The Trump Administration seeks to transfer responsibility for addressing natural disasters to the states, eliminating the federal emergency fund and leaving communities without direct support.
Mexico City, October 16 (However).- Donald Trump plans that the management of emergencies in States Joined (EU) are no longer your concern. Responsibility for supporting the communities in front of the disasters natural of the Government federal to the states. The exception will be in cases of catastrophes more serious, says today The New York Times.
The text begins by narrating how life is slowly returning to normal in Cave City, seven months after a tornado hit this area of northeastern Arkansas. The only supermarket, says the journalist, is about to reopen. “Crews begin excavating the foundation for the reconstruction of a funeral home. But the city, like so many others facing difficult recoveries after a recent disaster, had to face it alone.”
The speaker is Mayor Jonas Anderson. The Trump Administration gives Cave City’s requests for funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help her recover. FEMA is an emergency fund of the FONDEN type in Mexico, disappeared due to corruption during the Administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The big difference is that Trump will disappear this fund (in fact, it no longer supports many cities) to save money, while the Government of Mexico assumed that responsibility and resorts directly, when emergencies arise, to the federal Treasury.
“Anderson was forced to move forward anyway, racking up a bill of about $300,000 — he says — that could end up making up 15 percent of the small town’s annual budget. Some of the nearly two thousand residents have received federal aid. FEMA agreed to cover repairs for the more than 50 homes damaged or destroyed by 165-mile-per-hour winds in March. The state also promised relief funds. However, Anderson stated that Cave City is carrying a greater recovery burden than anticipated.”
“We are recovering very well, not because of the large FEMA reimbursement we received, but despite not having received it. The people here are very resilient,” the Mayor told The New York Times.
FEMA has been delaying disaster declarations and aid payments to communities, adding new obstacles to accessing some grant funds and cutting off the flow of money intended to build resilience and prevent future disasters from causing as much damage, the newspaper explains.
“Emergency managers and elected officials across the country are adapting to a system in which they can no longer count on the disaster assistance they typically expect from FEMA, the agency established in 1979 to coordinate and professionalize disaster response. They are looking for ways to prepare for future disasters without key FEMA grants, raising private funds to replace federal aid and turning to state governments to bolster their preparations. In some places, volunteer disaster recovery brigades have emerged,” he explains.
In an emailed statement, FEMA spokesperson Daniel Llargues told the Times that the agency has withheld some disaster relief funds, reserving them for the future. For example, a monthly report on the agency’s spending this summer showed it withheld $11 billion for projects related to the coronavirus pandemic disaster declaration, which states expected to receive by Sept. 30. Agency officials indicated that those payments are not canceled, but are deferred until the new fiscal year to ensure the solvency of the government fund used to finance disaster aid.
However, the newspaper adds, citing critics, the consequence of such delays could be that communities are less prepared when a disaster strikes. “The slower-than-anticipated hurricane and wildfire seasons have provided few recent tests to the evolving emergency response system, allowing FEMA to maximize its disaster relief fund. The fund had been forecast to be depleted, but by the end of September it was projected to contain more than $2 billion, down from the usual injection of $22.5 billion. of Congress in March,” he explains.
“Since January, Trump has approved 32 federal disaster declarations, making various federal aid programs available to communities and individuals. This is much lower than the average of more than 60 declarations annually between fiscal years 2015 and 2024, according to the Congressional Research Service. Trump has rejected nearly a dozen state requests for FEMA aid so far this year, a number similar to that of his first administration and that of President Joe Biden,” he adds. “A steady backlog of disaster aid applications has persisted this year, numbering a dozen as of Tuesday. Under previous administrations, there have rarely been more than a handful of applications pending at a time.”