Emergency services concerned about what FEMA revisions could mean
Editor's note: Federal Fallout is a Tribune-Democrat news series addressing the potential local impact of funding cuts.
SOMERSET, Pa. – In the coming months, a review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered by President Donald Trump should bring a streamlining of the organization amid ongoing federal downsizing and cost-cutting measures.
That may lead to greater responsibility for disaster responses transferring to the state and local levels, area leaders said.
Joel Landis, Somerset County Emergency Management Agency director, has paid close attention to this process to prepare for any potential adjustments.
He said, in his opinion, FEMA does need revamped, and there could be a benefit to removing layers of response.
Landis noted a variety of concerns regarding the agency's efficiency and effectiveness, but added that diminishing response capacity will not help.
"What we don't want to see is a reduction of capabilities on the local level," Landis said.
Joel Landis | Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director
Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director Joel Landis stands Thursday, May 22, 2025, near North Street Bridge, where a debris pile had gathered after flooding from a May 13 storm in Meyersdale Borough.
'Priorities and competence'
A review of FEMA operations was launched in January, when Trump issued an executive order creating a review council to assess the agency.
According to that order, the federal responses to storms such as Hurricane Helene and other recent disasters demonstrate "the need to drastically improve the Federal Emergency Management Agency's efficacy, priorities and competence, including evaluating whether FEMA's bureaucracy in disaster response ultimately harms the agency's ability to successfully respond."
The order claimed that, despite having a $30 billion annual budget, the agency has "managed to leave vulnerable Americans without the resources or support they need when they need it most."
It also alleges FEMA may foster political bias against Trump and his supporters, citing the incident in Florida during Hurricane Milton last October when a FEMA responder allegedly told workers not to assist homes that displayed flags or yard signs for Trump, who was the Republican presidential candidate at the time.
The responder has since claimed the organization had hostile encounters with residents at those homes, and a report released in April said there was no evidence FEMA employees skipped Trump-supporting homes.
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Throughout the 2024 hurricane season, baseless rumors about FEMA also circulated on social media, such as unequal aid distribution and the agency seizing evacuated people's property.
The purpose of the council is to review FEMA's disaster response throughout the past four years, compare that to how local, state and private-sector teams handled disasters, gather information from stakeholders and advise the president.
It was written that the council had to hold its first public meeting 90 days from the order's publication Jan. 24, submit a report to Trump 180 days after that and be disbanded one year later.
The team met for the first time Tuesday.
Since January, Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have called for FEMA's termination, and around 2,000 of 6,000 full-time emergency management workers have left the agency or plan to leave through early retirement and waves of terminations, according to published reports.
'Impact on response'
The potential changes to the federal response are concerning for Cambria County Department of Emergency Services and Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Thomas Davis.
"The lack of assistance from federal – I believe it would be a major impact on response and for the people," he said.
Davis has served with the 911 emergency communications system for 32 years, and has spent decades as a firefighter.
He said moving more disaster responsibilities to the state and local levels would put a burden on those capabilities.
It could be possible, he added, but federal assistance is "absolutely huge" to achieve that.
Trump wrote in a March executive order that empowering local and state authorities is part of his goal.
"Federal policy must rightly recognize that preparedness is most effectively owned and managed at the state, local and even individual levels," he wrote, "supported by a competent, accessible and efficient federal government."
In response to requests for input by the review council, the international nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council has responded to the president's actions and comments.
"Much has changed with regards to FEMA staffing, operations and capacity since the start of this administration," the group wrote. "Most of those changes are to the detriment of the nation's ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. As climate-influenced disasters continue to increase in frequency and severity, the administration has hobbled federal, state, and local efforts to prepare for and address the growing risks and vulnerabilities we now face."
'Layers don't work'
Landis said if FEMA is downsized or eliminated and the responsibilities and funding are turned over to the states, that could be a benefit.
He added that his salary as EMA director is paid for through a FEMA Emergency Management Performance Grant.
Joel Landis | Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director
Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director Joel Landis carries a box of supplies on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at Meyersdale Volunteer Fire Department as disaster relief efforts continue after flooding from a May 13 storm hit Meyersdale Borough.
Landis has been a Somerset County employee for 26 years, in public safety for 28 years, and was on the third ambulance to respond to the tornado that tore through Salisbury in the late 1990s.
He said multi-agency approaches to disasters, especially when it comes to recovery funding, are slow and tedious.
"Layers don't work when you're the disaster victim," he said.
He provided the example of flooding on May 13 in southern Somerset County that hit eight communities, including Meyersdale and Garrett.
On that night, which brought the evacuation of some of those communities, Landis said his team began requesting damage assessments because he knows how slow the process can be.
A week later, representatives from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and federal Small Business Administration toured the communities surveying the damage to homes and businesses.
"It's always a race to get the amount of damages submitted up so we can do the most amount of good," he said.
'Do this together'
Despite that effort, Landis doesn't expect FEMA assistance will be triggered due to the large thresholds weather events have to reach.
The agency annually sets dollar figures for the thresholds that are multiplied by the impacted population to determine if federal intervention is warranted.
For example, the statewide indicator for 2025 is $1.89, meaning the Pennsylvania threshold is around $25 million.
The county threshold for 2025 is $4.72, which would mean Somerset's triggering point exceeds $330,000.
Davis said Pennsylvania's threshold is so high it's difficult to achieve even in devastating storms, such as the region has experienced this spring.
Joel Landis | Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director
Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director Joel Landis stands Thursday, May 22, 2025, near North Street Bridge where a debris pile had gathered after flooding from the May 13 storm in Meyersdale Borough.
He and Landis also acknowledged a growing trend of severe storms impacting the two counties over the past few years.
Unlocking funding was partly why the Small Business Administration was in the Somerset following the flooding.
Landis said if the SBA provides a disaster declaration, that will be open funding that can help county flood victims.
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Wednesday his administration will support a declaration.
Looking ahead, Davis said if the federal element is downsized or removed, that will lead to a expanded cooperation on the local level.
"One thing we have to start looking at to prepare for changes is relationships with volunteer and community-based groups," he said. "We're going to have to do this together."
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