Storm warning: Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?

The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season

A member of the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force searches a flood-damaged property with a search canine in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene along the Swannanoa River on October 4, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina.
"We're all on pins and needles this season."
(Image credit: Mario Tama / Getty Images)

How many storms are expected?

The year's Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through November, could yield up to 19 named storms and five major hurricanes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That's above the annual average of 14 named storms, partly a result, NOAA officials say, of higher ocean temperatures and lower trade winds. Yet disaster preparation efforts have been thrown into chaos by cuts to staffing and programs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which President Trump has vowed to dismantle, shifting responsibility for response and recovery to states. FEMA last year passed some $64 billion to states and local governments for disaster relief, cleanup, and recovery. But authorities in vulnerable coastal areas—home to some 60 million Americans—are now unsure of how much federal aid they'll receive if a major hurricane hits. Some officials also worry they might not receive sufficient warning of an impending storm because of cuts to NOAA, which operates the vast network of weather sensors, satellites, and computers that supply and process most of the weather data in the U.S. "My nightmare is a major catastrophic storm hitting an area that is reeling from the impact of all this nonsense from the Trump administration, and people will die," said Susan Cutter, co-director of the Hazards Vulnerability & Resilience Institute at the University of South Carolina.

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