Acting head of FEMA said he wasn't aware U.S. has a hurricane season, sources say

[babylonsister]

Acting head of FEMA said he wasn't aware U.S. has a hurricane season, sources say
By Nicole Spanga
June 2, 2025 / 7:19 PM EDT / CBS News


Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were confused and dispirited on Monday after the acting head of the agency said during a daily briefing that he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to three sources familiar with the meeting.

The remark was made by David Richardson at the conclusion of an 8:30 a.m. daily operational briefing typically attended by hundreds of FEMA staffers and interagency partners. Reuters was first to report the comment.

Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer, has led FEMA since early May.

It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally or as a joke, but current and former employees who spoke with CBS News said the comment flustered many who genuinely believe Richardson was truly surprised to learn that hurricane season had started.

Others suggested that any joke made by the leader about the upcoming season was delivered in poor taste, offending agency staff already suffering from low morale amid a flurry of resignations, firings, leadership overhauls and polygraph tests distributed to staffers.

more...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fema-head-wasnt-aware-hurricane-season/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

[Turbineguy]

1. He had to answer that question that way in order to get the job.

You have to be unqualified to work for trump.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Maddow Blog-As hurricane season begins, Trump's FEMA chief once again fails to inspire confidence

It was a problem when the acting FEMA chief jokingly said he didn't know the U.S. has a hurricane season, but it wasn't the only problem in his remarks.

It was a problem when Trump’s acting FEMA chief said he didn't know the United States has a hurricane season.

It was a bigger problem when he apparently said FEMA wouldn’t come up with a new hurricane-response plan for 2025. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-06-03T13:03:10.958Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/hurricane-season-begins-trumps-fema-chief-fails-inspire-confidence-rcna210569

He was soon replaced by David Richardson, who has no background in emergency management, and who, on his first day as the agency’s acting chief, told FEMA’s staff that he would “run right over” anyone who gets in his way. A month later, as Reuters reported, Richardson continues to make newsworthy comments.

Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation. The remark was made during a briefing by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May.

As NBC News reported, administration officials didn’t deny that Richardson made the comments, though the defense was that the acting FEMA director was joking. A statement from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, added that the allegations that Richardson was sincere about his ignorance were “meanspirited.”

Among those who actually heard the comments, there was apparently some question as to whether Richardson was kidding or not, but either way, this was a curious thing for an acting FEMA chief to joke about two days into hurricane season......

Unfortunately, the alleged “joke” wasn’t the only newsworthy part of Richardson’s comments. The Wall Street Journal reported, for example, that the Trump-appointed official also announced that FEMA had scrapped plans to come up with a hurricane-response plan, choosing instead to simply reuse last year’s plan.....

Looking ahead, Americans might get lucky. It’s possible that the projections are wrong and the United States won’t have to deal with any deadly hurricanes this year — or for that matter, in the coming years. Maybe there won’t be any real-world consequences tied to the administration’s latest moves at FEMA, NWS and NOAA.

But as the president and his team move further away from responsible governing and disaster preparedness, counting on good fortune hardly seems like a wise strategy.