Adirondack officials alarmed by possible FEMA changes

Fate of the agency is unclear; yet small communities are unable to afford full costs of storm damage

By Mike Lynch

President Donald Trump’s comments last week that the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be eliminated, or that funding reimbursements after disasters should be shifted to states, has alarmed local officials.  

The president’s comments came as he toured disaster hit regions in North Carolina and California last Friday, the same day he signed an executive order to establish a council to review the agency.

Trump doesn’t have the legal authority to eliminate FEMA on his own. That would have to be done by Congress. 

Trump also criticized the slow response of the agency. That is something officials say could be improved, but eliminating the agency would impose too much of a financial burden on small Adirondack towns and create a leadership void during disaster responses. 

“We can’t afford FEMA to go away,” said Willsboro Supervisor Shaun Gillilland, chair of the Essex County Board of Supervisors. “The climate is changing. Disasters are coming more and more often.”

FEMA pays 50 to 75% of the costs to repair infrastructure while the state generally contributes 25 percent, Gillilland said.

Gillilland did say that although local officials have good relationships with FEMA staff, the agency can be slow to respond with funding. For instance, Essex County just received the final reimbursements from damage suffered during Hurricane Irene in 2011. 

But because of the Trump administration’s actions and statements on FEMA, Gillilland doesn’t even know if towns can count on FEMA at all anymore. He says he and Essex County Manager Michael Mascarenas have already told Essex County supervisors they are going to have to change the way they respond to disasters and not count on FEMA for emergency relief. 

That would be costly for local governments. Essex County owned infrastructure suffered about $8 million in damage during storms last July alone, according to Mascarenas. 

In Keene, Joe Pete Wilson is currently working through the process of getting federal funding to offset $40,000 damage to the local roadways and another $1 million for a bridge replacement. Both were damaged last August during a storm.

“Replacing that bridge would use an entire year’s budget for our highway department,” Wilson said. “I don’t know how we could do that … (it) would take years.” 

Review committee

The executive order on assessing FEMA calls for the creation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council, which would include up to 20 members, including the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. 

“The remaining members shall include relevant agency heads and distinguished individuals and representatives from sectors outside of the federal government appointed by the president,” the order states. “These non-federal members shall have diverse perspectives and expertise in disaster relief and assistance, emergency preparedness, natural disasters, federal-state relationships, and budget management.”

The council would be expected to get input from Americans affected by natural disasters, the research community, private sector, state, local and tribal governments, foundations and organizations. The group would be expected to hold its first public meeting within 90 days of the signing of the order on Jan. 24 and submit its report to the president within 180 days of that meeting. 

The report would include an assessment of the “adequacy of FEMA’s response to disasters during the previous 4 years, including sufficiency of staffing.” 

“Despite obligating nearly $30 billion in disaster aid each of the past three years, FEMA has managed to leave vulnerable Americans without the resources or support they need when they need it most,” the order states.

Top image: A storm washed-out this culvert on Stevenson Road in Westport last summer. Photo by Eric Teed