Editor, Gazette-Journal:

A letter in last week’s Gazette-Journal entitled “FEMA gone?” expressed surprise at the current administration’s efforts to shift responsibility for disaster relief from the federal government to state and local governments. This should come as no surprise to anyone, as the Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership, which provides the guiding principles of the current administration, clearly identified and published this as a goal prior to the 2024 presidential election.

Specifically, the document recommended “privatizing … the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program, (and) reforming FEMA emergency spending to shift the majority of preparedness and response costs to states and localities instead of the federal government” (page 135), and stated that “The NFIP should be wound down and replaced with private insurance starting with the least risky areas currently identified by the program.” (page 154)

Insurance works on a shared risk basis. Floods and other weather disasters can happen anywhere, so homeowners everywhere need to carry insurance against these risks. Those in lower risk areas have substantially fewer claims, but the premiums they pay help to moderate the premiums of homeowners in higher risk areas. If the federal program shifts to the state or local level, our region will be comprised entirely of high-risk areas. Our insurance rates will skyrocket, if the state and/or counties are able to provide coverage at all, and many homeowners will likely be forced to go without insurance.

If anything is surprising, it is that over two thirds of the voters in our region (68.5 percent in Gloucester County and 69.1 percent in Mathews County) were apparently fine with this plan, and voted for Donald Trump despite this proposed local impact. If and when this administration is successful in eliminating FEMA, be sure to thank those who voted for this.

Charles Crook
Gwynn, Va.