Hurricane season in the US? Trump’s FEMA chief didn’t even know that existed

In late April, Cameron Hamilton, whom President Trump had nominated to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as acting director, was removed after he testified before Congress that he did not think it was in the public’s interest for FEMA to be disbanded. testified in front of the US House Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security that he did not “believe it [was] in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”

These views contradict the narrative from the White House. The president has argued since taking office that the responsibilities overseen by FEMA should be given to the states. However, storms often don’t know boundaries, and crisis and emergency management experts see an important role for the federal government in coordinating across different jurisdictions. The adminstration has yet to provide clarity on exactly what turning responsibilities over to the state would look like, and the funding mechanism that would be put in place to ensure that the governments can deliver the assistance in a timely and organized manner.

David Richardson, who took over from Cameron Hamilton in early May, shocked staff when he made what some are hoping was a joke during a recent meeting. Reuters reported that Richardson responded to a question about the upcoming hurricane season, which began on June 1 and will run through November, stating that he was unaware of a specific hurricane season. A FEMA spokesperson later clarified that the acting director was kidding, but that has not provided relief to many of the agency’s employees. Anonymous sources within the agency described an air of confusion at FEMA in recent months, with agency leaders, including Richardson, stating that policies and procedures to deliver disaster assistance would be changed, but then often abandoning attempts to implement new policies.

Furthermore, while the Trump administration expresses a desire to delegate some responsibilities to the states, Reuters has reported a significant reduction in the training sessions designed to prepare local and state officials for hurricane season.

NOAA forecast for hurricane season warns of above-normal activity in the Atlantic

Richardson’s comments follow the release of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s hurricane season forecast for 2025, wherein the agency warns that a “above-normal season” is likely to be seen. The modeling completed by the agency has led them to forecast that 13 to 19 named storms will materialize in the Atlantic, with anywhere between 6 to 10 becoming hurricanes. Of these hurricanes, the agency’s analysis shows that 3 to 5 could be major storms, meaning they would fall into category 3 or higher.

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