On Friday’s “CNN News Central,” Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser (R) stated that “FEMA is greatly needed.” But “A regional manager that, year-round, got to know the local government, the assets we have, both private assets, infrastructure” would help improve the organization.
Nungesser said that with Hurricane Katrina, “we were not prepared on a local, state, or federal level. We know that. We are better prepared. And FEMA, while it took a long time to get things straight, there’s a way FEMA can work. And I heard your testimony earlier about getting rid of FEMA. FEMA is greatly needed. Even a state like Texas, with more money than Louisiana, when there’s a disaster, they rely on FEMA funds. So, some kind of regional, more local FEMA representation may help cut out some of the red tape. But a FEMA organization is definitely needed in times of disaster. And with the warmer weather, more storms being stronger, we’re going to need them more than ever going forward, and not just in Louisiana.”
Co-host Boris Sanchez then said, “That would put you in disagreement with the Trump administration, they believe that, because of, as you put it, red tape, that FEMA needs to be phased out and disasters need to be handled at a more local level by the states. It seems like you’re saying that Louisiana would have a really hard time if another Katrina came by and there was no FEMA.”
Nungesser responded, “Absolutely. Look, there [are] ways to fix things without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. A regional manager that, year-round, got to know the local government, the assets we have, both private assets, infrastructure, have a number on those, so when a storm hits, that FEMA director is familiar, on a regional level, [with] what we need in this state and can work quickly to resolve it and put a dollar on it, not sending hundreds of people in to walk door to door. That’s what they did after Katrina, and it took years and [you] still have money from FEMA that’s not approved or spent. There’s a better way to do it, but you don’t get rid of the whole organization because it needs some serious overhaul. And that’s with any agency. There’s a lot of good that comes out of it, and that federal assistance is desperately needed.”
Sanchez then asked, “I have to ask you about the Katrina declaration. This is a document from more than 180 FEMA employees, many of them have been put on leave after signing it, warning that the administration is undoing many of the very reforms that came out of Katrina. What do you make of these warnings from these current and former FEMA officials?”
Nungesser answered, “Well, I haven’t seen it, but I think, probably, a lot of it [are] good warnings. I went up and worked with New York on the Sandy Act to fix some things with FEMA. It did make it better, and it needs some more fixing. But, like you said, they had people that came to Louisiana that really had a passion to help us rebuild with FEMA. They had some FEMA folks that really didn’t care, but that’s with anything. You’ve got to fix it and make it work better. But getting rid of FEMA would be a disaster for all of the states that rely on FEMA after a hurricane and the flooding that’s going on around this country and the forest fires and all the other disasters that seem to be happening more frequently. So, an agency and federal assistance is needed more now than ever. We’ve just got to get it organized and get it right, not just throw it out completely.”
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