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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFEMA and NOAA Face Hurricane Season Without New Leaders in Place
SnopesThe two agencies most important to predicting and managing weather-related disasters face budget cuts and temporary bosses.
The Northern Hemispheres 2017 hurricane season began on 1 June, and the federal agency in charge of forecasts and warnings has predicted that an above-normal six months could well be in store.
Despite this, NOAA does not have a leader in place as of early June 2017. Benjamin Friedman, the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, has acted as the agencys administrator since President Donald Trumps inauguration on 20 January 2017.
So far, however, Trump has not nominated a permanent NOAA administrator, whose appointment will have to be confirmed in a Senate vote.
Similarly, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees disaster relief in the event that state and local authorities are overwhelmed, also does not have a new director. Trump has named Brock Long, a former Director of the Emergency Management Agency in Alabama, for that position, but his nomination has not yet come before the Senate for consideration.
That agency, and the position of FEMA Director, have been subject to heightened scrutiny since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and widespread criticism of the federal response to that episode prompted something of an overhaul of procedures and methods at FEMA. A rough hurricane season, if managed poorly, could turn the spotlight on the absence of a new FEMA Director, five months after Donald Trumps inauguration.
The President has also proposed cutting FEMAs budget, by 11 percent. John Kelly, Secretary of Homeland Security the department that oversees FEMA told reporters well make do, when questioned about the cuts, NPR reports.
chillfactor
(7,576 posts)people will die, property destroyed, people including children and elderly will suffer....the blue plate special for the recons.
Kittycow
(2,396 posts)that are restored on the taxpayers' dime, it's all good.
snowy owl
(2,145 posts)'Nuf said
Kittycow
(2,396 posts)Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)cooperation and loyalty of someone like Gen Honore to adequately run FEMA. Since some republicans thinks God sent trumpy, I DON'T. I am a Christian but I also prepare every year for a large hurricane since I live on the gulf coast.
Wawannabe
(5,661 posts)We could mind bend the "coming storms" to accumulate over a few key places.
My votes:
The White House
Maralago
Any and all Trump properties.
Hey dream big baby. Mindfully of course.
JudyM
(29,250 posts)grab all the headlines.
MiniMe
(21,716 posts)I think why there have not been many cabinet positions and appointments like FBI director named because he can't find people who will take the job with him as President.