As Trump works to cut FEMA, data shows there was a major disaster declaration every four days in 2024
By Lauren Kent, Ella Nilsen, CNN
(CNN) — Deanne Criswell has spent years sounding the alarm about busier disaster seasons. Just days before the former chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency stepped down at the end of the Biden administration, Criswell was directing the federal response to the deadly and destructive wildfires in Los Angeles.
“We’re seeing hurricane season last longer, we’re seeing spring severe weather season get more significant and we’re seeing the fire season go year-round now,” Criswell told CNN at the time. The agency is “more engaged in wildfire response than we ever have been before.”
It’s not just FEMA’s perception that threats are increasing — there were 90 declarations of “major disasters” in 2024.
It was one of the worst years for disasters declarations in the last three decades (1995-2024), according to a new analysis from the International Institute for Environment and Development, or IIED, shared exclusively with CNN. Ninety major disaster declarations in a year is nearly double the annual average of 55 declarations, according to the London-based think tank.
It translates to a major disaster declaration every four days.
Researchers also found that 41% of the US population lived in a county where a major disaster or emergency was declared — about 137 million people.
“Our analysis of FEMA data shows the agency has been responding to a growing number of climate-driven disasters over the past few decades. This is in line with what scientists warned us would happen,” said Sejal Patel, senior climate finance researcher at IIED, in a statement to CNN.
It comes as the Trump administration plans for deep staff cuts at FEMA.
“As global temperatures continue to rise, all levels of government will have no choice but to help people adapt to the realities of climate change,” Patel said, adding political leaders should be focusing on how to adapt and build resilience against climate change threats, including solutions like stronger building codes, early warning systems, reenvisioning the homeowners insurance industry and infrastructure like flood barriers.
The US president can declare a major disaster or emergency for any natural event, such as hurricanes, storms, tornados and landslides, when they determine an event is severe enough to surpass the ability of state and local government to respond. It provides access to federal funding for emergency needs and permanent repairs.
In 2024, the US experienced 27 separate weather and climate disasters that cost more than $1 billion in damage, according to a final tally from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The IIED analysis focused only on weather-related disasters, and did not include things like chemical or toxic substance disasters.
August was the most disaster-heavy month, with 10 major weather-related disasters active at the same time in mid-August, including Hurricane Debby in Florida, severe storms in Kansas and flooding in Vermont.
Hurricane season, which typically runs from June through November, had an average of four active major disasters every day. Scientists have long said that climate change will lead to fewer but stronger storms – something that played out in 2024.
Many disasters overlap, such as Hurricanes Helene and Milton, in back-to-back incidents. Given that multiple disaster declarations are often active at the same time and declarations can last for months, IIED researchers also added up the cumulative number of days spent under disaster or emergency declarations across all states. In 2024, there was at least one active disaster somewhere in the country for 73% of the year, and 1,251 disaster days.
Climate scientists have repeatedly warned that extreme weather events around the world are becoming more intense.
“One of the big drivers of these extreme events is the fact that as air gets warmer, it can hold more water vapor. What this means is that rainfalls are getting heavier,” said Ed Kearns, chief data officer at First Street Foundation, a non-profit focused on weather risk research. “So, hurricanes will have stronger precipitation, thunderstorms will have stronger precipitation, and this is driving a lot of those disasters that you’re seeing.”
Disasters are also increasing because infrastructure intended to handle heavy rainfall – for example, water pump systems built to keep subway systems clear from flooding – were built “for yesterday’s climate, not today’s climate,” Kearns said.
“For this coming summer, we could be sure that there will be one or two large flooding events in the eastern US,” Kearns added. “The main thing we would like to call attention to is the level of risk that exists, whether it’s flood or wildfire… This level of risk is absolutely predictable.”
Despite the well-predicted increase in disasters, Trump has expressed desire to close FEMA altogether, saying during a trip to disaster-hit North Carolina in January that he would “begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA.”
On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order that outlines his desire to shift more responsibility for disaster response and recovery to the states.
Some state officials and even Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about Trump’s plans to slash FEMA, expressing worry that it will weaken responses to future disasters.
The changes could all have chilling effects on emergency response even at state levels, given that FEMA already acts as a centralized hub to help support states respond to and recover from disasters, former FEMA chief Criswell told CNN in January.
“We need to take him at his word, and I think state emergency management directors should be concerned about what this means for spring tornado season” and the coming hurricane season, Criswell said. “Do they have the resources to protect their residents?”
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CNN’s Soph Warnes and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.
