This article appeared in The Wall Street Journal newspaper this weekend [May 17-18, 2025, edition], about FEMA and the upcoming hurricane season preparation. Not a pretty picture...
This article basically ignores the abysmal state FEMA was in prior. Stating it is not ready now? -- well, how is that any different than say, last year?
Its absolutely deplorable handling Hurricane Helene victims? Bad management and redirecting of its funds elsewhere for non-citizens when our own citizens were suffering gravely post-Helene? Their argument squarely falls flat here concerning readiness.
The article states, "current capabilities have been derailed this year." When it wasn't "derailed," its performance was already sub-par, to say the
least.
And this statement, "we've got hurricanes, we've got fires, we've got mudslides, we've got flash floods, we've got tornadoes, we've got droughts,
we've got heat waves, and now we've got volcanoes to worry about." LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS, OH MY! Going on rant like this verbosely listing out all the hazards to increase the drama is intellectually lazy, and acting like volcanoes are a new "worry?" What, they didn't exist as a hazard before? Shameless "piling on" and crying poor mouth here.
The point is they are crying foul when they did it to themselves, filled with corruption and grift, among other things.
And FEMA's issues are not going to be addressed or fixed overnight. Withholding FEMA funds for disasters is not good I agree, but I can see why funds are being withheld b/c of the established corruption that has existed for some time, and those funds going elsewhere.
The current system is broken, so drastic action has to be taken to improve things. There is no easy solution short-term here, but one needs to think more long-term. In other words, taking hit short-term in order to fix things for the future, and perhaps a much better way to handle action and funding for disasters though other agencies, or some fusion between FEMA and other agencies, has merit.
Blaming the current administration for all of FEMA's woes is disingenuous and suggests agenda-driven. biased narrative/policy.