Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem implied Wednesday the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Biden administration was so inept in dealing with the 2023 Lahaina wildfires that 1 out of every 6 survivors had to resort to selling sex for basic human essentials.
"After the wildfires in Maui, residents voiced concerns that every FEMA employee that they spoke with had different answers," Noem said during a meeting of the FEMA Review Council. "None of them had conversations that resulted in getting assistance that was helpful or any clarity in their situations. The situation in Lahaina was so bad that 1 in 6 survivors were forced to trade sexual favors, other favors for just basic supplies."
On Aug. 8, 2023, devastating wildfires ravaged much of the small Maui town of Lahaina, claiming more than 100 lives. The disaster put many residents on a collision course between lingering insurance claims and meeting basic life needs. In citing her statistic, Noem was referencing a report conducted by Tagnawa, a "Filipino feminist disaster response organization" based in Hawaii that polled 70 female Filipino fire survivors.
Yet one of the authors of the report said the HHS was misrepresenting the data. Khara Jabola-Carolus told Politico on Wednesday, "I’m more concerned about just the gross manipulation of using that statistic to do the opposite of what the report calls for," she said. "Like funding FEMA to improve their response for women’s needs."
"This job of remaking this agency is not nearly as simple as it should be," Noem said at the Wednesday meeting. "Because we’re up against decades of gross mismanagement and negligence. The list of FEMA’s failures is staggering. The scale of those failures is matched only by their longevity. FEMA has been disastrous at times, incompetent at times. And not just in the last few years but for decades."
The FEMA’s response time and resource allocation has come under intense scrutiny following the catastrophic flooding in Texas over the weekend that has claimed more than 100 lives. In May, Noem reiterated her stance that FEMA should be eliminated in favor of giving more authority to states. The acting director of FEMA, David Richardson, said he plans to "return primacy to the state" which would entail putting far more financial burden on disaster inflicted states.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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