Disasterology: September 2023
This newsletter is a compilation of recent disaster ~things~ that I think are cool, important, or otherwise of interest to people who are intrigued with disaster (broadly defined).
There’s a little something for everyone!
The State of U.S. Emergency Management
The ever-dwindling Disaster Relief Fund is sitting somewhere around $2.8 billion which makes me super uncomfy!! As you know, in August Administrator Criswell implemented Immediate Needs Funding. Given the circumstances, it was obviously necessary but also !!!!! The Washington Post went through in detail the recovery projects that have been shut down around the country. I am fully seeing red.
It seems that we are also a few days away from a government shutdown. Another fun little inject for everyone! In the past 24 hours, a number of journalists have asked me about this, and I haven’t responded to any of them (sorry, if that’s you) because I am currently so mad at the Republicans in Congress who are allowing (and encouraging!) this to happen that I simply can’t go on the record about it. Luckily for us, Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate already did an interview about what happens to the agency in a government shutdown.
But that’s okay, it isn’t like we’ve had a record number of billion-dollar disasters this year.
Meanwhile, have y’all SEEN what’s going on in Southeast Louisiana with this saltwater getting into the drinking water?!?! I haven’t stared in disbelief at proposed solutions to a disaster since the BP Disaster! At the moment, they seem to have landed on building a pipeline after someone did some math and found yesterday’s proposal of barging 36 million gallons of water into New Orleans was not feasible. I am not even going to tell you how much the pipeline is going to cost (though well worth it if it works)! I stand by my claim that if you can figure out how to do emergency management in New Orleans, you can do emergency management anywhere. Genuinely wishing the emergency managers in Louisiana good luck as they navigate this one. Wild.
Meme Break
FREEEEEEDOM!
It’s been 100 years (20) and We’d like to go home to The Cabinet.
Congressmen Jared Moskowitz (FL-D) and Garret Graves (LA-R) introduced the FEMA Independence Act of 2023 in the House last week. The bill would remove FEMA from DHS and restore it as an independent cabinet-level agency. Many of you are aware of the history and complexities of this issue. If you’re not, I got you! Read this newsletter from December 2020 for some context!
It won’t come as a surprise to learn that I immediately printed the bill and pulled out my red pen to see what exactly we were working with. [I am happy to share line edits if anyone in the House cares what a little ol’ disaster researcher thinks.]
I also talked to as many emergency managers and disaster researchers as possible to get their opinions. The vast majority said something along the lines of “this is good and also I have some questions but none of them are dealbreakers”. I’ve synthesized those questions into a list of four issues that are of varying degrees of concern:
Least Pressing Issue: There is some wording throughout the bill that makes me twitch. Most of it is just carried over from other emergency management legislation. So, I get it, but also, I think there is a real opportunity in this bill to use more accurate terminology to clarify FEMA’s mission in a totally non-controversial way.
Eyebrow Raise Worthy: They put FEMA into DHS so I know they can take FEMA out of DHS but also, what do the logistics of all this really look like and are there adequate resources to support it? There’s not necessarily a problem here, just something that we need more information on.
Please Be Serious: The proposed change to the qualifications for FEMA Director is very silly. I have no interest in re-hashing the PKEMRA nonsense but come on. I’m choosing to ignore why I think this was included in the bill and just say that this is such an easy fix! It simply needs to be changed to “5-10 years of emergency management leadership experience”. Is that vague? Yes! Is it specific enough to prevent Equestrian Joe from being in charge? Also, yes.
One Day I’m Going to Be Saying “I Told You So”: CISA needs to be pulled out of DHS with FEMA.
I do not see any of these issues as being insurmountable. I think the bill is an excellent starting point and I am especially glad to see bi-partisan support. The two parties certainly have different perspectives on why FEMA needs to be restored to its former status and yet we have somehow found the one thing that they might be able to agree on!
I’ll definitely be talking more about this in future newsletters as the situation evolves and will share ways in which you can support the bill moving forward.
Meme Break Again
Other Emergency Management News
Mitigation
Does California have what it takes to adapt to sea level rise? New book offers hope in the Los Angeles Times
FEMA rolls out climate adaptation loans for small and overlooked communities in Grist
Recent floods heighten concerns that New England dams may not be built for climate-induced storms from The AP
18 years after Katrina levee breaches, group wants future engineers to learn from past mistakes for The AP
FEMA’s BRIC program continues to fund innovative risk reduction – but community capacity limits access from Headwaters Economics
Preparedness
California plans big insurance shifts as climate change hits home in The Washington Post
With wildfires looming, Congress must act to prevent an exodus of firefighters from Government Executive
Wildfires are coming… for New Jersey in Vox
Conspiracy theories about FEMA’s Oct. 4 emergency alert test spread online from The AP
Response
China sows disinformation about Hawaii fires using new techniques in The New York Times
Recovery
Hawaii economists say Lahaina locals could be priced out of rebuilt town without zoning changes from The AP
Private equity profits from climate disaster clean-up while investing in fossil fuels from The Guardian
The End Bits
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