How Project 2025 Could Impact Hurricane Victims

 

Project 2025 could significantly affect natural disaster response and the victims impacted by hurricanes during a potential second term of former President Donald Trump.

This 900-page document, created by The Heritage Foundation, outlines proposed changes to key federal agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Weather Service (NWS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Although the project is seen as a roadmap for a future Republican administration, Trump has distanced himself from it, criticizing some policies as "ridiculous and abysmal."

Following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, which struck Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina, experts analyzed how Project 2025 might reshape disaster relief services. John Favreau, co-host of the *Pod Save America* podcast, stated that the proposal calls for privatizing significant parts of the NWS, eliminating small business disaster loans, and raising the threshold for disaster declarations. Fellow host Tommy Vietor added, "Federal resources are essential for disaster response and rebuilding efforts in hard-hit areas like Asheville."

Democratic Representative Jared Moscowitz, a former Florida emergency management director under Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, echoed concerns during a House Oversight meeting on September 19, stating, "Project 2025 aims to dismantle NOAA and the NWS—the very agencies responsible for forecasting severe weather and preparing communities for hurricanes."

Brian Tyler Cohen, a liberal commentator, also warned of the proposed elimination of NOAA and the NWS in an Instagram post. According to the Poynter Institute, four pages of the Project 2025 document address NOAA and the NWS, labeling NOAA as a key player in "the climate change alarm industry" and suggesting the agency be "downsized."

NOAA, established in 1970, integrates the work of earlier organizations dating back to President Thomas Jefferson’s 1807 Survey of the Coast. It focuses on weather, oceans, and atmospheric research, with the NWS operating within it. Project 2025 does not call for the elimination of the NWS but suggests commercializing its forecasting services and shifting its focus to data gathering.

The document also proposes significant changes to FEMA. According to *Scientific American*, the plan includes ending FEMA's flood insurance program in favor of private insurers and eliminating post-9/11 security preparedness grants to states. Both changes could reduce disaster aid and increase insurance costs for affected communities.