The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season officially started on June 1st. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that 2025 will be an above-average season with 13 to 19 named storms and three to five major hurricanes before the season ends on November 30th.
NOAA claims that it has “…never been more prepared for hurricane season.” But experts have been sounding the alarm about NOAA budget cuts and warning that its limited ability to act could endanger vulnerable communities.
NOAA and its sub-agency, the National Weather Service (NWS), play critical roles in disaster prevention and response. First and foremost, these agencies provide essential information on imminent disaster threats that gives communities critical time to respond. NOAA tracks changes to air and ocean temperature and how they each impact wind speeds. If they recognize patterns that signal danger, the agency sends out alerts before disaster strikes. These alerts provide communities time to deploy resources, evacuate, or prepare to shelter in place. Time gives people options and saves lives.
The Trump administration’s recent budget cuts are threatening NOAA’s ability to provide timely warnings just as we enter hurricane season. These actions are destabilizing agencies and programs that research, track, and report necessary weather information to prepare for disasters, as well as the programs meant to help people recover in the immediate aftermath.
Texans who are at risk – such as those living along the coast, rivers and bayous, or in floodplains – should be aware of the changing federal landscape and how to best prepare for disasters in light of potentially slower and weaker federal support.
What Has Changed?
Like the recent attacks on Fair Housing, the Trump administration has focused on eliminating climate research and disaster-related programs.
The most basic issue is reduced capacity. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced layoffs and resignations across NOAA that reduced the agency’s staff by more than 2,200 people, around 20% of its workforce, leaving dozens of local NWS offices understaffed. This will result in less data collection, thus weakened warning systems. Reduced staffing impacts local offices’ ability to function and creates an unsustainable environment that forces workers to stretch themselves thin and risk burnout to provide coverage when needed. The Trump administration proposed such severe cuts to NOAA that five former NWS directors published an open letter warning that the agency would not be able to maintain its current level of service, which could result in loss of life.
Many of the DOGE cuts have targeted NOAA research activities about global warming and the changing climate, further limiting the ability to predict risk. The Trump administration eliminated the congressionally-mandated National Climate Assessment and the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disaster dataset, both key sources of information for climate change research. The administration has proposed eliminating the part of the NOAA that oversees climate change research and refocusing the US fisheries service to support energy development.
In addition to severely limiting federal programs that benefit vulnerable populations in need of aid following disasters, the Trump administration has halted grants that help make homes more resilient to disaster damage. They have delayed granting disaster declaration requests, which has forced survivors and their communities to wait for badly needed federal funding, while at the same time citing wait times as a reason to make major changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Trump administration earlier suggested it would issue an executive order to eliminate FEMA entirely.
More recent statements center on shifting the responsibility for disaster preparation, response, and recovery to state and local governments. A day after the head of FEMA testified to Congress that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle the agency, the Trump administration replaced him with David Richardson. Richardson, who has no emergency management experience, has expressed a desire to “return primacy to the states.”
Shifting responsibility to state and local governments risks losing FEMA’s ability to coordinate and provide consistency as a federal agency. It also ignores differences in each local government’s respective experience with administering disaster programs and ability to fund and staff those programs on an ongoing basis, given the irregular, as-needed nature of disaster recovery activities. It will enable funding choices based on political priorities and prevent accountability when programs have unjust outcomes.
These harmful changes will impact the availability of assistance to Texans affected by severe weather this hurricane season. With recovery programs predicted to operate even slower than normal, ensuring that communities are preparing themselves is critical.
What Can You Do?
While federal disaster assistance programs are currently surrounded by uncertainty, local communities can take measures to increase safety in the face of heavy storms, hurricanes, and more. The following information can help you prepare for disasters and the disaster recovery process. The more you prepare, the smoother the recovery.
