https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fema-staff-confused-after-head-said-he-was-unaware-us-hurricane-season-sources-2025-06-02/

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said during a briefing that he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation.
The U.S. hurricane season officially began on Sunday and lasts through November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast last week that this year's season is expected to bring as many as 10 hurricanes.

The remark was made by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in some other context.
Richardson said during the briefing that there would be no changes to the agency's disaster response plans despite having told staff to expect a new plan in May, the sources told Reuters.
Richardson's comments come amid widespread concern that the departures of a raft of top FEMA officials, staff cuts and reductions in hurricane preparations will leave the agency ill-prepared for a storm season forecast to be above normal.
Hurricanes kill dozens of people and cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually across a swath of U.S. states every year. The storms have become increasingly more destructive and costly due to the effects of climate change.
FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA's parent agency, did not respond to requests for comment on Richardson's remarks. FEMA has previously said it is prepared for hurricane season.
Richardson's comment purporting ignorance about hurricane season spread among agency staff, spurring confusion and reigniting concern about his lack of familiarity with FEMA's operations, said three sources.

Richardson, who has no disaster response experience, said during Monday's briefing, a daily all-hands meeting held by phone and videoconference, that he will not be issuing a new disaster plan because he does not want to make changes that might counter the FEMA Review Council, the sources said.
President Donald Trump created the council to evaluate FEMA. Its members include DHS head Kristi Noem, governors and other officials.
In a May 15 staff town hall, Richardson said a disaster plan, including tabletop exercises, would be ready for review by May 23.
CONFUSION
The back-and-forth on updating the disaster plan and a lack of clear strategic guidance has created confusion for FEMA staff, said one source.
Richardson has evoked his military experience as a former Marine artillery officer in conversations with staff.
Before joining FEMA, he was assistant secretary at DHS' office for countering weapons of mass destruction, which he has told staff he will continue to lead.
Richardson was appointed as the new chief of FEMA last month after his predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, was abruptly fired.
Hamilton had publicly broken with Trump over the future of the agency, but sources told Reuters that Trump allies had already been maneuvering to oust him because they were unhappy with what they saw as Hamilton's slow-moving effort to restructure FEMA.
Trump has said FEMA should be shrunk or even eliminated, arguing states can take on many of its functions, as part of a wider downsizing of the federal government. About 2,000 full-time FEMA staff, one-third of its total, have been terminated or voluntarily left the agency since the start of the Trump administration in January.

Despite Noem's prior comments that she plans to eliminate FEMA, in May she approved Richardson's request to retain more than 2,600 short-term disaster response and recovery employees whose terms were set to expire this year, one of the sources said, confirming an earlier report by NBC News.
Those short-term staff make up the highest proportion of FEMA employees, about 40%, and are a pillar of the agency's on-the-ground response efforts.
FEMA recently sharply reduced hurricane training and workshops for state and local emergency managers due to travel and speaking restrictions imposed on staff, according to prior Reuters reporting.

Democrats, please explain why we should keep funding FEMA. Thanks.

>>1409379
Because the poorest red states Mississippi and Alabama are some of the most affected by strong hurricanes.

>>1409380
you're talking to a non american, he won't understand

>>1409379
Real Americans understand that making sure people aren't randomly wiped out by situations out of their control help everyone. Its why Universal Healthcare and assistance should be available.

That said, if MAGA retards want blue states to stop subsidizing their bad decisions, they're welcome to fuck themselves over

>>1409382
Didn't FEMA under Biden ignore MAGA houses post-helene?

>>1409383
Bork bork bork! Oh, de hurdy-gurdy question aboot FEMA ignorin’ Trump hooses after Hurrycane Helene? Lemme toss dis in de pot and stir it up! *flings spatula*

No solid proof FEMA skipped hooses vit Trump signs in Nord Carolina, ya? Dere vas a Florida incident—bork!—vere vun FEMA vorker got de boot fer tellin’ folks to avoid Trump-sign homes after Hurrycane Milton, but dat’s a different schnitzel, ya? FEMA say dat vas a lone dumkopf, not de big plan. throws carrot in ze air De claim aboot Nord Carolina seems like a spicy meatball of misinfo, maybe mixed up vit de Florida kerfuffle. No evidence dey ignored Trumpy hooses as a rule. *stirs pot wildly*

FEMA’s boss lady, Deanne Crisvell, say, “Ve help everyvun, no matter who dey vote fer!” bork bork Dey got de big funds—$210 million!—pourin’ into Helene cleanup, includin’ Nord Carolina. flips pancake So, no systematic snubbin’ of Trump fans, just a vun-off oopsie in Florida dat got fixed quick-like. chops onion, cries dramatically
Bork bork, dat’s de dish! Now, vhere’s my schnozzle-sprouts? *tosses ladle*

>>1409387
>No solid proof FEMA skipped hooses vit Trump signs in Nord Carolina, ya?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fema-employee-fired-telling-workers-to-ignore-trump-supporters-homes-hurricane-relief/
>A Federal Emergency Management Agency worker has been fired after she directed workers helping hurricane survivors not to go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump, the agency's leader said in a statement Saturday.
Uh oh
Uh democratic melty
UH OH

>>1409387
>it didn't happen
>but if it did, it wasn't what you think
pottery

>>1409389
you're the same shill who's always here, so i know for a fact that people have explained this story to you multiple times. you're a faggot

>>1409389
You pretend this is real every single time when you know damn well the FEMA people were being shot at.

