Hurricane and wildfire survivors push congress to remove fema from homeland security control

Disaster survivors across the United States are mounting pressure on Congress to transform the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) back into an independent federal agency, arguing that its current status under the Department of Homeland Security is hampering recovery efforts for climate-related disasters.

The push comes from Americans still struggling to rebuild their lives after recent catastrophic events. Heather Talley remains displaced from her Swannanoa, North Carolina home—where her life savings are invested—after Hurricane Helene rendered it uninhabitable. Meanwhile, Bill Gould faces bureaucratic roadblocks in California, unable to secure approval for essential soil contamination testing needed to rebuild his Altadena home destroyed by wildfires. Their experiences reflect broader frustrations with FEMA’s response capabilities under its current organizational structure.

The coalition of disaster survivors argues that housing FEMA within Homeland Security, a change made after 9/11, has shifted the agency’s focus away from natural disaster response and recovery toward national security concerns. This organizational placement, they contend, creates additional layers of bureaucracy that slow critical aid during the golden hours and days following disasters—delays that prove especially costly as climate change intensifies the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.

As communities nationwide grapple with increasingly destructive hurricanes, wildfires, and other climate-driven disasters, these survivors believe restoring FEMA’s independence could improve response times and recovery coordination, potentially preventing others from facing similar prolonged displacement and bureaucratic obstacles in their darkest hours.