New Mexico’s senators are urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve its response to catastrophes in Western states.
Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FEMA Acting Administrator David Richardson to improve FEMA’s response to wildfires and the subsequent disasters, like flooding or mudslides, that so often follow.
Richardson was appointed interim director in early May and made headlines Monday when he commented that he was not aware the country has a hurricane season, according to a report from Reuters. Spokespeople from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, the agency overseeing FEMA, have said the comment was a joke.
“Western states face a distinct and growing threat: namely, catastrophic wildfires followed by cascading disasters such as landslides, flooding, and water system failures that compound damage and slow recovery,” the letter reads. “These cascading events — which can happen years after an initial fire — are devastating, and FEMA has repeatedly struggled to respond effectively.”
In January, President Donald Trump created a council to review FEMA and suggest changes, including whether “FEMA can serve its functions as a support agency, providing supplemental federal assistance,” to states, and Trump has suggested eliminating the agency. More than 2,000 FEMA employees have left the agency or have been laid off since Trump began his second term.
The senators urged the administration not to weaken FEMA’s authority.
“Weakening or eliminating federal disaster assistance when state and local resources across the West are overwhelmed and depleted would be a dangerous step backwards,” the letter says.
Northern New Mexico communities have struggled with flooding in years after the 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire destabilized watersheds and caused soil degradation and vegetation loss. The senators point to 2024 flooding in Las Vegas, which disrupted the city’s annual Fiestas.
The senators are calling for FEMA’s reimbursement formulas to be updated to reflect that infrastructure like bridges being rebuilt after fires may need to be more robust, given the risk of post-fire floods.
They’re also calling for FEMA’s policies to adapt to the reality that some people living in areas at high-risk of catastrophic natural disasters like wildfires or hurricanes are no longer able to acquire private insurance coverage, asking the agency to “meet the needs of those who fall into this widening gap.”