Reuters reports Federal Emergency Management Agency staff were stumped on Monday when the head of the U.S. disaster relief agency admitted during a briefing that he had not been aware of an annual “hurricane season” in the U.S.
The information, which Reuters claims is coming from four sources who witnessed the admission, drew immediate scorn from the internet.
“The extremely divorced and unqualified vetbro running FEMA ‘said during a briefing that he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season,’" howled MSNBC Columnist Brandon Friedman. (A “VetBro” is a dismissive stereotype describing “overbearing, aggressive veterans who interpret everything through their veteran identity and who express themselves with conspicuous displays of masculinity and patriotism.”)
READ MORE: 'We are going to put you under arrest': MAGA leader gives ultimatum to pro-Trump senator
Reuters claims the remark was made by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, or as a joke, but much of the internet feared it was no joke.
“I am really being very serious when I say that this is worse than Brown,” posted Emergency Management student and author Dr. Samantha Montano, referring to former FEMA leader Michael Brown after FEMA’s disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick echoed that sentiment, opining that Americans would soon be "WISHING Michael Brown was back in charge of FEMA."
“May this cure many of us of unwarranted imposter syndrome,” said National Endowment for the Humanities postdoctoral Fellow Sam Wesner.
“We're off to a great start, everybody!” announced comedy writer Hayden Black in a Bluesky post.
READ MORE: Outrage grows over a single paragraph buried deep in Republicans' 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Muhlenberg College Public Health Assistant Professor Kathleen Bachynski pointed out on Bluesky that “[the Trump administration is] defunding NOAA, too …”
The U.S. hurricane season is an established seasonal unit of measurement that officially began this past weekend and lasts throughout the month of November.
See the original Reuters article at this link.