US President Donald Trump went to West-North Carolina and Los Angeles on Friday with forest fire.
Trump told Fox News at the beginning of the week that he was considering revising the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which was founded in 1980 during the term of office by President Jimmy Carter. In North Carolina he went one step further on Friday and said: “We will recommend. This Fema goes away.”
“It is very bureaucratic. And it is very slow. Otherwise we are very satisfied with them,” said Trump in North Carolina.
He also said that he would sign an executive regulation that aims to deal with the FEMA problems, although the agency was created by an act of congress, which means that it cannot be abolished with a pen line.
“Absolutely crazy,” said the democratic house member Pramila Jayapal on social media. “Fema builds up communities and saves life.”
US President Donald Trump interviewed catastrophic zones in California and North Carolina on Friday and said that he was considering “getting rid of” the Federal Administrative Agency of the Emergency Management. Disadrees.
The Fema was previously exposed to a withered criticism – especially during the hurricane Katrina in 2005 – but Trump tries to shift the costs of preventing and reaction to disasters so that the states resume more of the burden.
President Joe Biden swore before leaving the office that the Federal Government would cover all the costs of the reaction to the forest fires in Los Angeles, which could be the most expensive natural disaster in the history of US history. The global analysis company Verisk expects insured property losses from the Palisades and Eaton fires, the two most important flames this month, in the range of $ 28 billion up to $ 35 billion.
In addition, bidges signed a law on a law in a law last year and which has resumed the Fundal Disaster AID Fund in US dollars in the United States.
California adopted an aid package under democratic governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday to output us in the amount of 2.5 billion US dollars to help the Los Angeles region.
Trump has also suggested that the federal government’s disaster assistance, as a negotiation chip in the case of non -related legislative negotiations on the government’s credit or as a lever, California, persuades some guidelines.
Mike Johnson, spokesman for the Republican House, has largely reproduced that the attitude should be associated with “conditions” with regard to forest and water management.
Some House Republicans from California have reduced at this performance.
“Playing politics with the livelihood of people is unacceptable and a blow to the southern California forest fire victims and our brave first aiders” Angeles said in a statement.
What is not a Fema
Experts emphasize that the FEMA is not responsible for the entire restoration process.
“Everyone believes that the Fema is coming in after the catastrophe and manages the entire disaster. And that is simply not the case,” said Brock Long, Fema administrator from 2017 to 2019.
If there is a warning to hurricanes, the Fema coordinates with state and local governments about needs and can be the most affected in stocks such as water or planning in areas that are probably the most affected. The Fema also has its own search and rescue teams to send.
In view of the fact that many people in the United States are affected in a certain year of floods, hurricanes, tornados and forest fires, it is also not possible. There is an upper limit for emergency aid and Fema rescue help for those who do not have enough house insurance protection.
“The Fema does not make anyone after a disaster occurs,” said Samantha L. Montano, assistant professor for emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. “You won’t give you enough money to fully recover your life.”
Depending on the type of catastrophe, the agency, according to the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace, is not necessarily the sole source of potential relief. About half a dozen departments have subsidies for recovery of disaster incidents, including departments for agriculture, transport as well as health and human services.
What Fema does
The Fema has a company budget and a disaster aid fund.
The fund is basically the country’s checkbook for emergencies. The government uses it to reimburse states and local governments for activities such as removing ruins, the reconstruction of roads or for overtime costs of firefighters.
At an individual level, the Fema $ 750 can send payments to people for emergency needs such as clothing and food. Later in the recovery process, some non -insured homeowners can offer up to 42,500 US dollars to reconstruction.
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The Federal Government does not help with every disaster – it generally has to stand above the ability of a community or state. In this case, a governor or a tribal authority asks the president about an emergency declaration.
Fema challenges
There are long -term financing concerns for the Fema.
The disaster relief fund sometimes runs in late summer -as a rule when the Atlantic Hurricane season is picked up before the congress passes a new budget, and it was not unusual that the agency makes a so -called “additional” financing request.
A report on the 2022 budget office states that most of the catastrophic aid fund actually goes hand in hand with these inquiries. The report stated that “a small number of these disasters make up a disproportionate proportion of total expenses”.
If the disaster fund is low, the Fema relocates to the so -called “immediate needs”. This means that the agency no longer pays for earlier disasters and preserves its money for life -saving missions in all active people. When the disaster relief fund is filled in, the money flows again to long -term projects.
“To be honest, there is a lot of work that has to be done to optimize and rethink it,” said Lange.
What could Trump do
Trump made Cameron Hamilton, a former seal of the navy and unsuccessful Republican congress candidates from Virginia, the provisional administrator of the agency. Hamilton previously worked on questions of emergency management for the Department of Homeland Security and the Foreign Ministry, but has only limited experience with natural disasters.
Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term created by the President’s allies, included dramatic suggestions for the Fema, including relocation to the Interior Ministry or to the Department of Transportation instead of the home protection protection.
Another proposal was to limit the federal reimbursement rate for smaller disasters with 25 percent of the costs and 75 percent for larger ones. President can currently approved the reimbursement of some expenses 100 percent.
Trump has played down climate change, and it is questionable whether this view would change in the next four years, even when both hurricane Helene and the forest fires in Los Angeles were tightened by global warming.
Powerful Santa Ana winch are back for the second time – the fire behavior in the extreme.
In Helene’s case, a study of international climate scientists in the worldwide weather description showed that climate change increased the storm’s precipitation by 10 percent.
In California, the state suffered a record dryer autumn and winter – its traditional rainy season – which made the area around Los Angeles more susceptible to blazes.
In his first term, Trump was accused of politicizing disasters. According to a recent politico series, he held back the forest fire aid to the Washington State because the personal animus towards governor Jay Inslee. In addition, he sometimes appeared more critical of civil servants when harmful weather events were led in jurisdiction, which were led by Democrats, including forest fires in California, and hurricanes in Puerto Rico.
