"Atmospheric rivers drenched California and deadly storms crept toward Mississippi as Deanne Criswell sat in her corner office in Washington, D.C., and tackled a loaded question: Is it all too much for FEMA?

Federal Emergency Management Agency workers form the government’s rapid-response team for natural disasters while juggling disparate tasks that now range from distributing vaccines to aiding migrant children at the border.

“Yeah, there’s a lot, right?” the FEMA administrator said in an interview. But she insisted the agency can meet the moment. “The role of the emergency manager really is the role of problem-solver.”

Former agency leaders, disaster specialists, and lawmakers are not all so confident. As demands snowball, some see an agency hobbled by bureaucracy and an overstretched workforce."

Kellie Lunney and Ellen M. Gilmer report for Bloomberg Environment July 12, 2023. [2]