MEMO: Donald Trump’s cuts to forecasting and disaster response have left us unprepared for the 2026 hurricane season

May 11, 2026

Overview

Ahead of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) releasing its outlook for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season this month, the facts are clear: Donald Trump’s cuts to weather forecasting and disaster response have left us unprepared.

Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have been politicizing and slashing funding for disaster preparedness and response since the moment Trump took office, leaving forecasting offices understaffed and making recovery efforts slower and weaker. From delaying and denying disaster aid to hamstringing our ability to track storms, Trump has systematically dismantled the very systems that protect Americans during hurricanes and other extreme weather events like wildfires and severe storms. Trump has pushed the costs of rebuilding onto communities, while climate-fueled extreme weather is driving up their home insurance costs. Just last week, Trump’s FEMA Review Council released recommendations that would push the financial and administrative burden of disaster recovery onto cash-strapped states and local communities.

Don’t forget: last year, no hurricanes made landfall in the continental United States, so we still have not experienced the full impacts of how Trump’s cuts have degraded our hurricane preparedness and response.

Trump’s cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service have degraded forecasts and jeopardized the accuracy of critical, life-saving weather alerts that people rely on during hurricanes.

Trump fired and planned to cut about 2,300 workers at NOAA, including hurricane hunters and researchers at the National Severe Storm Laboratory.
NOAA scientists said Trump’s cuts to the agency undermine critical hurricane forecasts.
Trump gutted the National Weather Service, leaving nearly half of weather forecast offices critically understaffed and 30 of the 122 (24.5%) offices lacking a meteorologist-in-charge.
Because of the Trump administration’s massive layoffs, NWS eliminated or reduced vital weather balloon launches, which degraded forecasts during previous storms.
Trump’s reconciliation bill, passed by congressional Republicans, included provisions that cut weather forecasting and research funding for programs that would have improved forecasting, monitoring, and public communication of hazardous weather.
NOAA announced it would no longer track the number of climate disasters that cost over $1 billion, leaving insurance companies, researchers, and policymakers without key information to help understand major disaster weather patterns.

Trump gutted our disaster preparedness and response, making us less prepared for hurricanes and delaying aid that communities need to rebuild after hurricanes.

Trump and congressional Republicans blocked FEMA funding for 76 days, the longest funding lapse in history, and allowed FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to hit critical lows.
Trump has undermined FEMA’s role in helping communities prepare for disasters. Trump’s FY27 budget proposal included cutting $1.3 billion in FEMA funds for state and local emergency preparedness.
Last week, Trump’s FEMA Review Council released its recommendations to overhaul the agency, pushing more financial and administrative burden for disaster recovery onto states and local communities that cannot afford it.
Trump has cut key FEMA staff, delaying the distribution of critical disaster funding. In 2025, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security drafted plans to cut FEMA’s workforce by more than 50%, resulting in the loss of more than 11,500 jobs.
Trump has consistently politicized disaster aid. As of March 2026, it was three times harder for Democratic-led states to get Trump’s approval for federal disaster aid. Trump approved just 23% of disaster aid requests from Democratic-led states, compared to 89% for Republican-led states.
Under Trump, pending FEMA disaster applications have sat longer on average than at any other point in the previous 37 years.
Trump stopped approving new allocations from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation and Grant Program, becoming the first president in at least three decades to deny governors’ requests for funding that’s meant to protect people and property.
Trump’s previous DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem, consistently mismanaged FEMA and fumbled the agency’s response to major disasters. As of January 2026, Noem’s requirement for her personal approval on all FEMA expenses exceeding $100,000 created a $17 billion bottleneck, causing months-long delays in delivering federal disaster funds to states.
The Government Accountability Office warned that FEMA’s staffing crisis, caused by Trump-era cuts, exacerbated existing challenges and severely undermined national disaster readiness.

Trump’s cuts are making recovery more expensive, at a time when home insurance companies are hiking rates and canceling policies — pushing higher rebuilding costs onto families.

Climate change is driving up insurance premiums as climate-disaster-related claims increase due to more frequent and severe events.
The average home insurance premium rose 12% in 2025.
Almost 60% of homeowners reported making financial sacrifices to help pay for insurance coverage: 10% skipped medical care, 10% skipped meals, and 15% delayed payments on other bills, such as utilities.
As insurance premiums have risen, so has the rate of homeowners falling behind on mortgage payments: the 90-plus-day delinquency rate for families in the lowest income bracket jumped from 0.5% in 2021 to nearly 3% by the end of 2025. A $500 increase in annual insurance premiums was associated with a 20% higher mortgage delinquency rate.
Experts warned that the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, whose climate data the insurance industry uses to predict losses and set rates, would raise property insurance prices.

The Bottom Line

Donald Trump has made Americans less safe and less prepared for hurricane season. Trump’s cuts have weakened our forecasting, gutted our disaster response, pushed the costs of recovery onto communities, and left people more vulnerable to hurricanes and other extreme weather events.