA)