As hurricane season quickly approaches, an internal report compiled by the Federal Emergency Management Agency claims the agency is "not ready" to adequately handle upcoming disasters.
CNN Correspondent Gabe Cohen called it "really startling stuff" that there's a "general uncertainty among top officials and all the way down to rank and file at FEMA about what the agency's mission is going to be once hurricane season starts, what storms they are going to deploy to, how much money is going to get out the door — they really don't know," Cohen said.
Cohen said "plummeting morale" also plays a factor in how well a disaster response progresses.
"Remember, the Trump administration has been attacking FEMA for months now and vowing to eliminate the agency altogether," Cohen said, adding that roughly 30% of permanent FEMA staff have left the agency due to DOGE cuts.
"But what's critical is we are talking about some of the most senior and experienced leaders who have left, who really fill critical roles when storm season gets underway," he said.
Last week, Department of Homeland Security secretary Krisi Noem replaced acting FEMA head Cameron Hamilton after he told a congressional hearing "he did not support eliminating the agency." Hamilton was replaced by David Richardson, a combat veteran who previously served with DHS's office for countering weapons of mass destruction.
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One FEMA official told Cohen, "What Americans will see is a federal government that is either absent completely or, if present, sputtering to deliver response and recovery resources."
Another official told Cohen, "I can't think of a more adverse way to be heading into hurricane season. We are all on edge and we are not seeing hope. We're going in with no confidence that when decisions have to be made in limited time, that impacts saving lives, that those decisions will have support."
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) called the report a "blistering, scalding indictment of the Trump administration and their dismantling of FEMA."
"But on top of that, NOAA, NASA, the Weather Service — all of the federal agencies that would be a part of ensuring that communities have an ability to respond to huge storms," Markey said. "What Trump is doing is dismantling our capacity to be able to respond to those tragedies."
Watch the clip below via CNN or click here.