The possible elimination or reorganization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could leave disaster recovery efforts in the hands of private organizations, a consumer advocate told NAIC, the association of state insurance regulators, at its spring meeting in Indianapolis on March 25.
"I would encourage all the states, since we are in a little bit of flux with knowing where funds are going to come from, to strengthen your relationships with your volunteer organizations," said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders (UP). "The Red Cross and other organizations may become more and more important. I would really recommend, if you haven't already, that you start building those relationships now."
No FEMA staff or officials were in attendance, according to Oklahoma insurance commissioner Glen Mulready, who chairs NAIC's FEMA Working Group. In previous years, FEMA staff regularly attended NAIC meetings and held meetings directly with NAIC officials. Mulready said FEMA's next planned meeting with NAIC had been canceled because of "FEMA's inability to travel." Mulready explained that was why "FEMA is not here as well."
Digital Insurance contacted FEMA by email, asking about staff ability to attend NAIC events and meet with NAIC officials, but received no response.
NAIC is also tracking the effects of federal cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to Missouri insurance commissioner Angela Nelson, who chairs NAIC's Catastrophe Insurance Working Group. The only place to find a lot of information that had been on NOAA's website is now on the
At the NAIC meeting session, for NAIC's FEMA and catastrophe insurance groups, a Washington state regulatory staff member asked to get any updates available about NOAA.
"In our state, we lost a tremendous amount of NOAA staff last month, and I was just hoping with our federal reports, going forward, we could get some NOAA updates as well," said David Forte, senior policy advisor, property & casualty, in the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. "We are concerned for of course, the hurricanes, hail storms and atmospheric rivers and weather predictions, but also wildfire. We use their satellites at times to look for ignitions, track smoke and other things. So we're concerned about NOAA's status."
