Not that we needed any more evidence that the Trump administration is overseeing the most woefully incompetent federal government in recent history — it appears to be launching supposedly accidental missile strikes on Iranian elementary children, after all — but deadly tornadoes tore through the Midwest and Plains last weekend, and state and local search-and-rescue crews struggled to do their jobs because the Department of Homeland Security let a contract with a crucial company lapse.
From CNN:
It wasn’t until the teams deployed that they realized they were operating without a critical tornado-tracking tool typically provided by FEMA.
That left responders with a less precise picture of where to search first, two sources familiar with the situation told CNN.
The mapping tool pinpoints a tornado’s path of destruction within minutes of touchdown, helping responders focus on the hardest-hit neighborhoods as quickly as possible. Even in storms where FEMA itself doesn’t respond, state and local rescuers rely on the mapping tool, which is provided to them through the agency.
But it wasn’t available this time, because FEMA’s roughly $200,000 contract with the company that provides the data expired in February, and the agency’s request to renew it is still moving through Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s strict spending-approval process, according to the two sources and internal documents reviewed by CNN.
“Rescuers were flying blind, having to drive around or use news reports to figure out where the impacts were,” one of the sources told CNN. “And when a tornado hits in the middle of the night, every moment counts.”
Remember back in January of last year, when wildfires were ravaging much of Southern California, and for no discernible reason, the entire MAGA world, including then-President-elect Donald Trump, reflexively blamed DEI, “woke culture” and Los Angeles’ Black woman mayor for what they cited as infrastructure problems that made it more difficult for firefighters to put out fires, offering zero evidence to substantiate such claims?
Remember when Trump pointed his stubby, little baby fingers at Gov. Gavin Newsom, claiming on social media that “Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water…to flow daily into many parts of California” in order to “protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt,” and it turned out that only sounded absurd and untrue because it was absolutely absurd and untrue?
Many people online like to say that when it comes to the Trump administration, every accusation is actually a confession. And now, the administration of the anti-DEI president — who appointed a bunch of white people to roles they’re not qualified for, and continues to do so — seems to have exacerbated a disaster by hindering public servants by leaving them ill-equipped to do their jobs.
So, apparently, everyone who isn’t a MAGA cultist was right. Who would’ve thought?
In fact, last July, when deadly flash floods were killing people in Texas, we reported that the devastation heightened concerns over the Trump administration’s budget and staffing cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS), which lost 600 employees earlier that year as part of widespread layoffs and buyouts throughout the federal government. Well, it turns out this wasn’t the only issue, and the tornadoes in the Midwest to represent the first time FEMA has struggled to get around the shortcomings of the current administration.
More from CNN:
The disruption echoes problems FEMA faced during last July’s deadly floods in Texas, when the same approval processes implemented by Noem – including a rule that all spending over $100,000 receive her personal signoff – slowed the agency’s ability to pre-position search-and-rescue teams, left call centers understaffed and delayed the sharing of data with state partners.
Billions of dollars in contracts and grants have stalled at the agency in recent months pending approval by Noem and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, as the Trump administration seeks to rein in wasteful spending and shift more responsibility for disaster response to states.
It’s a dangerous thing to give an administration of ideologues who don’t know what they’re doing the keys to everything. We’re seeing the abysmal fallout of putting Trump back in power on a daily, even hourly basis, domestically and abroad.
Sad.
SEE ALSO:
FEMA Publishes ‘Katrina Declaration’ On Storm’s 20th Anniversary
Mass Exodus Of FEMA Leadership Ahead Of Hurricane Season
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