Michael Loewinger

Billions meant for survivors of storms, wildfires, and earthquakes were withheld or denied.

Lives hung in the balance.

The death toll in Texas, the flooding tragedy, it's up to 104 dead across six counties.

That number includes nearly 30 children.

After deadly floodwaters inundated Camp Mystic and other parts of Central Texas, the agency's support lines left thousands of calls unanswered.

FEMA's top leader at the time couldn't be reached for 24 hours.

In one telling, the dysfunctional response was Doge's doing.

It's true, at the start of 2025, no agency was safe from Elon Musk's chainsaw.

But that's only part of the story.

For many years, fomenting under the surface was a deep-seated distrust of FEMA, which broke through during Hurricane Helene just months before the 2024 presidential election.

Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants.

I knew from my years reporting on far-right militias that these groups often showed up after natural disasters to recruit, fundraise, and spit-shine their public image.

But I never understood why they hated FEMA so much.

So I started digging into right-wing media archives and found that the anti-FEMA lore went back decades.

The liberals are...

Alex Jones has made multiple films claiming to have discovered secret prisons operated by FEMA.

And right-wing pundit Glenn Beck entertained this stuff when he was still on Fox.

Over time, these paranoias seeped into the waters of mainstream culture.

Are you familiar with what the Federal Emergency Management Agency's real power is?

It was a major plot point in the X-Files.