Disaster Assistance High-Risk Series

The GAO highlights growing concerns over federal workforce readiness in the face of increasingly frequent and severe disasters. Hurricanes Helene and Milton, along with the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, required billions in assistance and record deployments of federal staff. Yet FEMA and partner agencies struggled with workforce shortages, training gaps, and the strain of concurrent crises. Recent federal workforce reductions risk deepening these challenges, leaving disaster response capacity stretched thin at a critical time.