WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.180 Welcome to Meteorology Matters. If you want to 00:00:03.180 --> 00:00:05.280 learn even more about weather and climate change, 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:08.199 you can follow me, meteorologist Rob Jones, on 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:11.560 Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. On Instagram, 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:15.460 I'm Meteorologist. On TikTok, it's TV Meteorologist. 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:18.679 And on YouTube, search for Rob Jones Hurricane. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:20.879 That's also where you'll find the Meteorology 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:23.230 Matters playlist. Sounds good. On today's show, 00:00:23.350 --> 00:00:25.170 we're diving into some major developments with 00:00:25.170 --> 00:00:27.690 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 00:00:27.690 --> 00:00:31.489 and recent disaster trends. You know, you shared 00:00:31.489 --> 00:00:33.609 some pretty concerning information that suggests 00:00:33.609 --> 00:00:35.990 a potentially really challenging future for disaster 00:00:35.990 --> 00:00:38.229 response. Right. And it's especially true when 00:00:38.229 --> 00:00:41.289 you consider this really alarming increase in 00:00:41.289 --> 00:00:43.770 major weather related events. Yeah, absolutely. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:47.479 So let's try to unpack this. The heart of what 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:49.460 you've been looking at seems to be this potential 00:00:49.460 --> 00:00:52.479 shift in how the nation prepares for and responds 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.859 to major disasters. And all of this is happening 00:00:55.859 --> 00:00:57.700 right when these events are seemingly becoming 00:00:57.700 --> 00:01:00.039 more and more frequent. Yeah. It really seems 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:02.340 like a critical moment. So let's start with FEMA, 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:04.980 the Federal Emergency Management Agency. OK. 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:08.019 The information you've highlighted paints a picture 00:01:08.019 --> 00:01:10.439 of some pretty serious turmoil within the agency. 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:13.030 Yeah. There have been some really concerning 00:01:13.030 --> 00:01:15.209 reports. You know, there's this apparent aim 00:01:15.209 --> 00:01:18.049 of the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, 00:01:18.189 --> 00:01:21.109 to eliminate FEMA. Wow. I mean, that's a pretty 00:01:21.109 --> 00:01:23.349 big deal. And there have been these meetings 00:01:23.349 --> 00:01:27.209 between top officials from FEMA and the Department 00:01:27.209 --> 00:01:29.409 of Homeland Security. OK. And they're literally 00:01:29.409 --> 00:01:32.469 talking about shutting down the agency. So what 00:01:32.469 --> 00:01:34.670 would that even look like? Well, that's the big 00:01:34.670 --> 00:01:36.909 question. You know, some are even saying we should 00:01:36.909 --> 00:01:39.230 just skip the whole FEMA review council thing. 00:01:39.310 --> 00:01:40.890 The council that was just formed, right? Yeah, 00:01:40.890 --> 00:01:43.650 but just get rid of it. To speed up the dismantling 00:01:43.650 --> 00:01:47.030 of the agency. Exactly. And what's really worrying 00:01:47.030 --> 00:01:49.170 is that this is all happening as we're heading 00:01:49.170 --> 00:01:51.989 right into hurricane season. That's a problem. 00:01:52.189 --> 00:01:55.030 One FEMA official even said that usually by March, 00:01:55.170 --> 00:01:57.510 they've got all their hurricane plans finalized. 00:01:57.530 --> 00:02:00.109 Right. But this year, everything's on hold because 00:02:00.109 --> 00:02:02.480 of all this uncertainty. So it's really raising 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:04.500 questions about whether they'll even be ready. 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:06.680 And it's not just future planning that's being 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:09.879 affected. Right. There's this new rule that requires 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:13.830 Secretary Noem's team to personally approve the 00:02:13.830 --> 00:02:16.830 renewal of terms for lots of female workers. 00:02:16.969 --> 00:02:18.889 Like a lot of workers. And this is effective 00:02:18.889 --> 00:02:21.090 immediately. It's a huge shift. And it's not 00:02:21.090 --> 00:02:23.189 just some administrative positions. It's the 00:02:23.189 --> 00:02:25.550 people who are actually out there on the ground 00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:28.530 responding to disasters. The boots on the ground. 