Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has done a “good job” responding to deadly tornadoes last week that killed 19 people and left hundreds without homes.
But Beshear warned that cuts to FEMA and the Trump administration’s move to shift disaster recovery away from the federal government could cripple states’ ability to respond to damaging storms and other natural disasters.
“We haven’t been hit by a shortage,” Beshear said in an interview with Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd when asked if he had seen a shortage of federal disaster workers. “Now, I am very worried about it in the future. I believe in FEMA. Yes, FEMA can improve in a lot of ways, but FEMA has improved significantly, especially since our floods in 2022 when our people just weren’t treated right to what we’re seeing this year, where there are many fewer complaints, more money getting out there to help our people, and so the irony in this is that President Trump’s FEMA is doing a good job, yet it looks like he wants to cut a part of government that could be a big credit to him.”
4 questions with Gov. Andy Beshear
How are people getting by after these storms?
“It has been a rough week. We are already out there though, making sure we’re cleaning up the debris. We’ve got a travel trailer program so that people don’t have to worry about where they’re going to stay, not just tomorrow night, but next week and next month. Sadly, we’ve been hit by a lot of these, which means we’ve learned a lot about how to rebuild, and we’re going to take every lesson we learned to try to help the hundreds of Kentuckians that right now not only don’t have a place to live but have lost virtually everything that was inside their home.”
How long will it take to get people into permanent housing?
“Based on our experience from the worst tornado event in our history in 2021, the worst flooding event in 2022. And another 12 federally declared natural disasters in the last five and half years. A disaster of this size takes years. What it means is that we can get people stable, though, over the next months, but rebuilding their homes is just going to take some time. So it’s going to be a journey for these families. My promise is we are going to make sure we rebuild every house, every business, and every life.”
What response are you getting from the federal government right now?
“Well, we are awaiting a response to our request for individual assistance. President Trump has signed off on individual assistance for two other natural disasters that have hit us this year. And listen, I disagree with this president on a whole lot of things, but his FEMA operation in Kentucky for our February flooding and our April flooding has done a good job.”
Are states prepared to handle disasters?
“It’s just not feasible. The challenges that FEMA faces aren’t all FEMA’s fault. Congress has put so many requirements on FEMA when they provide individual assistance to families or public assistance to counties and cities that you’ve got to check so many boxes, it takes a lot of people and a lot of resources. Right now, FEMA has a group that does that for all 50 states. If we were simply to receive a block grant but would still have to comply with all those rules and regulations, so much of that money that would be sent to us to help people would be spent with the overhead that all 50 states would then be doing on their own, which is grossly insufficient and would mean less money to help our people.”
What kind of toll are these disasters taking on your community?
“It’s hard. I mean, the last 5 1/2 years started with the pandemic, then we got hit, with those tornadoes you’re talking about that ended up killing 81 people and almost wiped out my dad’s hometown entirely. Then we got hit by flooding that killed 45 people and just decimated communities, and then we’ve gotten hit time after time after time.
“And what I’ll say, while the natural disasters we’ve been hit with are the worst of the worst, afterward, you see the best of the best. I’ve seen hundreds of people standing in front of what used to be their home, saying, ‘Where do I start?’ And 10 other people show up and say, ‘How about you start with us?’ I still believe that people are good because I see it every single time one of these happens, and it certainly gives me the inspiration to get in there with the perspiration to rebuild and, and we’re doing it in real special ways. You look at Eastern Kentucky that got hit by that record flooding, and we’re moving people out of the floodplain, and we are building high ground communities on what used to be coal mines. So there is a path forward and we’re going to find it.”
This interview was edited for clarity.
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Thomas Danielian produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Micaela Rodriguez. Michael Scotto adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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