10 Essential Ways the Federal Emergency Management Agency Protects Our Families and Communities

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supports communities across the country before, during, and after disasters. As the risk of severe weather disasters increases due to human-caused global warming, FEMA’s essential work matters more than ever. It’s FEMA that responds to wildfires in California, hurricanes in Florida and North Carolina, and tornadoes in the Midwest.  FEMA’s disaster response efforts are far from perfect, and there’s always room for improvement. But much of the criticism levied at FEMA after recent disasters has been based on dangerous misinformation.

Tell Congress: Protect Our Ability to Prepare for and Recover From Severe Weather Threats

Though FEMA’s work is undeniably essential, it is currently threatened by deeply troubling staff and funding cuts. Here are 10 ways FEMA keeps our families safe every day—and why their work must be defended so it can continue to protect us all:

1. Disaster preparedness education: FEMA provides a wide array of training and education for communities to ensure they have the knowledge and resources they need to help people cope with disasters—often before they even happen. One particularly critical FEMA program is the National Fire Academy (NFA), which trains local fire and emergency response personnel on fire disasters. Alarmingly, the NFA recently canceled classes amid the Trump administration’s staffing and funding cuts.
2. Emergency alerts: Through the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), FEMA provides free, lifesaving emergency alerts to the public through mobile phones, radios, and televisions. You don’t have to sign up for these alerts, and they’re available in both English and Spanish. Families around the country depend on these life-or-death alerts to know when they need to act to stay safe in emergencies.
3. Training volunteer first responders: Through the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program, FEMA provides training to community volunteers in skills like fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Training volunteer first responders can free up professional responders to focus on more complex tasks during emergencies.
4. Flood risk resources: FEMA helps communities understand and reduce flood risk through resources like the Flood Map Service Center, which allows the public to look up flood maps at any U.S. location or address, and the National Flood Insurance Program, which offers flood insurance that most homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover. For flood-impacted families, having insurance can be critical to recovery efforts and keep them from total financial ruin.
5. Safe rooms: FEMA offers guidance and funding for the building of safe rooms, which are hardened structures designed to provide protection during extreme wind events, such as hurricanes and tornadoes. Many schools rely on these rooms to protect students during emergencies, especially in tornado-prone areas.
6. Individual and family assistance after disasters: FEMA provides a range of resources for individuals and families after disasters, including financial assistance, legal aid, and counseling programs.
7. Long-term disaster recovery support: Through the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), FEMA provides comprehensive guidance on long-term disaster recovery for impacted states, Tribal nations, territories, and local governments. Acknowledging the increasing frequency of disasters, the NDRF emphasizes recovery planning as a key opportunity to help communities rebuild in a sustainable, resilient way.
8. FEMA app: FEMA’s expertise is available wherever you go (or evacuate) through the FEMA app. an accessible way to learn about how to prepare for virtually any kind of disaster: learn what to pack in an emergency supply kit if you have kids, track emergency alerts in multiple locations, and find out how to get resources for recovery when a disaster happens.
9. Kid-friendly disaster education: FEMA’s Ready Kids program offers engaging, practical disaster preparedness resources for children of all ages, including Prepare With Pedro for young children and the Disaster Master online game for older kids. These campaigns teach children information that can be lifesaving in disasters.
10. Youth preparedness programs: FEMA trains teenagers to become leaders in helping their families, schools, and communities prepare for disasters through programs like the Youth Preparedness Council and the Teen CERT programs.

Despite the obvious necessity of FEMA, President Trump has said he wants to “get rid of” the agency.  While we don’t know how this will play out yet as many Republicans say they want FEMA reform, not destruction, it’s clear that the many and varied essential services FEMA provides are under threat. Let’s do everything we can to protect them.

Learn more about Moms’ work on extreme weather.

Tell Congress: Protect Our Ability to Prepare for and Recover From Severe Weather Threats