Top FEMA official Bob Fenton says "we're ready for hurricane season"

Exclusive Politics Top FEMA official Bob Fenton says "we're ready for hurricane season" By Nicole Sganga Nicole Sganga Homeland Security and Justice Correspondent Nicole Sganga is CBS News' homeland security and justice correspondent. She is based in Washington, D.C., and reports for all shows and platforms. Read Full Bio Nicole Sganga May 27, 2026 / 6:14 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — Inside FEMA Headquarters' National Response Coordination Center, as a hypothetical Category 2 hurricane bore down near Creole, Louisiana, maps of the storm glowed on television screens. Staff announcements rang out on a PA system. Emergency managers leaned over laptops and traded updates in sidebars. FEMA staff, the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, the Department of Interior, the National Guard, the Coast Guard and state and local coordinators sat in rows — a whole disaster response ecosystem rehearsing days before the 2026 hurricane season begins on June 1.But the exercise, dubbed "Silent Echo," unfolded at a moment when FEMA itself is being tested.The agency, which is emerging from a bruising government shutdown while dealing with wildfires and the FIFA World Cup, now also faces a Trump-appointed review council's proposal to redesign the federal government's role in disaster response.Bob Fenton, FEMA's acting administrator, stands in the middle of it all.Is FEMA ready for hurricane season?"I'm here," Fenton said when asked about fears that FEMA has been hollowed out. "And I have over three decades of experience."Fenton is not FEMA's last man standing, but the career emergency manager and longtime Region 9 administrator is the only FEMA regional director to remain in place through the Biden administration and the second Trump administration. Over the years, he has coordinated DHS Operations Allies Welcome, helped lead FEMA's COVID-19 response and worked on disaster recovery on every scale. He recently returned from ongoing recovery...