Acting head of FEMA said he wasn’t aware U.S. has a hurricane season, sources say

Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were confused and dispirited on Monday after the acting head of the agency said during a daily briefing that he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to three sources familiar with the meeting.

The remark was made by David Richardson at the conclusion of an 8:30 a.m. daily operational briefing typically attended by hundreds of FEMA staffers and interagency partners. Reuters was first to report the comment.

Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer, has led FEMA since early May. 

It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally or as a joke, but current and former employees who spoke with CBS News said the comment flustered many who genuinely believe Richardson was truly surprised to learn that hurricane season had started. 

Others suggested that any joke made by the leader about the upcoming season was delivered in poor taste, offending agency staff already suffering from low morale amid a flurry of resignations, firings, leadership overhauls and polygraph tests distributed to staffers. 

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson later suggested the comment wasn’t serious.

“Despite meanspirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this Hurricane Season. FEMA is laser focused on disaster response, and protecting the American people,” the spokesperson said.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1 and lasts through November.

NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, recently predicted it will be an above-average hurricane season that could bring 13 to 19 named storms, with six to 10 becoming hurricanes and three to five strengthening into major hurricanes.