As the Federal Emergency Management Agency prepares for the approaching hurricane season, the agency is ill-prepared, according to an internal document obtained by ABC News.
The document was prepared for acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson as he takes the helm of the agency responsible for managing federal disasters.
“As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood, thus FEMA is not ready,” according to the document.
The document says that FEMA is uncertain about its future, while planning for hurricane season, which starts on June 1.
Staffing limitations and hiring will also impact FEMA’s operations, according to the document, as well as a lack of coordination with states.
Richardson was placed at FEMA by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after former acting Administrator Cam Hamilton was fired last week because of his testimony in front of a House panel, according to a source familiar with the matter, which went against the shuttering of the agency.
Acting FEMA Administrator Richardson hosts a meeting with agency leadership in preparation for hurricane season, May 12, 2025, in Washington, DC.
Graham Haynes/FEMA
Richardson told employees during his first all hands meeting last week to not get in his way when he is trying to achieve the president’s objectives, a source told ABC News.
“Don’t get in my way if you’re those 20% of the people,” he told employees last Friday morning, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting. “I know all the tricks.”
“Obfuscation. Delay. Undermining. If you’re one of those 20% of the people and you think those tactics and techniques are going to help you, they will not because I will run right over you,” he said, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting. “I will achieve the president’s intent. I am as bent on achieving the president’s intent as I was on making sure that I did my duty when I took my Marines to Iraq.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told ABC News that the information is “grossly out of context.”
“You are referencing one line on a nineteen-page slide deck and the unsubstantiated opinion of one official inside the agency,” a DHS spokesperson said. “The slide was used during a daily meeting Acting Administrator David Richardson has held every day titled Hurricane Readiness Complex Problem Solving. In other words, exactly what the head of an emergency management agency should be doing before Hurricane Season. This is just another example of a long line of internal leaks from people who clearly couldn’t care less about Americans facing disaster and prefer to manufacture petty drama for their own self-aggrandizement. Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, and the efforts of Acting Administrator Richardson FEMA is fully activated in preparation for Hurricane Season.”
Morale at FEMA has been sinking since Noem said she was going to eliminate the agency, according to sources within the agency.
Noem was pressed during a House panel on Wednesday about whether she has a plan to eliminate FEMA. She said she didn’t have a plan, but said the White House would be coming forward with a plan.
“There is no formalized final plan for how this goes forward, because the input of Congress is critically important,” she told Rep. Bennie Thompson.
CNN first reported on the internal review document.
