On Hurricane Preparedness Week, Trump Has Left Us Anything But Prepared

Washington, DC – This week is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Hurricane Preparedness Week, but Trump’s cuts to weather forecasting and disaster response have left us less prepared. Trump’s cuts to NOAA undermine critical hurricane forecasts, while his FEMA cuts put disaster response for massive extreme weather events like hurricanes at risk. Tomorrow, Trump’s FEMA Review Council is meeting and is likely to recommend overhauling FEMA, which could further weaken our disaster response capabilities. 

Climate Power Senior Advisor Mia Logan issued the following statement: “The Trump administration is encouraging local communities and individuals to ‘prepare’ for hurricanes, while actively gutting our federal hurricane preparedness. To actually be prepared for hurricane season, people need accurate and reliable forecasts, so they can make decisions to keep their families safe. If a hurricane hits, communities need to know that help is on its way. Instead, Trump will keep delaying and denying disaster aid, pushing the costs of recovery onto cash-strapped states and communities.” 

Trump’s cuts have made us less prepared for 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.
• 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’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.
• Trump has undermined FEMA’s role in helping communities prepare for disasters. Trump’s FY’27 budget proposal included cutting $1.3 billion in FEMA funds for state and local emergency preparedness. 
• 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. 
• 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%, which would have resulted in the loss of more than 11,500 jobs.
• 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 was creating a $17 billion bottleneck, causing months-long delays in delivering federal disaster funds to states. 
• The Trump administration’s mismanagement caused aid delays in communities across the country – from Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, Alabama, Arkansas, to even North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene recovery continues.