Iowans need a disaster-ready FEMA

In August 2020, a powerful derecho tore across Iowa with hurricane-force winds, flattening crops, ripping roofs off homes, and knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of families. Iowa has since endured repeated federally declared disasters, including major floods, severe winter storms, and increasingly destructive tornado seasons, battering communities across the state.

Even today, many Iowans are still rebuilding, and some are still waiting for promised federal recovery dollars.

These are no longer once-in-a-generation disasters. With so-called “500-year” floods now occurring with alarming frequency and extreme weather becoming more intense and unpredictable, Iowa will continue to face emergencies that overwhelm state and local resources. That reality alone should give pause to Iowa’s congressional delegation as it weighs proposals to weaken — or even dismantle — the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Iowans know FEMA well. Communities across the state rely on FEMA support at every stage of the disaster cycle: preparedness, mitigation, response, relief, and long-term recovery.

When disasters strike, a quick FEMA response is often the difference between rapid assistance and prolonged hardship. There is no plan to replace FEMA. Iowans will see more bankrupt family farms, homeowners across the state will plunge into debt after major floods and storms, and nearly every community will go without essential support for preparedness and cleanup.

That is why proposed FEMA staffing cuts are so dangerous. If they move forward, Iowa families and small businesses will face slower response times, delayed aid, and more denials. The burden will fall squarely on local governments already stretched thin — and on residents who cannot afford to wait.

Americans have seen this before. Twenty years ago, the nation watched the catastrophic failure of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. I witnessed it firsthand while managing aid sites in Mississippi. The consequences of unprepared, understaffed, and poorly coordinated disaster response were devastating and avoidable.

That experience led me to create Disaster Accountability Project, a nonprofit focused on continuous improvement of critical disaster preparedness, response, relief, and recovery systems, centering traditional democratic values such as accountability, transparency, effectiveness, and efficiency. We want aid to work, reach those in the greatest need, and avoid preventable life-altering mistakes.

After Katrina, the federal government conducted extensive investigations that documented systemic failures and issued hundreds of recommendations. Congress responded by passing the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, strengthening FEMA’s authority, staffing, coordination, and capacity and investing in preparedness, planning, training, exercises and greater access and inclusion for people with disabilities. Those reforms reflected a bipartisan consensus: When disasters overwhelm states, the federal government must be ready to act fast and at scale.

The Trump administration’s plan to weaken FEMA is a fatal error and mocks 20 years of bipartisan efforts to do better for disaster survivors. Slashing staff and capacity does not save money; it increases human and financial costs by delaying response, prolonging recovery, and compounding damage. Preparedness and coordination are not bureaucratic luxuries — they are lifesaving investments.

Tragically, history is repeating itself, as President Donald Trump’s obsessions with vindictive policy decrees, indiscriminate cuts, and use of the National Guard for political stunts make another Katrina-scale disaster inevitable. Scores of post-Katrina improvements have already been reversed. A gutted or disbanded FEMA will be unable to coordinate an effective response.

The Trump cuts are creating nobody-home conditions across our entire federal government, a prime example of a government derelict in its duties. Instead of one essential worker out sick, entire lifesaving offices and agencies are wiped out, leaving us unable to effectively predict, respond, and coordinate action across state lines.

While states like Iowa play an essential role in disaster response, they do not have the same tools as the federal government. Only the federal government can mobilize nationwide logistics, surge personnel across state lines, deploy large-scale air and maritime assets, and use authorities like the Defense Production Act to stabilize supply chains and prevent price gouging during emergencies.

The motivation for cutting FEMA is not improving efficiency or effectiveness, or saving dollars, as Americans have been told; it is twofold: funding massive tax breaks for the wealthiest and a sinister ideology that Americans will lose all trust in the federal government if FEMA and other agencies’ capabilities are neutralized by massive cuts and staff reductions.

Disasters are precisely the moments when Americans expect — and need — the federal government to show up with boats, helicopters, logistics, expertise, and funding. When federal agencies are hollowed out, that response fails not in theory, but in flooded neighborhoods, closed hospitals, and families left waiting.

Iowa’s representatives in Congress hold key votes to protect FEMA and must acknowledge that there has always been bipartisan interest in improving and modernizing federal capabilities, regardless of political party and ideology.

Protect and strengthen FEMA — don’t weaken it. Another major storm and flood is not a question of if, but when. And when they strike, Iowans deserve a federal government ready to do its job.

Ben Smilowitz is executive director of the Disaster Accountability Project and SmartResponse.org.