00:02:28.909 --> 00:02:31.449 Exactly. The people who verify damage, the ones 00:02:31.449 --> 00:02:33.349 who operate those recovery centers, the ones 00:02:33.349 --> 00:02:35.870 who are helping victims register for aid. So 00:02:35.870 --> 00:02:37.770 the essential workers? All of them. You know, 00:02:37.770 --> 00:02:40.530 we're talking about the cadre of on -call response 00:02:40.530 --> 00:02:44.340 employees, the reservists. local hires, temporary 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:47.740 full -time employees. It's a huge chunk of FEMA's 00:02:47.740 --> 00:02:50.840 workforce, something like 74%. Wow, that's most 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.500 of FEMA. Exactly. And a lot of these positions 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:56.080 are term positions, which means they could easily 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:58.599 just expire and not be renewed. So what happens 00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:02.360 if there is a major disaster and FEMA doesn't 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:05.259 have enough people to respond? It's a scary thought. 00:03:05.770 --> 00:03:08.729 And what's really concerning is that states are 00:03:08.729 --> 00:03:10.990 apparently afraid to speak up about these changes 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:13.370 because they don't want any fallout. So they're 00:03:13.370 --> 00:03:16.090 worried about repercussions? Yeah. They're worried 00:03:16.090 --> 00:03:18.469 that if they complain, they might get less support 00:03:18.469 --> 00:03:20.889 from FEMA in the future. So everyone's just kind 00:03:20.889 --> 00:03:23.710 of stuck? Basically. And it means that instead 00:03:23.710 --> 00:03:26.550 of focusing on getting ready for hurricane season, 00:03:27.150 --> 00:03:30.050 FEMA officials are spending all their time trying 00:03:30.050 --> 00:03:32.750 to justify why they need to keep certain employees. 00:03:33.050 --> 00:03:36.120 That seems like a Huge distraction. It is. It's 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:38.280 a huge waste of time and resources. Yeah. And 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:40.539 then there's the financial side of things. Over 00:03:40.539 --> 00:03:44.479 $100 billion in grant money. And disaster assistance 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.960 was frozen because of executive orders. That's 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:49.379 a lot of money. It's a huge amount. And a lot 00:03:49.379 --> 00:03:51.360 of that money was supposed to go to immigration 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.080 programs and sanctuary cities. But there were 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.539 also funds for other things like fire departments 00:03:56.539 --> 00:03:58.840 and hurricane recovery efforts. So basically 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:01.479 all FEMA payments that weren't directly related 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:04.060 to individual disaster assistance were paused. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:07.080 Right. So states and localities and nonprofits 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.639 are all waiting for reimbursements. What was 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:12.900 that about some FEMA? employees being fired. 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:16.139 Yeah, four employees, including the chief financial 00:04:16.139 --> 00:04:19.660 officer, were let go because they approved grant 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:22.240 money to New York City for migrant sheltering. 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:24.360 Okay. And the Department of Homeland Security 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:26.980 basically accused them of laundering forbidden 00:04:26.980 --> 00:04:30.579 funding. Wow. So now everyone at FEMA is terrified 00:04:30.579 --> 00:04:33.019 of losing their jobs if they make even the smallest 00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:35.180 mistake. It must be a very tense environment. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:38.060 It is. Especially since there's also a hiring 00:04:38.060 --> 00:04:40.839 freeze in place so FEMA is losing staff and they 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:42.800 can't replace them. It's like they're being squeezed 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:45.980 from all sides. Exactly. And then to add to all 00:04:45.980 --> 00:04:49.220 of this, the acting administrator of FEMA sent 00:04:49.220 --> 00:04:52.160 out an email about a plan to reduce FEMA's workforce. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:54.660 They're talking about consolidating functions 00:04:54.660 --> 00:04:57.019 and maybe changing the geographic footprint. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:00.480 major overhaul. It is, but the final decisions 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:02.639 are going to be made by the FEMA Review Council 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:04.959 and it's unclear how that will play out. Okay. 