Reimagine FEMA before the next disaster

OPINION:

Contrary to what people might think, it rains a lot in California, often to the point of flooding that causes tens of millions of dollars in damage and the loss of human lives. Such was the case in January 2023, when Santa Maria Valley Water Conservation District officials realized that an above-average rainfall had filled the usually empty Twitchell Reservoir and that the dam holding back approximately 6 billion gallons of stormwater and sediment was in danger of bursting.

With a budget of $820,000, the conservation district didn’t have the equipment or personnel to mitigate the coming disaster, so it turned to Mitigation Solutions LLC and Barnett Southern Corp., a Georgia-based construction company specializing in such matters.

The companies moved quickly. They deployed barges, pumps and heavy equipment, as well as the much-needed manpower to operate them, to the Twitchell Reservoir site. Working with the local conservation board, the California Office of Emergency Services, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they launched an around-the-clock effort to prevent the situation from reaching the critical stage.

Barnett Southern CEO Ames Barnett said, “Had the emergency work not been performed, the district would have been forced to release dangerous levels of floodwaters and sediment downstream or else risk facility failure, endangering the health and safety of the 100,000 or more residents and thousands of properties in the Santa Maria area.”

Everything worked out, but not everyone was satisfied. FEMA is responsible for paying Mitigation Solutions and Barnett Southern for their work but has refused to fulfill its obligations. This affects just one of the many projects the agency oversees each year.

However, it’s not a small matter. It’s symptomatic of larger institutional problems plaguing the agency for years. Remember President George W. Bush’s praise of the FEMA director after Hurricane Katrina demolished much of New Orleans? “You’re doin’ a heckuva job, Brownie” ranks high on all-time quotes that the utterers wish they could claw back.

Think about it. When was the last time you heard of FEMA doing anything right? Florida, North Carolina, California and Puerto Rico captivated our attention after torrential storms, raging fires and other natural disasters where FEMA was supposed to mitigate damage, manage cleanup and help reconstruct. The agency hasn’t been getting it done.

President Trump seemed to reach that conclusion while visiting the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

During his tour of the carnage, he said it was time to “begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA.” He was serious. Acting FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton didn’t understand that. He was tossed from his post a day after telling a congressional committee that eliminating the agency was not “in the best interest of the American people.”

If, after two years, FEMA still has not paid a Georgia-based contractor for its work to prevent a dam from bursting in California’s Santa Maria Valley, preventing billions of dollars in property damage and the loss of many lives, what good is it? It needs to be reimagined.

Mitigation Solutions, Barnett Southern and all the other contractors waiting to be paid need their money. The federal courts said as much a few months ago when blocking the first round of cuts suggested by the Department of Government Efficiency. The judge’s order said the government must pay for work already completed. Mr. Trump, who made a fortune developing some of the nation’s most impressive commercial and leisure properties, understands. Still, as he proved through Operation Warp Speed in his first term, he also knows that bureaucratic red tape is the enemy of quick response.

Agencies such as FEMA need to work fast from beginning to end. They must step up when lives and property are on the line. Mr. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem say they want to replace FEMA rather than reform it. That seems like a good idea. One idea worth considering is increasing the roles of states and localities while leaving the federal government to fund their efforts. Block grants are a better way than bureaucracy to manage the diverse problems in emergency management. Let’s hope for action soon.

• Peter Roff is a Washington-based writer and commentator. He is a former U.S. News & World Report columnist and UPI senior political writer now affiliated with several public policy organizations. He can be reached by email at RoffColumns@gmail.com and on social media @TheRoffDraft.