It's the role of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate the immediate response to storms, floods and wildfires, all of which have become more common as a result of global warming. But even though scientists have warned of increasingly extreme weather, preparation for climate-related disasters hasn't been FEMA's top spending priority.
An analysis of preparedness grants disbursed by FEMA shows that the agency spends far more on counterterror than natural disasters. In 2019, for example, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found more than $1 billion in FEMA grants assigned to counterterror preparation and only $315 million in readiness for natural disasters.
Most Americans think of FEMA as the agency that responds to major storms. In the days and hours before Hurricane Laura reached the Gulf Coast, emergency personnel took up positions in Texas and Louisiana, and readied half a million meals and 800,000 liters of water.
From 2005-19, FEMA spent at least $460 billion to clean up and rebuild after natural disasters, according to the GAO. That's about $30 billion per year, on average.
FEMA is part of the Homeland Security Department, so preparation for terrorism threats is also part of its job. The current spending disparity is a result of laws passed after the Sept. 11. 2001, terrorist attacks. "Most preparedness grants since 9/11 have been spent on counterterrorism," said Chris Currie, a director in GAO's homeland security team who wrote a recent report on FEMA disbursements.
FEMA did not respond to a request for comment.
Only one of FEMA's three main preparedness grant programs allows money to be spent without meeting a terrorism requirement. That program, the Emergency Management Preparedness Grant, has been funded sporadically over the years and, unlike the two counterterror grants, requires a 50/50 matching expenditure from localities receiving the funds. As a result, poorer municipalities have less access to preparedness money for storms and floods.
There are new FEMA grant programs for 2020 that will disburse $660 million for what the agency calls "pre-disaster mitigation," focusing on resiliency against flooding and the relocation of vulnerable communities. Last year, however, approximately 75% of FEMA's total preparedness grants went to the programs with counterterrorism links, according to the GAO report.
The agency's Sept. 11-influenced spending priorities weren't adjusted all that much even after Hurricanes Florence and Michael caused more than $50 billion in damage in 2018 across the Carolinas and Florida. A review of FEMA grant requests made by the latter state that for 2019-20 a large chunk of the nearly $14 million has been sought for law enforcement communication, SWAT training and bomb detection.
"The state uses this grant to prepare for all hazards, including terrorism, cybersecurity, hurricanes, floods, wildfires," said Samantha Bequer, spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. "Although [Hurricane Michael] was a natural disaster, many first responders relied upon Department of Homeland Security's grant-funded training, equipment and technology for response and recovery efforts."
Craig Fugate, who was FEMA administrator under former President Barack Obama, agreed that preparedness grants are flexible enough to allow local officials to build up search-and-rescue and emergency management capabilities that would be as helpful in a terrorist attack as in a hurricane.
And counterterrorism spending can help with another critical problem -- mass shootings. Fugate pointed to the 2015 hostage situation in San Bernadino, Calif. "A lot of the equipment -- everything from robotics, drones, vehicles to get in close, and the training and exercises beforehand -- are things funded with Homeland Security money," he said.
Still, security-focused grants aren't the best way to make communities more resilient against storms and floods. The recent GAO report cited "long-standing capability gaps" caused in part by counterterror requirements. And there have been far more disasters caused by extreme weather than terrorist attacks. This year alone the U.S. is facing record wildfires in California and a hurricane season on pace to be among the most active ever.
FEMA's funding also has been caught up in the policy response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration recently ordered FEMA to divert $44 billion from the agency's disaster-relief fund to pay for federal unemployment benefits. The measure was a stopgap after Congress failed to enact another covid-19 stimulus package.
Federal emergency managers maintain their readiness to help states and localities meet the moment, and Trump declared national emergencies in Texas, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Louisiana ahead of Hurricane Laura's landfall.
"I don't think people should be worried about FEMA running out of money during the initial response," Fugate said in an interview Wednesday evening on Bloomberg Television.