FEMA Spends More Preparing for Terrorism Than Hurricanes
Readiness grants aimed at hurricanes and floods have for years been far smaller than those for counter-terrorism.
Louisiana Army National Guard soldiers prepare equipment ahead of Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S., on Aug. 26.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/BloombergIn 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. 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 the agency spends far more on counter-terror than natural disasters. In 2019, for example, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found more than $1 billion in FEMA grants assigned to counter-terror preparation and only $315 million in readiness for natural disasters.