Red states in crosshairs as hurricane season starts amid FEMA rollbacks

As storm season approaches, Trump’s ‘beyond crazy’ policies raise anxiety levels

This column is for Callaway Climate Insights subscribers only, but it’s OK to share once in a while. Was it shared with you? Please subscribe.

Hurricane Katrina aims for New Orleans. NOAA GOES satellite image.

(Bill Sternberg is a veteran Washington journalist and former editorial page editor of USA Today.)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Callaway Climate Insights) — The weather in Florida is beautiful for much of the year, but each hurricane season brings a sense of trepidation, along with a flood of advertisements for storm shutters and generators. Last October, Hurricane Milton spawned tornadoes that killed six people and caused extensive property damage here in St. Lucie County. The previous month, Hurricane Helene left a swath of death and destruction from Florida’s west coast to western North Carolina.

This year, a flurry of actions by the Trump administration is compounding the apprehension that accompanies hurricane season, which starts June 1. By rolling back efforts to combat climate change, and by taking a chainsaw to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the White House seems to be working overtime to ensure that future tropical cyclones are more destructive, that weather forecasts are less precise, and that government disaster response is less effective.