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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — President Donald Trump said he plans to dismantle FEMA after the 2025 hurricane season, shifting natural disaster recovery responsibilities to the states.
The president also said the federal government will distribute less aid, and it will come directly from his office.
“We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it down from the state level,” he said.
President Trump explained that people can expect that transition after hurricane season.
In the meantime, he said, there will be cuts.
“We’re going to give out less money,” the president said. “We’re going to give it out directly.”
“As an example, I just gave out $71 million to a certain state,” he continued. “They were looking to do $120 million.”
“They were very happy with the $71 million,” President Trump continued.
Cody McGehe lives in Shore Acres.
He, like many others in his St. Petersburg community, had his home flood this past hurricane season.
He got money from FEMA to help rebuild.
But with uncertainty surrounding how this transition back to the states would look, McGehe worries he may be forced to foot the bill.
“It’s probably going to come in some form of tax, it always does, right?” he said. “I don’t know if property insurance will go up or homeowners’ insurance will just increase to offset that, but certainly it will come back to us.”
“It always does,” he continued. “There’s no way it doesn’t.”
Shore Acres Civic Association President Kevin Batdorf sent the following statement to 8 On Your Side:
“I want to hear more about the changes. Does this also eliminate the ridiculous FEMA regulations that local municipalities are using as a scapegoat for mismanaging the permit and rebuild process? Giving states the ability to provide emergency services (and the funding source that goes with it) will enable services to be provided much quicker. It should also cut red tape. The “Elevate Florida” program is a prime example of how states can cut a 3-4 year process into 18 months, and eventually a year. I don’t believe NFIP will be affected as that is a separate branch of FEMA. However, now is the time to require an “Natural Disaster” rider to property insurance policies nationwide.”
Kevin Batdorf, Shore Acres Civic Association
So what does Gov. Ron DeSantis think about federal money coming directly to the states?
“If you just calculated, typical hurricane, how much? And you gave us 80 cents on the dollar on that but cut out the bureaucracy, I bet that money would actually go further,” he said.
His message to President Trump?
“Send us the money,” he said. “Send us the money and let us administer it.”
