In recent years, natural disasters have become more frequent, increasing costs
and requiring higher levels of federal support. According to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, the number of disasters costing more than $1
billion in total economic damages in the U.S. nearly doubled between 2018 and
2024—from 14 to 27. Recent disasters further demonstrate the need for
government-wide action to deliver assistance efficiently and effectively and
reduce the federal government’s fiscal exposure. As such, we added Improving
the Delivery of Federal Disaster Assistance to our High-Risk List in February
2025.
1
Recent disasters, such as Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which affected the
southeast less than 2 weeks apart in 2024, as well as federal workforce
reductions and challenges highlight concerns over federal disaster workforce
readiness. More recently, flash flooding in Texas killed more than 130 people
over the 2025 July 4 weekend; reporting indicated a summer’s worth of rain fell
across the region in a matter of hours. As we have previously reported, the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—the lead agency for federal
disaster response—has long-standing workforce management issues that make
supporting response and recovery difficult.
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For example, following Helene and
Milton, only 4 percent of FEMA’s incident management workforce—the agency’s
primary field support for disasters—was available to deploy as of November 1,
2024.
We were asked to review long-standing challenges and emerging issues in
federal response efforts for recent disasters, including Hurricanes Helene and
1
GAO, High-Risk Series: Heightened Attention Could Save Billions More and Improve Government
Efficiency and Effectiveness, GAO-25-107743 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 25, 2025).
2
6 U.S.C. § 313 (providing that FEMA is to lead the nation’s efforts to prepare for, protect against,
respond to, recover from, and mitigate against the risk of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and
other man-made disasters, including catastrophic incidents). GAO, FEMA Disaster Workforce:
Actions Needed to Improve Hiring Data and Address Staffing Gaps, GAO-23-105663 (Washington,
D.C.: May 2, 2023); FEMA Workforce: Long-Standing and New Challenges Could Affect Mission
Success, GAO-22-105631 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 20, 2022). We have made recommendations
over the years to improve FEMA’s workforce management issues, which the agency has
addressed, but challenges remain.
U.S. Government
Accountability Office
-Risk Series:
-25-108598
Addressees
