Trump could play politics with California disaster relief, emergency experts warn<\/p>\n
When the Big One<\/a> or another major disaster hits California, the emergency response will need to be massive. Fixing roads and other infrastructure; restoring power and cellphone service; providing food, shelter and and other essentials.<\/p>\n For decades, state officials have operated knowing the federal government would step in almost immediately when they request help with response and recovery, including by providing hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance. However, California and federal disaster recovery officials say they\u2019re concerned that President Donald Trump may retaliate against the state by delaying or withholding major disaster aid.<\/p>\n And they\u2019re sounding the alarm.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aWe never really thought about what the president would do if a disaster were to happen,\u201d said one longtime Federal Emergency Management Agency insider.<\/p>\n But today: \u201cYou don’t really have any idea which way it would go,\u201d said the California-based FEMA employee who spoke anonymously for fear of professional retribution. \u201c\u200aEveryone just has to plan to be self reliant. And I’m not talking just individuals, but the states. \u200aBecause honestly it’s really unpredictable to know what you can rely on.\u201d<\/p>\n Emergency management professionals and observers told LAist they now expect that offers of federal help from the Trump administration will come with strings attached.<\/p>\n \u201cDisaster declarations, especially in California, will be conditional on political policies being made in the state,\u201d the FEMA employee said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a reality state leaders are preparing for.<\/p>\n \u201cThe governor basically told us that we need to think through when the next disaster happens and there’s no federal assistance,\u201d said Brian Ferguson, Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s deputy cabinet secretary for emergency management. \u200a\u201dThe modern era of emergency management, which started under Jimmy Carter, is forever changing.\u201d<\/p>\n Some experts told LAist it\u2019s unlikely Trump would flat-out deny aid to California \u2014 the optics would be too bad, they said. But they did say delays wouldn\u2019t be a surprise.<\/p>\n Their concern is rising as the broader system of disaster response is compromised by cuts and attrition in FEMA and other agencies, leaving the state and its nearly 40 million residents even more vulnerable to disasters.<\/p>\n A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said FEMA is \u201cfocused on warranted, non-political disaster response.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn California and throughout the country, FEMA remains fully prepared and capable of responding to natural disasters,\u201d the spokesperson said via email.<\/p>\n Before publication, the agency did not respond to a request seeking the name of the spokesperson and did not agree to a phone interview.<\/p>\n Why insiders are worried<\/p>\n Myriad signs point toward the likelihood Trump could curtail or deny disaster assistance.<\/p>\n During the 2018 Camp Fire, which destroyed the Northern California town of Paradise, Trump waffled on giving aid until he was told that it was his supporters who were affected.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas \u2026 to show him these are people who voted for you,\u201d a former Trump aide told Politico<\/a> then.<\/p>\n Trump also denied aid to California after a string of wildfires \u2014 including the Creek, Bobcat and El Dorado blazes \u2014 in 2020, according to CNN<\/a>, before changing his mind<\/a>.<\/p>\n During his campaign in 2024, he talked about denying disaster aid. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not giving any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the fire, forest fires that you have,\u201d he said in the Central Valley, according to KQED<\/a>.<\/p>\n And he threatened to withhold<\/a> wildfire money in response to California\u2019s water management policies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe level at which this has become politicized is unlike anything we’ve seen,\u201d said Mark Ghilarducci, who ran the California governor\u2019s Office of Emergency Services from 2012 to 2022.<\/p>\n Even now, California is waiting on $34 billion of wildfire aid<\/a> requested by Newsom after the L.A. fires. It includes requests to Congress for more than $20 billion to help rebuild communities.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the threats to disaster response and recovery funds that have observers worried. It\u2019s also a pullback from funding disaster preparation.<\/p>\n In April, FEMA said it was ending<\/a> its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program, calling it \u201canother example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program \u2026 more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n The program was supposed to provide almost $33 million in funding to help reduce land movement in Rancho Palos Verdes<\/a>, according to a lawsuit filed by California and other states in response<\/a>. Other projects on the chopping block were $21 million for flood mitigation in Sacramento and $32 million to retrofit a hospital in rural Kern County.<\/p>\n What you can do to prepare<\/p>\n The standard advice applies: Be prepared to be on your own for at least 72 hours, though I personally shoot for three weeks.<\/p>\n That can include one gallon of water per person per day. Extra food (along with a way to cook it), medicine and first aid, clothing, a tent and blankets.<\/p>\n Make sure to have your most important documents filed or scanned online, so that if you lose your home, you have something to share with officials.<\/p>\n And before disaster strikes, work to establish connections with the immediate community around you. You\u2019re more likely to be saved by one of them than first responders, who will inevitably be overwhelmed during a large crisis.<\/p>\n For more, LAist has an extensive breakdown of what it\u2019ll take to prepare for the Big One<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Jacob Margolis<\/p>\n Listen to The Big One<\/a><\/p>\n What\u2019s happening inside FEMA\u00a0<\/p>\n Several officials told LAist that even if aid is granted, so much damage has been done to the emergency management system that immediate response and long-term recovery will likely be compromised.<\/p>\n The California-based FEMA official said Region 9 \u2014 which responds to disasters in California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii \u2014 has been hemorrhaging employees with extensive experience in disasters.<\/p>\n \u200a\u201dMost people at FEMA just don’t know what the future really holds, so they\u2019re looking for other jobs,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n