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:06.980 The Department of Homeland Security is backing 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:09.680 all of this. They say they're all about eliminating 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:13.180 waste, fraud, and abuse. So the administration 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:15.439 is fully behind these changes. It seems that 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:18.759 way. And all of this is happening while there's 00:05:18.759 --> 00:05:21.180 this bipartisan effort in Congress to actually 00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:24.019 make FEMA independent. from the Department of 00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:26.360 Homeland Security. Really? Yeah. There's this 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:28.899 bill called the FEMA Independence Act. It would 00:05:28.899 --> 00:05:31.639 make FEMA a cabinet level agency that reports 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:34.220 directly to the president. The idea is to cut 00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:36.980 through all the red tape and make FEMA more responsive. 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:39.399 I guess it makes sense given the increasing number 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:41.920 of disasters. It does. And it shows that there's 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.459 at least some bipartisan agreement on the importance 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:46.860 of having a strong disaster response agency. 00:05:47.579 --> 00:05:49.930 So let's shift gears now. and talk about the 00:05:49.930 --> 00:05:53.089 actual increase in major disaster declarations. 00:05:53.689 --> 00:05:56.269 The data from NOAA and FEMA is pretty startling. 00:05:56.430 --> 00:05:59.629 It is. In 2024, there were 90 major disaster 00:05:59.629 --> 00:06:02.449 declarations in the U .S. 90? 90. That's almost 00:06:02.449 --> 00:06:05.509 double the 30 -year average of 55. That's a huge 00:06:05.509 --> 00:06:07.949 jump. It is. And if you do the math, it works 00:06:07.949 --> 00:06:10.930 out to one new major disaster declaration every 00:06:10.930 --> 00:06:13.519 four days. And that's not even counting all the 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:16.480 emergency declarations. In 2024, there were a 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:19.300 total of 108 disaster and emergency declarations. 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:21.879 So that's like one every three days. So we're 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:23.660 seeing an increase across the board. Exactly. 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:26.180 And it's affecting a lot of people. In 2024, 00:06:26.759 --> 00:06:29.759 137 million people were living in areas affected 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.120 by a major disaster or emergency declaration. 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:34.959 That's 41 % of the population. That's a lot of 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.420 people. And for major disaster specifically, 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:41.810 it was 116 million people, or 34%. of the population. 00:06:41.870 --> 00:06:44.009 So it's a significant portion of the country 00:06:44.009 --> 00:06:46.089 that's being impacted. It is. And the summer 00:06:46.089 --> 00:06:48.189 months were particularly bad, especially July 00:06:48.189 --> 00:06:51.189 and August. At one point, there were 10 major 00:06:51.189 --> 00:06:53.290 disasters active at the same time. 10 at the 00:06:53.290 --> 00:06:55.889 same time. 10. And during a hurricane season, 00:06:56.069 --> 00:06:58.370 there was an average of four major disasters 00:06:58.370 --> 00:07:01.589 active every day. So for most of the year, there 00:07:01.589 --> 00:07:04.509 was at least one major disaster happening somewhere 00:07:04.509 --> 00:07:07.649 in the US. Yeah. For 73 % of the year, to be 00:07:07.649 --> 00:07:09.870 exact. That's crazy. And if you add up all the 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:12.529 days that were spent under major disaster declarations 00:07:12.529 --> 00:07:16.509 in 2024, it comes to 929 days. That's like two 00:07:16.509 --> 00:07:19.269 and a half years. Two and a half years of major 00:07:19.269 --> 00:07:21.790 disasters. If you include emergency declarations 00:07:21.790 --> 00:07:25.509 too, it's 1251 days. That's a lot. It is. And 00:07:25.509 --> 00:07:29.350 it's expensive. In 2024, there were 27 separate 00:07:29.350 --> 00:07:31.709 billion -dollar weather and climate disasters 00:07:31.709 --> 00:07:34.149 in the U .S. Billion with a B. Billion with a 00:07:34.149 --> 00:07:36.949 B. According to NOAA, and that's not even counting 00:07:36.949 --> 00:07:40.310 things like chemical spills or other non -weather 00:07:40.310 --> 00:07:43.290 related disasters. So what's driving this increase 00:07:43.290 --> 00:07:46.620 in disasters? Well, climate change is a big factor. 