Hi, this is Ira Flato. You're listening to Science Friday.

Do we really need FEMA?

There really is no evidence there that states are going to be capable in their current form of managing major disasters, catastrophic events on their own.

The devastation we've been seeing over the past week

from the flash floods in Texas, New Mexico, and North Carolina

is a stark reminder of how close and how sudden disasters can be for any of us or for those we love.

Since it was founded in April of 1979, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency,

has played a key role in preparing for and helping respond to disasters around the country,

providing funds and coordination to help and relief efforts.

President Trump has said that he wants to reduce FEMA's role, even phase FEMA out entirely.

We want to wean off of FEMA and we want to bring it down to the state level.

A little bit like education, we're moving it back to the states.

Joining me now to talk about how disasters are currently handled, what emergency response

might look like without FEMA is Dr. Samantha Montana. She's an associate professor of emergency

management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Massachusetts, author of both the book,

Disasterology, and a newsletter of the same name.

Welcome to Science Friday.

Thanks for having me.

You're welcome.

Let's get into this question.

How FEMA is supposed to respond to a disaster like the one in Texas?

So FEMA becomes involved ahead of time as they're watching forecasts all across the country,

...