Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor said Sunday that the transfer of $155 million in FEMA funds to the Department of Homeland Security would not affect preparedness for Hurricane Dorian.
“We have plenty of money and resources to deal with … disaster recoveries,” Gaynor told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace. “That $155 million is low risk and is not affecting our preparedness whatsoever.”
{mosads}The Trump administration announced last week it would redirect the money from FEMA’s disaster relief fund to border operations. The Obama administration made a similar transfer in 2014 amid a surge of migrants crossing the border.
Congressional Democrats blasted the latest move, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying “Taking these critical funds from disaster preparedness and recovery efforts threatens lives and weakens the government’s ability to help Americans in the wake of natural disasters,” according to NPR.
“Congress appropriated these funds to meet the American people’s priorities and I strongly oppose this effort to undermine our constitutional authority,” Schumer added.
Gaynor on Sunday also addressed FEMA preparations for Dorian, which was upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane earlier Sunday morning.
“We’re well prepared, we’ve been at this for five or six days,” Gaynor told Wallace. “We have food, water, generators, staff, helicopters from Florida all the way to North Carolina.”
Gaynor also warned that despite shifting predictions as to how the storm would affect the East Coast, “don’t dismiss this storm- take the time now to prepare you and your family.”
“We’ve been dealing with uncertainty pretty much the entire time,” he added.