Emergency Management Once Removed

by Jim Mullen

Note to readers: For more than a decade I’ve used this platform provided by the Center of Excellence for Homeland Security /Emergency Management to discuss issues of import to the emergency management profession.

The overall trajectory of the federal attitude toward supporting state and local governments increasingly points downward, with a likely objective to force local and state governments to bear a substantial and potentially unreasonable financial burden in future disasters. Among the more radical possibilities leaked from the FEMA Review Council’s oft-delayed report now scheduled for release on May 29th, 2026 are these (unless professional associations’ serious efforts to modify and White House non-serious fixations of the moment!):

·     FEMA staff reductions (i.e. temporary, on-call, and permanent personnel typically deployed to disaster areas).

·    An increase in the eligibility standard for federal disaster aid:States would find this more difficult in qualifying for federal funds and receive less when they do.

·    Apply a “parametric” trigger, using “objective” parameters, such as wind speed or temperature, rather than an estimate of the actual cost of a disaster.

These are just early harbingers of the harm that the FEMA Review Council’s recommendations might inflict. Certainly, there could be other equally draconian recommendations, It is doubtful that the DHS Secretary and/or the next FEMA Administrator will be inclined to challenge a White House choosing to delay or even deny significant federal disaster support to communities and states when their resources are overwhelmed, due to political pique or callous indifference.

State and local leaders can mitigate at least some of the damage the White House seems determined to inflict on the nation’s disaster response system. Two areas of investment of local resources and political capital seem obvious to this observer:

  1. Local and state governments should create online disaster exercises for the public using realistic scenarios, thus providing an ongoing dialogue on preparedness between government and citizens; a thoughtful exercise series could educate emergency managers as to the actual readiness of its constituents as they review and reply to participant’s responses.
  2. Local/state governments must establish, pre-disaster, a recovery organization structure that includes a broad swath of public and private entities to assure attention to the needs of the entire community. Recovery must be nonpartisan in focus (thus forming a bigger fist to pound the federal table!). And that structure should be exercised regularly against worst case scenarios.

While still contesting recommended proposals individually, the nation’s emergency management community must collaborate on the development of its ideal framework for mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, including describing realistic roles for local, state, federal and yes, private sector commitments for presentation to Congress (when sanity in the federal administration returns!). It would be wise to get started. The disaster clock is ticking, and no one knows when or where the next “alarm” will go off.

In the wake of the pending demise of the Center of Excellence for Homeland Security and Emergency Management due to budget cuts, these will be my final comments in this space on critical challenges confronting local, state and federal emergency managers: to cite my favorite line from Rob Reiner’s movie “The Princess Bride” – “Good luck storming the castle!”

Jim – out (maybe?).