The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is experiencing a severe staffing shortage as Hurricane Milton approaches Tampa. The New York Times reported only 9% of the agency’s staff are available to respond to natural disasters. Despite that, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the agency is ready.
“We have the personnel,” Secretary Mayorkas said on MSNBC Monday, Oct. 7. “FEMA likes to say it is FEMA flexible. We can respond to multiple events at a single time.”
Mayorkas said FEMA has 900 personnel positioned in Florida, including staff responding to Hurricane Helene, search-and-rescue teams and the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Times report stated 9%, or 1,217 personnel, is far lower than the 25% of staff that were prepared to deploy to an emergency at this point in the Hurricane season over the last five years.
The Times pointed out that even in 2017, when there was a trifecta of hurricanes — Harvey, Irma and Maria — FEMA still had a staffing reserve of 19%.
FEMA is currently responding to more than 100 disaster declarations including tornadoes in Kansas, the watch fire in Arizona, flooding and landslides in Vermont, and historic flooding in North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Florida is now preparing for its second major hurricane in three weeks, and many of the areas that are already under a major disaster declaration are now under evacuation orders.
