FEMA Recovery Is Slooow

In the "tough to be FEMA" news, there is this CNN story, Hellish summer of hurricanes smashes FEMA. Craig Fugate has to be thinking — I got out of there at just the right time!

Here's a quick list of challenges for FEMA and Brock Long:

• Most people think that FEMA is responsible for anything and everything to do with disasters
• They seldom get the credit for what they do right, but always get the blame, even for those things they don't deserve
• We live in a society that is fixated on the immediate with no thought to the future.
• Most elected officials can't spell mitigation, let alone fund it
• FEMA staffing is woefully short for all their missions
• The National Flood Insurance Program is broken, and Congress refuses to fix it (and they think they will take on entitlements? Start with the NFIP)
• 2017 might not have been a "one off" year — we seem to be moving to this as world temperatures climb 
• For the above article focused on hurricanes, let's not forget the California fires — north and south
• The FEMA IG is no one's friend — and, they make the disaster recovery process more complicated and cumbersome, trying to close loopholes 

I could have kept going, but this list is a good one to start with. Disaster reservist shortage?

Claire Rubin shared the link above.