ORLANDO, Fla.—A major conference to help communities prepare for hurricane season kicked off Monday without the agency that coordinates federal disaster response.
Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives attributed their absence at the National Hurricane Conference to the partial government shutdown.
The conference is one of the largest aimed at helping communities prepare for the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1. More than 1,800 local and state emergency managers registered to attend, along with representatives from other federal agencies, nonprofits such as the Salvation Army and companies such as Publix and Home Depot. The conference concludes Thursday.
“Due to the ongoing funding lapse, FEMA cannot participate in National Hurricane Conference trainings,” a statement provided to Inside Climate News says. “These trainings and collaborations are vital for preparedness, and FEMA regrets that we cannot engage as we have in previous years. This shutdown directly impacts our ability to support communities when it matters most.”
FEMA is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down for more than a month as members of Congress fight over a spending agreement and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
FEMA itself has been in turmoil since President Donald Trump early in his second term called for drastic change at the agency and said states should be more involved in disaster response.
His administration pushed out acting administrator Cameron Hamilton last May after Hamilton told Congress that FEMA should not be eliminated. Hamilton’s successor, David Richardson, resigned a few months later after what Republicans and Democrats characterized as a lack of responsiveness to the deadly July 4 floods in the Texas Hill Country. Karen Evans, a poli