In the wake of the flooding event in central Texas, some governors and mayors are raising concerns over how current or potential cuts to agencies that are part of the federal government’s response to major weather events will impact how effectively the government can respond in the future.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — the latter of which oversees the National Weather Service — have lost hundreds of staff members through layoffs or early-retirement programs, and both face the potential of budget cuts. Budget cuts to NOAA are mostly directed at its climate programs, not forecasting.
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President Donald Trump has indicated wanting to phase out FEMA and have emergency responses be handled by states. Though the president has avoided talking about those plans after the Texas flood.
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, speaking with ABC News on Monday, told ABC News that he still feels FEMA helps states like his effectively respond to emergencies and assists through resources such as extra rescue teams and helicopters.
“If cuts to FEMA take away that ability, then our people are going to be less safe,” he said. In April, major flooding ravaged the state, prompting FEMA to jump in to help.
MORE: Some former Texas county officials thought informal phone calls, not sirens, would be sufficient in a flood
Beshear said he is also concerned about cuts at the National Weather Service.
“The Kentuckians who work for the National Weather Service do an amazing job, and even short staffed, and they are short staffed … I stay awake at night wondering when we don’t have full coverage, or wondering when someone is so tired from how hard they’ve worked, if something’s going to get missed and we’re going to be less safe the next time,” he said.
Beshear emphasized that he did not want to speculate about if any cuts or vacant positions impacted the emergency response in Texas, adding “that needs to ultimately be a fact-based question that’s not politicized, because at a time when this many families are hurting, the last thing they need is a political back and forth.”
There has been no indication of any staffing issues or other concerns related to FEMA, NOAA or NWS connected to the flooding event in central Texas. NOAA told ABC News on Tuesday that NWS planned for extra staffing at the NWS Austin/San Antonio local office ahead of the event and that the local office had five NWS employees working compared to the two who would normally be scheduled.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees FEMA, told the FEMA Advisory Council on Wednesday that how FEMA responded “to Texas is exactly how President Trump imagined that this agency would operate, immediately making decisions, getting them resources and dollars that they need.”
Louisiana’s Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, speaking to reporters on Wednesday after a meeting of the FEMA Review Council, responded to a question about uncertainty over federal funds being interrupted during a potential future disaster by emphasizing his faith in the government’s ability to respond and to get funds states need to them.
“Do you think the president of the United States or members of Congress, certainly those in the Senate, of affected states, would not allow the money to get where it needs to be?” Landry told reporters.
Landry added later, “I am not convinced that the federal government is not going to be there when we need it … It’s not like we’re taking the federal government completely out of the process. What we’re trying to do, what I think they’re trying to do, and certainly what I am advocating for, is a more streamlined process.”
Some mayors shared their concerns about cuts to FEMA and NOAA with ABC News.
Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Missouri, a Democrat, said he is very concerned about staffing cuts at NWS given frequent flooding in his city. Those cuts have to be, he said, “one of the most backward things that this country could possibly do … it can’t just be the television meteorologists who rely on information from the National Weather Service.”
MORE: Texas flooding live updates
But Mayor Dan Davis, the Republican mayor of the city of Manvel, Texas, told ABC News that his city has dealt with hurricanes and other weather events using resources they already have — including a combination of the Texas Department of Emergency Management, the National Weather Service and local agencies and meteorologists. The city also has a full-time staff emergency management coordinator.
He also said he believes the state can provide funding for systems that can help with the city’s emergency response, as long as municipalities apply for those grants. He said, as hurricane season approaches, Manvel secured a grant at the Texas Department of Emergency Management for backup generators for its critical infrastructure.
While Manvel was not impacted by the dramatic flooding in central Texas, the tragedy has rippled across the state.
“You just start tearing up and crying, because I have a daughter that’s 9 years old, and my daughter very well could have been at that camp,” he said.
D.C. Reeves, the Republican mayor of Pensacola, Florida, acknowledged that cuts or changes at the agencies are “a big part of our conversation. It’s a timely question.”
The city just recently introduced its first city emergency coordinator, he added, separating out that role from what used to be done by the city’s fire chief so that the city can be more prepared to manage emergencies.
Florida cities work heavily with county-by-county emergency operation centers as well, he said, adding that “if we ever had a hurricane bearing down on us, or any type of weather event, they are the point person.”
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Kyle Reiman and Dan Peck contributed to this report.
