FEMA’s turning 45. It needs to change to keep meeting its mission

Forty-five years ago this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) became an independent agency and began improving how our nation responds to disasters. Although it has helped tens of millions of Americans recover from disasters, FEMA will need to address new challenges like climate change, evolving threats and expanding bureaucracy to meet its mission in the future.

I have been directly involved in FEMA’s work for almost half of its modern existence, as an executive both when it was independent and after it folded into the Department of Homeland Security, and as CEO of an emergency management firm that works both with the agency and the constituents it serves. I have witnessed firsthand how FEMA has shaped modern emergency management and the key problems it now faces.

Prior to 1979, state governments had to navigate as many as 40 separate federal agencies for disaster preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation support, leading the National Governors Association to formally call on President Carter to consolidate federal emergency management functions. The president responded with a reorganization plan and executive order 12127, which created FEMA on April 1, 1979.

The most significant improvement FEMA made was enhanced intergovernmental coordination — among states, and between states and federal agencies with emergency preparedness and response resources. As director of FEMA’s Region 1, I created the Operation Yankee preparedness exercises including all New England states and federal response agencies. That is exactly the type of federal-state collaboration FEMA was created to enable, and it strengthened our disaster responses.

The Sept. 11 attacks dramatically altered the future of the country and FEMA itself. The agency’s mission had always included civil defense, but 9/11 elevated that priority and led FEMA to be reorganized into the Department of Homeland Security. That decision was controversial but gave FEMA access to additional resources and expertise and integrated emergency management into a larger framework of national security.

Despite incredible dedication over the decades, the agency has at times fallen short of its mission and Americans’ expectations. A problematic response to Hurricane Andrew in South Florida in 1992, led the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to rate FEMA’s response strategy as “not adequate for dealing with catastrophic disasters.” Thirteen years later, the GAO assessed the deficient response to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and found similar issues still remained unresolved.

Yet FEMA also can take pride in significant achievements in both individual responses and systemic reforms. A key advancement is its focus on proactive emergency management, which emphasizes preparedness, mitigation and resilience. Supported by FEMA leadership and Congress, the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 enabled new pre-disaster mitigation funding and by fiscal 2022, FEMA was allocating nearly $3 billion to almost 750 resilience projects to limit the impact of disasters.

This progress is crucial as FEMA confronts significant new challenges that threaten its capabilities, current disaster criteria and ability to operate efficiently.

A changing climate threatens to swamp FEMA’s resources as major weather disasters rapidly increase. In 1980, the first full year of FEMA’s existence, there were three weather-related disasters that resulted in more than a billion dollars in damages. In 2023, there were 28, and those numbers will grow. FEMA needs to invest more in preparedness, mitigation and resilience to limit the damage from increasingly intense storms.

FEMA also is being asked to address threats that were not anticipated when the agency was created. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, excessive heat is killing more Americans than ever, yet it is not eligible for a FEMA disaster declaration, which requires quantifiable damage to physical infrastructure and corresponding economic costs. FEMA and Congress will need to work together to address these gaps in the law.

Finally, FEMA’s growth to meet its duties has accelerated to the point that it could undermine the mission. Over the past five years, FEMA’s workforce has grown by almost 30 percent, yet more than a third of all employees are outside of core disaster assistance, and the GAO says it “lacks … plans and performance measures” for hiring. Bureaucracy is a challenge of FEMA’s own making, and the agency needs to get growth under control before it drains resources from priorities and slows responses.

These problems are not insurmountable, and FEMA has the leadership and support to address them. As it turns 45, we should recognize the progress FEMA has already made to become one of the world’s leading emergency management programs. By prioritizing resilience and mitigation, adapting to new risks, and better aligning growth with its mission, FEMA can lead the way for whatever challenges lie ahead.

Daniel A. Craig is a former Region 1 director and associate administrator of Recovery for FEMA. He is CEO of Tidal Basin Group.