>>1409391
How dare you suggest that one retards schizophrenic delusions aren't equivalent to facts?
Next you'll be pointing out that they posted the one incident in Florida as confirmation that Fema ignored people in North Carolina
"They're different states" you may say, but to a non-American shill they're basically the same place so its actually you that are wrong.

>>1409392
>it didn't happen
>if it did, it wasn't that bad
>I-I mean they deserved it!
Every time.

>>1409405
Why do you keep lying bro? What do you get out of it?>

>>1409405
>People in North Carolina were reused FEMA services
>Well, it wasn't North Caroline but Florida
>Well, it wasn't FEMA but one immediately rebuked employee
>It still happens all time time! I just only have the one out of context incident thats all
You're a shitty shill

>>1409391
>>1409392
>>1409407
I recognize him from last year when he kept insisting Biden shut down the oil industry despite getting BTFO every single time. He has a strict set of talking points he isn't allowed to deviate from even if it means he looks like a mental case for denying the facts in front of his face.

>>1409415
Do you know what really fucks me up? There's seven people max on this board at any time, and we've known each other for years, but you keep mistaking me for someone else.

>>1409421
Of Course, Now You're A Different Person Aren't You

>>1409423
No, I mean I'm literally the guy who used to shitpost about Biden destroying the oil industry because he was disallowing oil permits.
I didn't even talk about it last year, I did it all throughout 2022.
The third world fag who says I'm not an American at least has an excuse, he's here every day saying the same thing over and over.

>>1409421
Either I'm right or there are two shills here with the exact same arguing tactics who use the exact same 'alternative facts' which are really Heritrage.org talking points.

>>1409431
who'da thunk it, the person who lies here all year round lied again

>>1409428
https://archive.palanq.win/news/thread/1301691/
That's just one of dozens of threads you derailed 'shitposting about Biden destroying the oil industry'

>>1409379
I agree, we shouldn't. Florida and Louisiana can and should pay for all of the disaster cleanup themselves. Hopefully Texas will be blessed with another Hurricane Harvey this year too.
I want Trump to do a USAID-style hit on FEMA right the fuck now. Clean out the whole fucking agency, shutter the doors, cancel every contract, sell everything that isn't bolted to the ground. The sooner the better, because he might get cold feet once a major hurricane makes landfall later this year.

The only thing that matters is that insurance companies don't have to pay for it, and they won't.

Case in point: attacks on Teslas by protestors. Trump rules that it was an act of terrorism, specifically because insurance will not pay out for that. If your Tesla was scorched by a protestor, you will have to pay for the claim yourself just because of this ruling.

This is not a GOP or Trump thing ... everyone in DC gets paid off by insurance.

>>1409434
That's not me.
>>1409431
That's what's happening.
I got tired of talking with dems about the oil pipeline years ago because they would kvetch about how Biden saying he wanted to institute the Green New Deal had nothing to do with his decision to fuck with oil regulation.
Also they made the retarded argument that the president has no control over oil prices, despite Trump fucking with the economy using tariffs.

>>1409439
>the president has no control over oil prices
This is still true
I'll take any recent US picture of gas under $1.50 a gallon as rebuttal

>>1409448
The argument that the government has no control over supply and demand is fucking retarded, stop posting

>>1409451
apparently they do if they fraudulently use emergency powers to line their own pockets

>>1409379
Because Dems are impacted by natural disasters.

>>1409379
Does it matter if FEMA is funded if the head of FEMA is a Trump-appointed retard from DHS who doesn't know what hurricane season is and wants to shut the whole agency down?

>>1409451
Trump: "I'm going to make gas prices go down!"
Gas Prices: go up
Is he retarded or incompetent? Is everyone in the administration retarded or incompetent?

FEMA is a cursed government agency. It doesn't depend on who is in power, Democrats or Republicans, only the most incompetent, laziest, and corrupt people work under FEMA. You can go back to news from the 90s and see how they were fucking up every single natural disaster under Bush and Clinton.

>>1409481
I looked and the 90s is supposed to be that one time they enjoyed success. What sources are you using?

>Sarces formilliar with the satuatin
This shit again?

>>1409376 (OP)
Oh, I forgot, this is
>just another
>ordinary
agency of the
>utterly inept government
DEFINITELY NOT
>an apocalyptic
>genocidal
>major instrument
My fault. Nothing to see here.
There MOST DEFINITELY
>are not
GUILLOTINES
>in
TRAINS
>and
DEATH CAMPS

deny / deflect / divert

the mantra of MAGA. This is an accurate article about the head of a government agency having no idea what he is doing, and how that is happening a lot in this administration. But MAGA will have none of that.

update
>FEMA chief was joking with hurricane season awareness remarks: DHS
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5330041-dhs-defends-fema-chief-hurricane-season-comments/

>>1409379
Because natural disasters do not discriminate and red state governments sure as fuck won't do anything to help their own people in any meaningful urgency.

Yeah, let's all point at Biden so we can distract everyone from the fact that the Trump Administration has done nothing but fire competent people and replace them with incompetent political sycophants.

>>1409505
Oh thank god. So, RFK's gonna announce he was joking too soon, right?

...right?

>>1409505
>DURR, I WAS JUST PRETENDING TO BE RETARDED!

>>1409507
>implying the Trump administration is replacing most of the people they've fired

>>1409383
Womp womp. With all these hires that Trump is done, he has individually and personally created the Idiocracy.