Why FEMA Desperately Needs Reform

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"Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?"

From the Wall Street Journal: "ST LOUIS - Minutes after a mile-wide tornado struck this city on an otherwise beautiful day this spring...."

Funny how a large EF-3 tornado can ruin a "beautiful day." 

City of St. Louis photo

The Wall Street Journal is based in New York City. FEMA is based in Washington, DC. Perhaps one of the problems with national responses to major disasters is that inside the Beltway and on the Island of Manhattan, these disasters seem far away...almost remote. When FEMA recently fixed an important bit of Florida infrastructure, another NYC-based organization called Pro Publica was upset that Trump fixed it after 2.5 years of neglect under President Biden. 

So, it is not surprising the WSJ and FEMA often miss the point: thousands of people have suffered from the Maui wildfires, Hurricane Helene, the Los Angeles wildfires, the St. Louis Tornado and others because a clerk in a large Washington office building cannot find a sense of urgency to rush aid when it is needed. This is not a Republican-Democrat issue. This has been going on since at least Hurricane Andrew (1992).

The general theory of FEMA reform being discussed in Washington is to shift much of the responsibility to state and local governments. If the affected citizens do not like the way a recovery is being handled, they can vote the pols out of office -- something that cannot be done with a civil servant. 

At the link is a bi-partisan press release on the bill being considered in the House. 

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