00:07:47.060 --> 00:07:48.699 Climate scientists are saying that as the air 00:07:48.699 --> 00:07:51.360 gets warmer, it can hold more water vapor, which 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.319 means we're seeing heavier rainfall during hurricanes 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:56.620 and thunderstorms. Which makes those storms more 00:07:56.620 --> 00:07:59.079 intense. Exactly. And a lot of our infrastructure 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:01.600 was designed based on past climate conditions, 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:03.759 not the conditions we're seeing now. So we're 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:05.779 not prepared for these more intense storms. Right. 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.060 And that means we're more vulnerable to things 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:10.480 like flooding. It's all pretty alarming, especially 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:12.079 when you consider the state of FEMA right now. 00:08:12.170 --> 00:08:15.389 It is. Former FEMA Chief Dean Criswell has talked 00:08:15.389 --> 00:08:17.889 about how hurricane seasons are getting longer, 00:08:18.790 --> 00:08:21.230 spring severe weather is getting worse, and fire 00:08:21.230 --> 00:08:23.730 season is basically year round now. So it's not 00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:25.589 just our perception, it's actually happening. 00:08:25.790 --> 00:08:28.370 It is. And it's putting a huge strain on FEMA. 00:08:28.589 --> 00:08:30.410 Right. And then there's this talk of downsizing 00:08:30.410 --> 00:08:33.250 FEMA and changing how it operates. It's a really 00:08:33.250 --> 00:08:35.389 tough situation. There's a lot of uncertainty 00:08:35.389 --> 00:08:37.789 about what the future holds for FEMA. And that's 00:08:37.789 --> 00:08:40.470 making it hard for them to plan and prepare for 00:08:40.470 --> 00:08:43.049 the next disaster. And the next disaster is always 00:08:43.049 --> 00:08:45.129 coming. Exactly. And it's probably going to be 00:08:45.129 --> 00:08:47.330 worse than the last one. That's a sobering thought. 00:08:47.470 --> 00:08:50.049 But what can we do? Well, we need to start taking 00:08:50.049 --> 00:08:52.769 climate change seriously and investing in things 00:08:52.769 --> 00:08:54.850 that will make our communities more resilient. 00:08:55.009 --> 00:08:57.990 Like stronger building codes. Exactly. And early 00:08:57.990 --> 00:09:00.529 warning systems and things like flood barriers. 00:09:00.610 --> 00:09:03.769 We need to be proactive, not reactive. That makes 00:09:03.769 --> 00:09:06.549 sense. And what about FEMA? Well, that's the 00:09:06.549 --> 00:09:08.570 big question, isn't it? Whether they'll be able 00:09:08.570 --> 00:09:11.690 to adapt to this new reality of more frequent 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:14.649 and more intense disasters. And whether they'll 00:09:14.649 --> 00:09:17.820 even be around to do it. Yeah. So for everyone 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:19.720 listening, it's a good time to start thinking 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:22.679 about your own preparedness. What can you do 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:25.259 to get ready for the next disaster? What resources 00:09:25.259 --> 00:09:27.580 are available in your community? These are important 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:30.000 questions to ask. Definitely. Well, this has 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.600 been a really eye -opening conversation. I agree. 00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:36.399 It's a lot to take in. It is. But it's important 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:38.879 information. So I encourage everyone listening 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:42.679 to follow me, meteorologist Rob Jones, on Instagram, 00:09:42.940 --> 00:09:46.019 TikTok, and YouTube. I share a lot of information 00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:48.419 about weather and climate change, and I try to 00:09:48.419 --> 00:09:50.519 make it as accessible and engaging as possible. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:53.019 That's great. You can find me on Instagram at 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:56.440 Meteorologist, on TikTok at TV Meteorologist, 00:09:56.700 --> 00:09:59.179 and on YouTube, search for Rob Jones Hurricane. 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:01.559 That's also where you'll find the Meteorology 00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:04.440 Matters podcast playlist. Thanks for listening. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:06.159 Thanks for having me. I'll see you next time 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:07.740 on Meteorology Matters. See you. Bye.