#fema

#fema

Built to meet local and international building codes, they're very different from the cheap, toxic trailers that FEMA deployed 20 years ago, when Hurricane Katrina displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Some of those trailers had formaldehyde levels that were 75 times greater than safe levels. They were poorly insulated and never meant for long-term housing, but some families were stuck in them for years.

FEMA did not respond to WIRED's request for comment. "It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform," the agency told the Guardian, which reported on the retaliation against the employees who signed the letter. "Change is always hard. It is especially for those invested in the status quo, who have forgotten that their duty is to the American people not entrenched bureaucracy."

Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration,

Efforts to redraw US state districts to give more seats to political parties intensified, with Texas Republicans voting to arrest Democrats who fled to prevent a quorum.

New Yorkers depend on quality roads, floodwalls and other vital infrastructure to keep them safe when disaster strikes. This administration has no authority to cut this program that has helped save countless lives.

Fema is dangerously underresourced and overstretched in the event of further natural catastrophes due to a mass staff exodus, plunging morale, and loss of leadership.

Trump's focus on the human tragedy caused by the flooding has shifted attention away from his previous promises to eliminate FEMA and shift disaster response to the states.

Kerr County previously planned a flood warning system to alert residents to rising waters, but struggled to secure funding from FEMA due to high demand and limited resources.

Listen, this is one of the more devastating stories that I think we've had to cover. As a mother of two daughters that are going to go to camp at some point, I cannot even imagine what that feels like.