On Thursday, the head of the theater of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told staff that he thought that President Donald Trump is a daring man with a bold vision of the agency – but that FEMA does not yet have a full plan to combat the Hurricane season.
“I would say that we are around 80 or 85%,” said the acting administrator of FEMA, David Richardson, to the staff at a conference call, of which were obtained by ABC. “Next week, we will fill this gap and probably reach 97 to 98% of a plan. We will never have 100% of a plan. Even if we had 100% of a plan, a plan never survives in the first contact. However, we will make our best to make sure that the plan is global.”
The conference calls intervened after an internal document prepared for Richardson while he takes the lead of the agency responsible for the management of federal disasters said that the agency was poorly prepared for the next hurricanes season, which begins on June 1.
“While FEMA turns into a smaller imprint, the intention of this seasonal season is not well understood, the FEMA is therefore not ready,” according to the document, which was obtained by ABC News.
The acting administrator of FEMA, Richardson, is organizing a meeting with the management of the agency in preparation for the hurricanes season, on May 12, 2025, in Washington, DC.
Graham Haynes / Fema
During the conference call, Richardson said that he and the staff sat for “about 90 minutes” and had started to develop a plan for this year’s disaster season.
He said the plan would be ready soon.
“Listen carefully: the intention of the 2025 disaster season (is to) protect the American people, refer primacy to the United States, strengthen their capacity to respond and recover and coordinate federal aid when it is deemed necessary, while transforming in the future of FEMA,” said Richardson.
Richardson was placed at FEMA by the Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Security, Kristi Noem, after the former acting administrator, Cam Hamilton, was dismissed last week because of his testimony to a house panel, according to a familiar source with the question, which went against the agency’s trigger.
The actual administrator said that this version of the FEMA would be different from the past agency.
“The President’s intention for FEMA is to make sure that FEMA only does things in law,” he said at the call conference, adding that there is an “important push” to obtain resources in the United States.
“You can imagine that FEMA looks very, very different. What will look like the end, we will know,” he told staff. “Remember, the president is a daring man. The president has a daring vision, he makes daring statements.”
The previous document on the planning of the agency’s hurricanes indicated that the limitations of staff, hiring and lack of coordination with states will also have an impact on FEMA operations before the hurricanes season.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Security told ABC News earlier that the information in the document was “very out of context”.
“You are referring to a line on a nineteen pages slide game and the unfounded opinion of an official inside the agency,” said a spokesperson for the DHS. “The slide was used during an acting administrator daily, David Richardson, held a complex problem preparation for the hurricanes every day. The interim administrator Richardson Fema is fully activated in preparation for the hurricanes season.”
During his first hands of all hands last week, Richardson told employees not to put himself on his way when he tries to reach the president’s goals, a source said in ABC News.
“Do not get on my way if you are these 20% of people,” he told employees last Friday morning, according to a source knowing the meeting. “I know all the tips.”
“Obfuscation. Delay. Amps up. If you are one of these 20% of people and you think that these tactics and techniques will help you, they will not do it because I will end you with you,” he said, according to a source with a knowledge of the meeting. “I will intend the president’s intention. I am also determined to achieve the president’s intention that I assured myself of having done my duty when I took my navies to Iraq.”
Morale at FEMA has flowed since Noem said that it was going to eliminate the agency, according to sources within the agency.
Noem was in a hurry during a house panel on Wednesday to find out if she has a plan to eliminate FEMA. She said she had no plan, but said the White House would show up with a plan.
“There is no formalized final plan on the way it takes place, because the contribution of the congress is of crucial importance,” she told representative Bennie Thompson.
CNN first reported on the internal revision document.
