Emergency managers describe staffing gaps and expanding workloads in ProPublica report

Emergency managers’ resource concerns

More than 40 current and former emergency managers across 11 US states say they lack the resources needed to protect communities before disasters occur, according to reporting published by ProPublica.

The March 2, 2026 article by Cassandra Garibay includes responses from more than 40 current and former emergency managers.

Many described agencies carrying an expanding range of duties alongside disaster preparation and response.

One emergency management director in Saluda County, South Carolina described a team of six that also covers county IT and a spay and neuter programme.

An emergency manager in San Bernardino County, California described responding to a lithium battery fire and, at a previous agency, supporting responses linked to busloads of immigrants arriving from other states.

Emergency managers described staffing as the most pressing constraint.

One North Carolina emergency management director said an internal study from about three years ago recommended more than 20 staffers, with the agency still at 10.

ProPublica cited Argonne National Laboratory’s July 2025 emergency management survey, saying more than half of the 1,689 responding local emergency management agencies have one or no permanent full-time employees.

Samantha Montano, an emergency management associate professor and researcher at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, said: “To expect somebody to understand how to mitigate cyber risks and also recover from a tornado, I mean, these are different skill sets,” Montano said.

“So to think that one person is going to be capable of doing all of those things, especially working part time or as a volunteer, is ludicrous.”

Emergency managers and uncertain funding

ProPublica wrote that emergency managers linked local capability to funding decisions and to federal grant reliability.

Wike Graham, the emergency management director for the Charlotte-Mecklenberg area of North Carolina, said: “Did you properly fund emergency management staff?

“And did you provide them with the resources that they need?

“Did you make emergency management a priority for your community?”

Kelly McKinney, the vice president of emergency management at NYU Langone Health and a former deputy commissioner at the New York City Emergency Management office, said states have become “overly dependent” on funding administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“This crisis-management system in the United States is itself in crisis,” McKinney said.

ProPublica reported that the Trump administration cut federal grants in April 2025 that pay for local disaster-preparedness projects, with a judge later halting efforts to shutter the grant programme.

It also reported that federal officials delayed grants in May 2025 that help fund local and state emergency managers’ salaries.

ProPublica said the FEMA Review Council created by President Donald Trump was expected to vote in December on a report on the agency’s future, with the meeting later canceled after a draft was leaked to CNN.

The work of the review council has been extended until late March, according to ProPublica.

ProPublica reported that several emergency managers said they would welcome change at FEMA, with concerns raised about grant programmes being shuttered or reimbursement for large-scale disaster responses being reduced without alternative funding in place.

One North Carolina emergency manager said that without federal emergency management performance grants, “we are looking at the loss of preparedness and response capabilities.”

Another called the grant “vital” to daily operations.

FEMA did not respond to requests for comment, ProPublica reported.

In St. Louis, Missouri, ProPublica reported that the city was upgrading its outdoor warning system when a tornado in May 2025 killed four people and injured dozens more.

ProPublica reported that sirens were not activated during the tornado and said an external investigation commissioned by the city linked the outcome in part to a miscommunication between emergency management commissioner Sarah Russell and a fire alarm dispatcher.

Russell told ProPublica that the fire department was responsible for sounding the sirens.

Russell was terminated in August 2025, in part due to their management of the tornado response, according to their termination letter, ProPublica reported.

“There’s always things that you would do different with hindsight,” Russell said.

“But there’s only so much you can do with so little resources and support.”

St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer told ProPublica that she was aware of requests for additional funding and said the city later fully automated the tornado sirens.

A city spokesperson told ProPublica that the new emergency management commissioner has “implemented several improvements” to the emergency operations plan.

“Recognizing that budget restraints are unfortunately the reality across many aspects of government,” Spencer said via email, “I’m incredibly proud of the improvements this team has been able to implement with almost no additional funding.”

Claire Connolly Knox, who directs the University of Central Florida’s master’s program for emergency and crisis management, said: “we don’t know the true cost” of different phases of emergency management.

“When you start breaking that down, you start seeing that this isn’t a quick fix.”