As Major Hurricane Approaches Florida, FEMA Faces Severe Staffing Shortage

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is running out of staff to deal with the potential devastation of Hurricane Milton as it barrels toward Tampa with wind speeds that have reached 175 mph.

As of Monday morning, just 9% of FEMA’s personnel, or 1,217 people, were available to respond to the hurricane or other disasters, according to the agency’s daily operations briefing. To put that into context: Over the previous five years, one-quarter of the agency’s staff was available for deployment at this point in the hurricane season.

Even in 2017 — arguably FEMA’s busiest year in the past decade, after Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston, Hurricane Irma plowed through Florida, and Hurricane Maria plunged Puerto Rico into darkness — FEMA’s staffing reserves at this point in October were 19%, more than twice the levels they are at now.

The agency said Monday afternoon that it is well equipped to handle the strains. “FEMA is built for this,” said Leiloni Stainsby, the agency’s deputy associate administrator for response and recovery.

But FEMA is stretched not just by the brutal aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 200 people and destroyed sections of western North Carolina. Its staff is also responding to flooding and landslides in Vermont, tornadoes in Kansas, the aftermath of Tropical Storm Debby in New York and Georgia and the Watch Fire in Arizona.

Now FEMA must find staff members to deploy to Florida.

The shortage extends to FEMA’s highest ranks. Of the 50 people who are assigned to act as federal coordinating officers — essentially the director of a disaster operation — just one was available as of Monday.

As disaster responses drain down FEMA’s staff, the agency has a number of options. One of the initial steps is to pull people off leave, Stainsby said.

FEMA has surge capacity, allowing it to use volunteers from other parts of the Homeland Security Department. If that is not enough, FEMA can also call in people from across the federal government.

The agency has staffing agreements with private contractors, said Beth Zimmerman, who led disaster operations for FEMA during the Obama administration, and it often supplements its workforce further by hiring people who live in areas affected by disasters. “Because a lot of them have lost jobs,” she said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .