FEMA staff warn Trump administration policies could lead to Katrina-like disaster

Emily Goodin, McClatchy Washington Bureau on Aug 25, 2025

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WASHINGTON -- Employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency are warning that a Hurricane Katrina-like disaster is on the horizon because of decisions made about the agency by President Donald Trump’s administration.

In a letter to members of Congress, nearly 200 employees wrote they “have come together to sound the alarm” as experts warn August, September and early October could see heightened hurricane activity.

The FEMA employees outlined their concerns, including an administrator lacking qualifications, massive departures by staff and decisions made by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that hinder the agency’s mission to help Americans during a natural disaster.

They said they hope their warning comes in time “to prevent not only another national catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina, but the effective dissolution of FEMA itself and the abandonment of the American people such an event would represent.”

They also called for FEMA, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, to be made its own independent, Cabinet-level agency.

The Atlantic hurricane season has been quiet so far with Hurricane Erin avoiding landfall in Florida and other coastal states last week. But forecasters warn the situation could change before the season ends on Nov. 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted “an above-normal season” for hurricanes in the Atlantic area.

FEMA has been a target of the Trump administration. Both the president and Noem have publicly stated they wish to see it disbanded or greatly reduced in capacity. Trump wants to shift more responsibility for disasters to the states.

Neither DHS nor FEMA responded to a request for comment.

The issues

Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast 20 years ago, displacing a million people and causing over 1,800 fatalities. It resulted in over $160 billion in damage.

“Hurricane Katrina was not just a natural disaster, but a man-made one: the inexperience of senior leaders and the profound failure by the federal government to deliver timely, unified, and effective aid to those in need left survivors to fend for themselves for days,” the employees wrote.

It also led to questions about the government’s ability to handle natural disasters. Then-President George W. Bush was heavily criticized for his administration’s slow response and his FEMA administrator Michael Brown resigned.

As part of the fallout, Congress passed the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, which required FEMA administrators to meet certain qualifications and prohibited the DHS secretary from interfering with FEMA’s responsibilities.

In their letter, the employees charged the administration is violating that law for having an acting administrator without emergency management experience and from new policies enacted by Noem.

The letter called out by name acting FEMA administrator David Richardson for not having emergency management experience.

“Hurricane season has begun, yet FEMA continues to lack an appointed Administrator with the mandated qualifications to fulfill this role,” the employees wrote.

Richardson’s background is in the military, specifically countering weapons of mass destruction, like chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

Additionally, more bureaucracy has been added to disaster recovery efforts.

Noem now must personally sign off on all funding requests for more than $100,000, but she has defended that rule, describing it as an “accountability” measure.

Employees noted that Texas, when it was impacted by floods, saw reimbursement delays due to the new rule.

“FEMA’s mission to provide critical support was obstructed by leadership who not only question the agency’s existence but place uninformed cost-cutting above serving the American people and the communities our oath compels us to serve,” they wrote.

Staff shortages within FEMA will also limit the agency’s ability to respond in a disaster, the staff warned.

“The diminished response and recovery capacities of partner agencies due to this administration has cascading effects that reduce FEMA’s ability to carry out its mission,” they wrote.

About 2,000 full-time staff— roughly one-third of its total workforce — were terminated or voluntarily left the agency after Trump took office in January.

And key positions, including an administrator for Region Four, which includes Florida, remain vacated with an acting administrator overseeing operations.

The letter was signed by 181 employees, but only 35 publicly listed their names. The other 146 employees stayed unnamed, noting they “choose not to identify themselves due to the culture of fear and suppression cultivated by this administration.”

The signees ask for the agency to be defended from “further interference” from DHS and that the employees who signed the letter to be protected from “politically motivated firings.”