FEMA Boss Jokes He Didn't Know About Hurricane Season

The recently installed head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says the agency has scrapped its new hurricane-response plan and will be using last year's plan, according to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. The sources say some at FEMA aren't sure how exactly that will be possible, since, under the Trump administration, the agency has massively reduced its workforce and done away with some of its programs. One example: Previous guidance has indicated FEMA staffers should go door-to-door to help survivors after a hurricane, but that program has been diminished, and it's not clear what type of consequences that might have on other response efforts.

The acting head, David Richardson, also came under scrutiny for comments he allegedly made at a meeting Monday, the New York Times reports. "Yesterday, as everybody knows, [was the] first day of hurricane season," Richardson said, according to sources who were at the meeting. "I didn't realize it was a season." The Department of Homeland Security quickly issued a statement framing the comment as a joke, NBC News reports. "Despite meanspirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this Hurricane Season. FEMA is laser focused on disaster response, and protecting the American people," the DHS statement says. (More FEMA stories.)