FACT SHEET: Trump is Making Us Less Prepared for Disasters 

By gutting critical agencies and staff, Donald Trump is making us less safe and less prepared for disasters, like the severe storms and flooding this week, which killed at least seven people. Extreme weather is dangerous, costly, and increasingly frequent. From January to November 2024, the U.S. experienced 24 weather events that each caused at least $1 billion in damage. Trump’s cuts threaten our extreme weather forecasting abilities, our wildfire prevention efforts, and the federal aid Americans rely on to help them rebuild after disaster strikes. 

TRUMP’S CUTS THREATEN EXTREME WEATHER FORECASTING AND PREPAREDNESS

• Trump laid off hundreds of employees from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including hurricane hunters and researchers at the National Severe Storm Laboratory, and planned to lay off more than 1,000 additional employees. These cuts make us less prepared for extreme weather and put lifesaving alerts Americans rely on at risk.

• The extensive cuts to staff at NOAA and the National Weather Service halted or reduced weather balloon launches in at least 11 locations across the country. Reducing the frequency and number of balloon launches threatens the accuracy of forecasts, putting Americans facing tornados and other extreme weather at risk.
  • Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) sent a letter to the Secretary of Commerce advocating for balloon launches in his district to be reinstated, saying the suspended launches “affects our ability to track bad weather, and leaves holes in our coverage.”  

TRUMP’S CUTS THREATEN WILDFIRE PREVENTION EFFORTS

• Trump cut about 3,400 workers at the U.S. Forest Service and about 1,000 at the National Park Service, including workers in charge of wildfire prevention activities.

• Trump’s federal funding cuts halted funding for projects that the Forest Service used to reduce the risk of wildfires, such as prescribed burns.  

• Trump’s policies stalled the hiring of federal firefighters who fight and prevent wildfires.

TRUMP’S CUTS THREATEN FEDERAL DISASTER AID COMMUNITIES RELY ON TO REBUILD

• Trump took aim at federal disaster aid and has fired hundreds of staff from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which will hinder the agency’s ability to respond to disasters. 

• Just a few days after 40 people died in storms across the Midwest, Trump signed an executive order that would shift the responsibility for disaster preparations to state and local governments.
  • Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said dismantling FEMA would be “disastrous” and that it would be much more expensive for states to take over the agency’s work if federal disaster aid is cut. 

• State and local officials have stated that they would be unable to make up the funds from federal disaster aid in the event of radical budget cuts.

• 94 percent of Americans live in a county that received disaster aid from FEMA since 2011.

• Red states like Louisiana, Florida, and Texas would be hit especially hard if federal disaster relief funding is reduced. 

• Trump planned to gut a Department of Housing and Urban Development office – which provided aid for recovery efforts after disasters such as hurricanes – by cutting staff by 84 percent. Most of the aid was used to rebuild uninsured or underinsured homes after natural disasters.

• In 2022, 3.2 million adults in the U.S. were displaced from their homes due to natural disasters who often relied on federal disaster aid during the recovery process.

REMEMBER: TRUMP POLITICIZED AND WITHHELD DISASTER AID IN HIS FIRST TERM 

• In November 2018, Trump initially withheld wildfire relief due to California being a blue state, and only changed his mind after being shown voter maps demonstrating that heavily damaged Orange County had significant numbers of Trump supporters.

• In 2020, Trump reportedly withheld federal relief to Washington following wildfires due to his dislike of Democratic Governor Inslee. The relief was only granted in February 2021, after President Biden took office. 

• After Hurricane Maria, Trump delayed over $20 billion in aid to Puerto Rico as thousands died and the island went without power for 11 months.