The new FEMA director had no idea that America has a hurricane season

June 1st marks the start of America’s hurricane season. Last year, the mid-Atlantic and Southeast were heavily battered by catastrophic floods from multiple hurricanes and hurricane remnants. There are North Carolina communities still trying to recover. Incidentally, North Carolina residents voted for Donald Trump. Southern states are most likely to be affected by hurricanes, and they ALL voted for Trump (except for Virginia, but we have a MAGA loser as governor). Well, good news: Southerners are going to get exactly what they voted for this hurricane season. Donald Trump’s FEMA director David Richardson doesn’t even know/believe that the United States has a “hurricane season.” Hurricane season is fake news in MAGAland.

Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

The remark was made during a briefing by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in some other context.

The U.S. hurricane season officially began on Sunday and lasts through November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast last week that this year’s season is expected to bring as many as 10 hurricanes.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s parent agency, said the comment was a joke and that FEMA is prepared for hurricane season.

The spokesperson said under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Richardson “FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens.”

Richardson said during the briefing that there would be no changes to the agency’s disaster response plans despite having told staff to expect a new plan in May, the sources told Reuters. Richardson’s comments come amid widespread concern that the departures of a raft of top FEMA officials, staff cuts and reductions in hurricane preparations will leave the agency ill-prepared for a storm season forecast to be above normal.

[From Reuters]

“A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s parent agency, said the comment was a joke.” The FEMA Director thought it would be a funny joke to say “do hurricanes even happen in the US?” The more telling comment is from Noem though – what she’s clearly saying is that no state, especially not the states who voted for Trump, should expect any kind of federal assistance when a hurricane destroys their community. The states are on their own.

Trump’s new appointee for Director of FEMA David Richardson reportedly told staff he had no idea that hurricane seasons existed, leaving people baffled and confused. pic.twitter.com/Y7fJxaLgMR

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) June 2, 2025

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.