2024 one of worst years for natural disasters, researchers say, with FEMA's future uncertain

Last year was one of the worst years for U.S. natural disasters, according to researchers, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) future remains uncertain.

According to a new analysis from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and CNN, major disaster declarations “related to weather and natural disasters” occurred at a high level last year, nearly doubling a 55-declaration-per-year average of the previous 30 years, reaching 90 declarations.

Major disaster declarations, which the president has the ability to declare, cover “any natural event” like hurricanes, tornadoes, snowstorms and tsunamis.

The analysis examined 30 years of data from 1994 to 2024 on FEMA disaster declarations across all of the states, according to the researchers.

“Millions of Americans are being affected by climate-driven disasters every year, sometimes with deadly consequences. Others have been left in financial ruin,” Sejal Patel, an IIED senior climate finance researcher, said on a webpage about the analysis.

“Political leaders need to respond to the gravity of the challenge by putting in place bold plans to cut emissions to address the cause of climate change. They also need to support households and communities most affected by climate-driven disasters,” Patel added.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday she was looking to remove FEMA as a federal agency as she was giving a status report amid a Monday Cabinet meeting.

“We’re going to eliminate FEMA,” Noem said.

In January, President Trump said he would “be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA.”

“I think, frankly, FEMA’s not good,” the president added.

A newer executive order from the White House did not go as far as cutting the agency completely, but pushed for a review of disaster response policies.

1d 2:59 PM ET ago

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