The Federal Emergency Management Agency is making major changes to how it responds to disasters on the ground this season.
A memo dated May 2, written by Wired to the Regional FEMA Leader of Cameron Hamilton, a senior staff member who will perform the duties of administrators, directs the program office to “implement” five “critical reforms” for upcoming hurricane and wildfire seasons.
Under the initial reform entitled “Prioritizing Survivor Support at Fixed Facilities,” the memo states, “FEMA will cancel unaccompanied FEMA door-to-door canvas and increase collaboration with collaborations in order to concentrate survivor outreach and support registration capabilities in more targeted venues, improve access to people in need, and improve access to people in need. [state, local, tribal, and territorial] Partners and non-profit service providers. ”
FEMA is for year Staff deployed to make door-to-door visits in disaster areas; Directly interact With survivors at home, they provide an overview of the FEMA assistance application process and assist in registering federal aid. This worker group is often part of a large executive Called FEMA’s “ground boots” in disaster areas.
One FEMA worker says that finishing door-to-door canvas “severely hinders the ability to reach vulnerable people.” They say the support provided by door-to-door workers “concentrates on the most affected and most vulnerable communities that may have elderly people, disability or transportation shortages and some people may not be able to reach disaster recovery centres.” This person spoke to Wired on condition of anonymity as he was not permitted to speak to the media.
“Door-to-door canvas is another example of a wasteful, ineffective FEMA program,” Geoff Harbaugh, a se-admin of FEMA’s Office of Office of Office, told Wired via email. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, FEMA is changing the way it operates and reforms its policies to better support disaster survivors and Americans.
Todd DeVau, Emergency Management Coordinator for Inglewood, California and the second vice president of the International Association of Emergency Managers, said over the years that have worked in disaster management, the number of survivors who have not obtained information about resources that have no recovery or outreach to the door is not using emergency managers who use strategies such as direct mailers and radio and newspaper ads.
“It’s very important to share information, especially going door-to-door, in areas that have been very hit,” he says. “That’s what you need. Can it be done more efficiently? Perhaps it’s true, but getting rid of it entirely would really hinder some things.”
FEMA door-to-door canvas became a political flaf extension during Hurricane Milton last year. caveat On a conservative news site, an official told Florida workers to avoid approaching their homes with signs of Trump yards. Deanne Criswell, former FEMA administrator I said The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability during last year’s hearing is a committee that said the incident was quarantined by one employee who was fired. Employees in turn insisted her on Acted based on the order From my boss, and the problem was the pattern of “hostile encounters” with survivors who had signs of Trump Yard.
