Caribbean Matters: Hurricane season is here, but federal aid isn’t

Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. Hope you’ll join us here every Saturday. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.


We’ve covered the devastation of recent Caribbean and Atlantic hurricanes, some of which the island nations are still recovering from. In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria slammed into the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and wiped out Barbuda. Similarly, Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and Hurricane Beryl in 2024 caused widespread regional damage. 

Sadly for the victims, during President Donald Trump’s first term, there were many delays in federal aid. And now during his second term, things are about to get even worse. 

Vox Environmental Correspondent Benji Jones writes:

Hurricane season in the Atlantic has officially begun.

And while this year will likely be less extreme than in 2024 — one of the most destructive seasons ever, with the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record — it’s still shaping up to be a doozy.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predict “above-average” activity this season, with six to 10 hurricanes. The season runs from June 1 to November 30.

Even when government agencies that forecast and respond to severe storms — namely, NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — are fully staffed and funded, big hurricanes inflict billions of dollars of damage, and they cost lives.

Under the Trump administration, however, these agencies are not well staffed and face steep budget cuts. Hundreds of government employees across these agencies have been fired or left, including those involved in hurricane forecasting. What could go wrong?

Earlier this month, a forecast from Puerto Rican Meteorologist John Morales in Florida went viral:

John Morales of WTVJ in Miami said the Trump administration’s recent cuts to the National Weather Service could leave television forecasters like him “flying blind” this hurricane season. “We may not exactly know how strong a hurricane is before it reaches the coastline,” he warned.

Mr. Morales’s presentation on Monday began with a clip of himself following the Category 5 Hurricane Dorian in 2019 as it moved over the Bahamas. He reassured his Florida viewers that the powerful storm would turn north before it reached their coastline. And it did, exactly when Mr. Morales assured anxious viewers it would.

The clip cuts to him in present day, slightly older and now wearing glasses. He recalled the confidence he used to have in delivering an accurate forecast to his viewers.

Grimly, he added: “And I am here to tell you that I am not sure I can do that this year, because of the cuts, the gutting, the sledgehammer attack on science in general.”

He told of staffing shortages at the Weather Service’s Florida offices; “From Tampa to Key West, including the Miami office, 20 to 40 percent understaffed,” he said.

“The quality of the forecast is being degraded” because of those cuts, he said.

“Am I worried? You bet I am!” he added in a follow-up essay posted on the station’s website.

And here’s the video clip of Morales’ report:

But Trump’s cuts to federal aid go far beyond hurricane preparedness. As María Mónica Monsalve reported for El País:

If a potential lack of information is a cause for concern, there is even greater dismay about how the first hurricane season will be experienced after the pause in USAID assistance throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Calculations made by the Center for Global Development (CGD) based on the latest documents shared by Congress in March estimate that $265,038,208 was cut for disaster preparedness worldwide.

“USAID has been a very reliable source of funding for various disaster reduction, preparedness, and response activities,” Salgado insists. “In the region, one of the initiatives that has been greatly affected is the early warning system for all people, which is also an initiative mandated by the United Nations Secretary-General.” A 24-hour warning, he recalls, can reduce economic and livelihood losses by up to 30%.

That entire chain, from early warning to hurricane recovery, has been shaken in the region. Knowing the extent is difficult due to the lack of transparency from the United States government, but there are specific cases. Science journalist Justine Calma revealed in The Verge that the Regional Disaster Assistance Program (RDAP), funded by USAID since 1989, was terminated in Latin America and the Caribbean. It included activities such as running drills with community members, purchasing supplies for evacuation shelters, and making sure people with disabilities can access services.

As Earth.org Editor-in-Chief Martina Ignini reported, Trump’s dismantling of FEMA will begin at the end of hurricane season.

The Trump administration will begin dismantling the country’s federal emergency agency at the end of the hurricane season, which scientists have forecast to be “above-normal” this year.

“We’re going to give out less money,” Trump said at the White House, adding that he would like to see the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – an agency within the US Department of Homeland Security – largely dismantled “after the hurricane season” to “bring it down to the state level.”

Speaking next to Trump from the Oval Office, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the move will “empower” state governors to respond to emergency situations. But experts have warned that while large counties and cities may be able to take over some of the agency’s services and responsibilities, small and rural governments lack the personnel and resources to do so.

But, of course, there was no mention of what that means for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Island. While we are all aware of the damage wrought by hurricanes, a recent study in Puerto Rico provides insight into long term effects damaging people, not property.

The study, entitled “Enraizando ante la Crisis Climática (Rooting in the Face of the Climate Crisis),” was based on 684 responses to an online questionnaire (quantitative scope) and 52 people interviewed in the six regions of Puerto Rico (qualitative scope). In the analysis, Amigxs del M.A.R. found that 44% of the total identified Hurricane María (2017) as the main event responsible for their climate trauma.

“This means that people live in a state of constant hypervigilance,” said Erimar Landrón Irizarry, community and educational organizer for Amigxs del M.A.R. “The body constantly experiencing anxiety and stress has adverse effects on both physical and mental health. But beyond that situation, the fact that it is adverse also causes a constant landscape of illness in the population, and when you, in one way or another, feel every day that you cannot fight that illness, it creates immobilization. So, what actions are being taken to ensure that populations and people in communities truly feel empowered, and that it doesn’t just remain a nice phrase uttered by a government official?”

Here’s hoping that the Caribbean dodges the wrath of major storms this season. I’ll provide updates and a roundup of other Caribbean news in the comments section below.

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