FEMA handles floods and fires: can it weather Trump?

• Trump mulls an end to FEMA on tour of disaster sites
• Federal agency key to both disaster preps and response
• Even its backers say agency is ripe for overhaul

RICHMOND, Virginia - The United States has suffered a record run of hurricanes and devastating wildfires this past year, and President Donald Trump has now ordered a review of the federal department that is tasked with handling ever more natural disasters.

Newly sworn in, Trump issued an executive order dated Jan. 24 calling for a review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is challenged by disasters that strike more frequently and powerfully in a fast-changing climate.

Speaking on a tour of North Carolina and California, among the worst hit states in a heavy year for U.S. natural disasters, Trump even said he might like to see FEMA disbanded entirely.

Such a move would drastically overhaul the role of federal government in disaster preparation, emergency relief and reconstruction, potentially leaving individual states to decide how best to spend their share of federal disaster funds.

Calls for change come at a time of repeat broken records.

North Carolina and the southeast are still recovering from fall's Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 180 people, while wildfires in Los Angeles left at least 28 people dead.

Moves by the new president to overhaul FEMA have rung alarm bells for environmental and disaster preparedness experts – even as some see potential gains in making the agency more efficient.

Here's what to know about Trump and FEMA:

What does the executive order say?

The order sets up a council, co-chaired by the secretaries of homeland security and defence, to advise the president on "changes related to FEMA to best serve the national interest". 

A report is due within 180 days of its first public meeting.

The order also raises "serious concerns of political bias" at FEMA and says it has lost "mission focus".

The agency has 10 regional offices and more than 20,000 staff.

Its budget has in recent years struggled to keep pace with extreme weather events linked to climate change, which have boosted demand for FEMA services. It received $29 billion from Congress in December to fund ongoing relief efforts.

Trump cannot unilaterally end FEMA via executive order; getting rid of the agency would instead need an act of Congress.   

What has Trump said about FEMA?

"FEMA has turned out to be a disaster," Trump said during a tour of a North Carolina neighbourhood destroyed by September's Hurricane Helene. "I think we recommend that FEMA go away."

In the Los Angeles area, devastated by fire, he said: "You don't need FEMA. You need a good state government."

Cameron Hamilton, acting FEMA head, told staff last week that FEMA is a "critical agency", albeit one open to reform.

What might happen if FEMA shut up shop?

As climate change fuels ever more billion-dollar disasters, residents, states and localities could be forced to cope solo in the run-up to and aftermath of any danger, experts say.

"If we abolish federal funding for disaster assistance, municipalities and states wouldn't be able to cover these types of catastrophic emergencies and people would be left to fend on their own," said Shana Udvardy, an analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists advocacy group.

Beyond disaster response, FEMA also helps states prepare for disasters - work the public might not see, said Rob Moore with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group.

"There's all kinds of other things that happen in the background we don't see," he said.

Other experts said FEMA played a vital role - if hampered by inefficiencies that were also worth examining.

FEMA's reputation has struggled to recover after its poor handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"There is certainly opportunity to reposition FEMA as an independent agency and remove inefficiencies that come from being housed under the Department of Homeland Security," said Tom Kiernan, who runs American Rivers, an advocacy group.

"Americans have always helped each other when they are most in need, and FEMA is a powerful channel for that."

Vice President JD Vance said nobody would be left behind under a Trump revamp.

"He's saying that...'we've got to get the bureaucrats out of the way and get the aid to the people who need it most,'" Vance said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

What else could be affected without FEMA?

FEMA administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which had close to 4.7 million policies providing almost $1.3 trillion in coverage as of the end of 2024.

FEMA also sets national standards for building codes and standards in floodplains, and its flood risk mapping helps guide construction countrywide, Moore noted.

"FEMA has an even larger role on flood disasters than it does elsewhere," he said.

States already request help from FEMA when disasters stretch agencies beyond their ability to respond, Moore said.

"I haven't heard a lot of states clamouring for FEMA to leave them alone and not come to their assistance. Maybe I've missed those stories," he said.

"FEMA doesn't invite itself into these disasters, right?

"It's not like it comes in, shoves all the locals and state officials out of the way and says 'alright, we're in charge. Listen to us.' They're invited in. FEMA can't come into a state until a governor requests that a federal disaster declaration is made."

Left to their own devices, states could also pursue their own resilience measures, such as updating local building codes - though Moore noted that at-risk areas such as North Carolina are falling short in that regard.

As to other potential changes, he suggested increased FEMA funding for state and local emergency managers and incentivising states to invest in their own climate resilience measures.

(Reporting by David Sherfinski; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths and Anastasia Moloney.)