FEMA workers put on leave after signing 'Katrina Declaration' warning of future disaster responses: 'The public deserves to know what's happening'

The federal government has suspended a number of employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency after they signed an open letter sounding the alarm on the impact that recent changes have had on the agency's readiness, CNN reported

"Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration," the letter stated.

What's happening?

As the nation acknowledges the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the letter cautioned that recent rollbacks threatened to undo the lessons learned and the improvements made post-Katrina.

"Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane, claiming an estimated 1,833 lives, leaving millions homeless, and causing approximately $161 billion in damage," the letter said. 

"Hurricane Katrina was not just a natural disaster, but a man-made one: the inexperience of senior leaders and the profound failure by the federal government to deliver timely, unified, and effective aid to those in need left survivors to fend for themselves," the letter continued. 

In response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, Congress passed the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 with the goal of preventing such a situation from ever happening again.

"However, two decades later, FEMA is enacting processes and leadership structures that echo the conditions PKEMRA was designed to prevent," the letter stated. 

In response, the current administration has placed several people associated with the open letter on leave. 

"I'm disappointed but not surprised," Virginia Case, a supervisory management and program analyst at FEMA, told CNN. Case was one of 35 FEMA employees to put her name on the letter. "I'm also proud of us who stood up, regardless of what it might mean for our jobs.

"The public deserves to know what's happening, because lives and communities will suffer if this continues," Case added. 

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Why do changes at FEMA matter? 

The public warning from FEMA employees came as rising global temperatures continue to make extreme weather events like Hurricane Katrina even more severe. 

The FEMA employees have not been alone in sounding the alarm. Mark Bove, a meteorologist for the German reinsurance company Munich Re, has warned that if a Katrina-like storm were to occur today, the devastation could be even worse than it was 20 years ago.

"Katrina intensified rapidly over the Gulf of Mexico — and we see that much more often today than in 2005, probably because of the higher temperatures in the sea," Bove told Reuters. 

The Environmental Defense Fund has explained the science behind why warmer temperatures make hurricanes more powerful. 

"Evaporation intensifies as temperatures rise, and so does the transfer of heat from the oceans to the air," the EDF said on its website. "As the storms travel across warm oceans, they pull in more water vapor and heat, adding more energy to the storm.

"That means heavier rainfall, stronger wind and more flooding when the storms hit land," the EDF continued. 

What's being done about the changes at FEMA?

To help push back against the changes taking place at FEMA, you can add your name to the list of supporters here. 

Meanwhile, you can also use your voice and contact your elected representatives to let them know where you stand on the issue.

Further, to help prevent more severe storms in the future, you can reduce heat-trapping pollution by driving an EV or installing solar panels on your home.

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