Know Your Risk: Interactive Maps
- FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer Viewer: Areas with a 1% chance of flooding in a given year, known as the 100-year floodplain, are shown in teal. Areas with a 0.2% chance, the 500-year floodplain, are in orange. You may need to zoom in to view the floodplains.
- FEMA’s National Risk Index: Data on a variety of disaster risks including wildfires, coastal and riverine flooding, hail, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Click “Census tract view” for additional detail.
Prepare Ahead of Time
- Take pictures of your valuable belongings: Photographs help prove ownership so that you can receive compensation if they are lost or damaged.
- Build your emergency kit: Prepare a kit with items like flashlights, batteries, food, water, medications, local maps, a phone charger, and special needs supplies. It is generally recommended to have supplies for the entire household for three days.
- Secure important physical documents: Protect original copies of your documents like birth certificates and house titles in a waterproof bag or save a legible digital copy. Store them in a secure, dry location, or take them with you in case of an evacuation. You will need these documents to receive government assistance after a disaster.
- Know your evacuation plan: Know the risk level of your neighborhood, evacuation routes, and where shelters are located. Know what items you need to take and who will take them. Run practice drills.
- Protect your property: Identify hazards in your neighborhood that may affect flooding such as cluttered drains. Consider shuttering your windows, placing water barriers, and moving your belongings to a safe place. Look into flood insurance and renters insurance. Most insurance policies do not cover flood damage. Flood insurance policies generally do not take effect until 30 days after purchase.
- Additional Resources:
- Ready.gov has helpful information on what to do before and during various types of disasters.
- The Red Cross has a detailed list with what to include in an emergency preparedness kit.
- West Street Recovery has a resources page with helpful disaster preparation information, including specific information for hurricanes and winter freezes and how to set up your neighborhood response hub.
Connect With Your Community
- Have a neighborhood disaster response plan: Work with your neighbors to identify people who may need help during and after a disaster, such as neighbors with disabilities, seniors, and families with young children. Identify a neighborhood facility for mass sheltering.
- Know who can provide immediate help: Identify and connect with local organizations, mutual aid groups, and response crews. Local Public Works departments and nonprofits like the American Red Cross mobilize during disasters. Identify agencies that assist with response recovery and inform them of community needs before and after disasters.
- Stay informed: Talk to your neighbors to share information. Watch the news and listen to weather reports to track storms. Be aware of evacuation orders. Sign up for your community’s emergency warning system. Call 211 or 311 for local evacuation and shelter information.
Know Your Eligibility: Federal Disaster Assistance
- Short-Term Programs: FEMA activates a suite of short-term recovery programs based on the needs of the impacted community. They provide Housing Assistance such as rental assistance or home repair funds and Other Needs Assistance for costs like childcare and funeral expenses. They may operate Supportive Service programs like legal services, crisis counseling, and unemployment assistance. Check FEMA’s website for information on eligibility criteria.
- Long-Term Programs: Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds are the primary source of funding for long-term disaster recovery. The types of programs funded by CDBG-DR differ from disaster to disaster, but housing activities can include repair, new construction, or homebuyer assistance. These funds are administered by the state (the General Land Office) or by a local government (City, County, or Council of Governments). The majority of these funds must benefit low- to moderate- income households. Renters are not typically eligible for long-term recovery programs.
- Immigrants: People without legal status generally have limited access to federal assistance, but there are exceptions for disaster- and emergency-related assistance. Here is a guide to disaster related assistance programs with immigration status in mind. Individuals may want to consult an immigration lawyer to verify they meet status requirements and how to proceed with their applications. The following organizations can help you find an immigration lawyer:
- Homeowners: Many survivors struggle to access assistance because they do not possess the appropriate paperwork to prove they own their home, especially if it is an inherited family home. Visit Texas Law Help to learn more about estate planning and heirship determinations.
- Renters with federal assistance: The National Housing Law Project recently published a report with program-specific guidance on tenants’ rights under various federal housing programs, including assistance they may be eligible for during and after a disaster.
