Wants to cut FEMA before next major hurricane
BY MEGHAN BARTELS
8/30/17 AT 4:54 PM
... FEMA's coordinating role is crucial here—it's the linchpin that holds together federal employees; other relevant agencies like Health and Human Services; and the Department of Energy, the Coast Guard and National Guard personnel, state agencies and local responders. Although Houston has been drawing the most concern, Harvey has affected people across 50 counties, so coordination is key.
The rescue effort is already huge. Even before the worst of the storm hit, FEMA was gathering drinking water, food and blankets at a temporary base. When 911 call centers were overwhelmed with calls, they were rerouted to the Coast Guard, which has been handling a thousand calls an hour. In Texas alone, more than 230 shelters are open to more than 30,000 people. About 1,800 families have already been placed in hotel and motel rooms across five different states, the fastest way of getting people out of shelters ...
But the response to the next Harvey could face even stricter financial constraints if President Donald Trump gets his budgetary wishes for the 2018 fiscal year, which begins October 1. The president's budget blueprint calls for FEMA's budget for state and local grants to be cut by $667 million, saying that these grants are unauthorized or ineffective.
The program it explicitly calls out as lacking congressional authorization is the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program, and a second proposed change would require all preparedness grants to be matched in part by non-federal funds. All of FEMA's pre-disaster grants are meant to reduce federal spending after disasters, and according to the agency's website, there's evidence that $1 in mitigation spending saves $4 in later damages ...
http://www.newsweek.com/harvey-trump-fema-budget-disaster-preparedness-hurricane-657237
= new reply since forum marked as read
