Thread by @Unitedcajunnavy

People keep asking us about the readiness of @fema as we approach the 2025 Hurricane Season (this will be long so please bear with us). The truth is that FEMA will never be ready to "respond" to any disaster, because they aren't designed to. From top to bottom, FEMA has always

Been a grant management agency. They have no first response personnel or capabilities. They they usually send management level people initially with assessment teams who try and figure out the scope of the disaster and meet with state leaders to determine where and how to start

The cleanup (debris removal, temporary infrastructure repairs etc.). Most of these assessment teams are comprised of entry level employees who took online classes in a boot camp style fashion, then get sent out into the field with iPads to gather initial data. They're not trained

In search and rescue and they certainly would never evacuate any victims to safe ground (the FEMA employee handbook literally prohibits employees from accessing any roads that are even partially blocked.) FEMA does not show up and start writing checks either. That's why

We see large states like Florida and Texas responding with more speed, because they have the resources to get started and the wherewithal to wait for reimbursement. Smaller states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, etc. don't necessarily have these resources, so the

Initial response is naturally slower. It is true that in the aftermath of a major disaster you will see SAR teams staged up and sometimes in the field. But these are private companies with pre-event contracts who usually have to wait months before being paid. They aren't

FEMA employees. We have spent time at FEMA HQ in DC including inside the National Emergency Response Center. There are many competent people working in that room who are feverishly trying to gather Intel and coordinate with local leaders to predict and manage what's coming, but

These are desk jobs, not field jobs. FEMA is simply not a first responder and never will be. Whether the agency is rolled into another department, reorganized, rebranded, relaunched, or eliminated, it really doesn't matter. As long as the federal funds earmarked for disaster

Response and relief make it to the states in a timely fashion, the states won't care who is actually cutting the check. Frankly, we are tired of being asked what we think will happen to FEMA. It's a highly dysfunctional agency with a clouded mission, and quite possibly the worst

Public relations skills in the entire Federal government. Every time they reach out and ask us how we can work with them, we very simply state that UCN and organizations like ours should be the tip of the spear. We're not interested in case and grant management, any large

Accounting firm can do that. We have been asked to testify at acongressional hearings, only to end up turning in a written statement. We have been asked if we would consider joining or advising federal oversight committees looking into the future of FEMA, but the actual

Invitation never came. The reasons could be many, perhaps the wires are getting crossed as the new administration puts plans in place to completely change how the federal government operates. Or could be, most likely, that we are still viewed as a ragtag bunch of amateurs who

Can't be managed. We will remind everyone that Noah's ark was built by amateurs, and the Titanic was built by professionals. We're here, we're available, we're ready for hurricane season. Whether the federal government accepts our help or not, disaster victims need it and

The United Cajun Navy will continue to deliver.

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