‘All hands on deck:’ From Hawaii to Texas, FEMA employees pitch in on Helene response

The federal government has thousands of employees from throughout the country deployed to the Southeast in response to Hurricane Helene, but the full extent of its efforts extend beyond just those personnel. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has more than 1,500 employees deployed to the region and is coordinating a response that includes more than 5,000 deployed federal workers. 

It had shipped more than 9 million meals, 11 million gallons of water, 150 generators and 260,000 tarps. It has provided survivors with more than $20 million in immediate aid. 

Steve Reaves, a long-time FEMA employee based in Fort Worth, Texas, said the deployed agency staff represent only the tip of the iceberg in the agency’s response. 

“The whole workforce is contributing right now,” said Reaves. “It’s all hands on deck.”

Reaves, who represents his colleagues as president of the American Federation of Government Employees FEMA council, said his colleagues in Fort Worth have been working 14-16 hour shifts to get supplies and necessities out the door. FEMA is relocating employees not just to storm-affected regions but also to supplement efforts like those in Fort Worth; Reaves’ team just received some personnel from Hawaii to help relieve overworked staff. 

The shelves there are currently empty as everything has shipped out, but restocking efforts are soon to begin.  

“Every warehouse in FEMA looks real similar,” Reaves said. 

Despite the long and difficult hours, Reaves said he and his colleagues are mission-driven to continue pushing forward. 

“This is the beauty of working with these people every day,” he said. “They absolutely love helping people.” 

Many of FEMA’s reservists—and some of the generator mechanics that Reaves works with—are deployed in Helene response, where they are encountering unique challenges. The mountainous terrain is making it difficult for search and rescue teams to get to where they need to go and the area is ripe with dirt roads that are taxing to navigate even in good conditions. 

“They love the job,” Reaves said. “That’s what is pushing them through these long hours.” 

The emergency response agency has long struggled with insufficient staffing which has been exacerbated by the ever-growing demands of a more intense and frequent disaster season. It had made headway in its recruiting efforts, however, and before Helene hit Reaves thought the workforce was in “an OK state.”

Still, he said, Helene’s widespread damage in areas that never expected to feel the consequences of such a disaster demonstrates that Congress has a long way to go to plus up the agency to its modern needs. Already, Reaves said, his team is preparing for storms currently over the ocean that forecasters have warned could reach U.S. soil as hurricanes. 

In the meantime, FEMA is fighting battles on multiple fronts. As it struggles to get the right provisions where they are needed in the Southeast, it is also countering incorrect information that has pervaded some communities. The agency has created a guide to combat false narratives that have taken shape online and in conservative circles, launching a “rumor response” page on its website. 

FEMA clarified, for example, that it has sufficient funds to meet immediate response and assistance needs. The Biden administration has made clear that it will require Congress to replenish the Disaster Relief Fund in the coming weeks or months, but FEMA is facing no cash shortage in the immediate term. The agency also noted it is not accepting cash donations directly or commandeering donated goods, noting only non-governmental volunteer organizations take and handle such contributions. 

Federal staff do not conduct vehicle stops or handle road closures, FEMA said, and “government employees will never solicit money” as part of disaster response.   

FEMA also sought to knock down what has become a talking point from former President Trump and others, namely that the agency is running out of money because it coordinated efforts to house an influx of migrants arriving at the Southwest border. Congress directed money from Customs and Border Protection for those efforts, which is run by a FEMA program unrelated to disaster relief. 

At the peak of FEMA’s deployments to the Southwest, just 250 agency personnel were working at the border. As of March of this year, that number was down to 50 employees and the FEMA administrator has noted most of those deployments are reimbursed by other agencies.

FEMA also noted that a rumor spread by Fox News and others that the agency is only offering $750 to disaster-impacted residents is not true. That amount is provided quickly to individuals to help pay for immediate needs, but they remain eligible for temporary housing and significantly more money for home repair and other costs.