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FACT SHEET: Climate Change Is Making Hurricanes More Destructive, As Trump Is Gutting Our Preparedness And Response Capabilities

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Last updated: 10/31/25

Climate change is intensifying hurricanes and tropical storms, leading to more frequent and severe weather events. Recent storms have demonstrated this increasing intensity. Meanwhile, Trump’s cuts at FEMA and other critical agencies have jeopardized hurricane preparedness and response efforts. 

TOPLINES

• The climate crisis is fueling extreme weather and intensifying hurricanes. As storms become more frequent and severe, Trump gutted disaster preparedness and relief – leaving communities on their own to recover from storms, wildfires, and other natural disasters. 
• Trump’s reckless cuts are making us less safe in the face of hurricanes. Trump slashed our forecasting abilities, meaning the weather alerts people rely on to make life-or-death decisions could be delayed or unreliable. 
• Trump decimated the programs that communities rely on to help rebuild their homes and communities after disaster strikes – leaving families to foot the bill when they’ve already lost everything.

CLIMATE CHANGE IS INTENSIFYING HURRICANES

• Scientists have found time after time that human-caused climate change increases the frequency and intensity of hurricanes. 
• Higher ocean temperatures driven by climate change are fueling more intense hurricanes in the Atlantic. From 1980 to 2023, 177 landfalling Atlantic tropical cyclones rapidly intensified due to warmer ocean temperatures. 
• From 2019 to 2023, climate change caused the maximum wind speeds generated by Atlantic hurricanes to intensify by an average of 18 miles per hour.
• Climate change increased the intensity of 80% of Atlantic hurricanes between 2019 and 2023 and of all 11 hurricanes in 2024.
  • 30 hurricanes reached intensities roughly one category higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale compared to their expected strength in an environment without the influence of climate change. 
• In 2024, climate change increased the maximum wind speeds for every Atlantic hurricane by 9 to 28 miles per hour.
• In June 2024, Hurricane Beryl became the first Category 4 hurricane to form during the month of June. Record temperatures due to human-caused climate change likely contributed to creating the ideal conditions for Hurricane Beryl to develop rapidly. 
• Warmer water temperatures caused by climate change intensified Hurricane Milton in 2024, increasing rainfall by 20-30% and wind speeds by about 10%. 
• In 2025, Hurricanes Humberto, Erin, Gabrielle, and Melissa underwent rapid intensification.
  • Rapid intensification, which is defined by the National Hurricane Center as an increase in the maximum sustained wind speed of a tropical cyclone of at least 35 miles per hour in 24 hours, is becoming more common because of human-caused climate change and is particularly dangerous for coastal communities.
• In October 2025, climate change fueled Hurricane Melissa into becoming a Category 5 storm with some of the fastest winds and strongest intensities ever recorded, with wind speeds of 185 mph.
• The impacts of Hurricane Helene were also exacerbated by climate change.
  • Due to climate change-induced warming, the rolling air mass that made up Helene contained 42% more water vapor than any other observed storm in western North Carolina since 1940. 

TRUMP’S CUTS JEOPARDIZED HURRICANE FORECASTING 

• Trump laid off hundreds of employees from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including hurricane hunters and researchers at the National Severe Storm Laboratory.

• Trump gutted NOAA and the National Weather Service, leaving nearly half of the weather forecast offices critically understaffed and 30 of the 122 (24.5%) offices lacking a meteorologist-in-charge.
• The National Weather Service has lost nearly 600 employees due to cuts from DOGE and the Trump administration.
  • Firings and early retirements left the NWS with open jobs in regions that face high risk from weather and climate disasters.
• Because of the Trump administration’s massive layoffs, NWS eliminated or reduced vital weather balloon launches, which degraded forecasts during storms.
• Trump’s cuts to NOAA undermined critical hurricane forecasts and undermined improvements in our ability to forecast a storm’s track and intensity.

TRUMP’S GUTTING OF FEMA RISKS LIVES

• As of May 2025, FEMA had lost roughly 30% of its full-time staff to layoffs and DOGE buyouts, including some of its most experienced and knowledgeable staff.
• According to an internal agency review, FEMA was “not ready” ahead of hurricane season and was months behind schedule in its preparations. The agency also reduced emergency training for state and local emergency managers just before the start of hurricane season.

• Trump’s appointed FEMA head scrapped the agency’s hurricane plan at the last minute to revert to last year’s plan. 
• Trump warned states to expect “less money” from FEMA for disaster recovery. 
• Trump’s proposed budget sought to cut $646 million from FEMA programs.
• Just a few days after 40 people died in storms across the Midwest, Trump signed an executive order shifting the responsibility for disaster preparations to state and local governments. 
• Trump’s federal funding cuts paused nearly $10 billion in FEMA disaster aid for nonprofits working to rebuild and rehouse after climate disasters. 
• FEMA canceled its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. Since 2020, the program made more than $5 billion available to help local projects reduce the impact of extreme weather disasters. 
• FEMA announced the removal of Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) funding for 2025. The program was expected to provide $600 million in funding to support projects that reduced or eliminated the risk of flood losses.

POOR LEADERSHIP AT DHS AND FEMA HAMPERED DISASTER RESPONSE

• Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is requiring her personal approval on all FEMA expenses exceeding $100,000, causing delays in delivering aid around the country, from St. Louis to Texas, and even North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. 
• Trump’s acting FEMA administrator, David Richardson, said he did not know the U.S. had a hurricane season. 
• A senior FEMA official who worked with Richardson on hurricane planning said Richardson was “not qualified” to do the job. 
• Richardson was unreachable for about 24 hours in the early aftermath of deadly flooding in Texas’ Hill Country, one of the deadliest flash flood events in decades.
  • Two former FEMA officials said Richardson was “not a big fan of cellphones” and that he frequently put his phone in a box when he got home. 

TRUMP’S GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FURTHER THREATENED HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

• The Republicans’ government shutdown is pushing the already understaffed and underfunded agencies responsible for keeping communities safe to the breaking point.  

• President Trump used federal workers as political pawns in shutdown negotiations, threatening mass firings that could make it harder to monitor extreme weather, putting coastal communities at risk. 

• Hurricane hunter missions now fly with just 10-11 crew members and one scientist onboard to oversee radar and data collection, down from 15-18 crew members and one scientist before the government shutdown and Trump’s cuts. 

• Millions of Americans were affected by the expiration of the National Flood Insurance Program due to the government shutdown. Families were unable to secure new policies, and some home loans were suspended. 

• Because of Trump’s cuts and the Republican shutdown, NOAA was understaffed and had to rely on volunteers to track Hurricane Melissa, while hurricane hunters and scientists flew into the storm without pay.