host: samantha montano, do you want to take that? guest: no, fema is not spending any funding that is not for disaster survivors. any migrant sheltering related issues. the confusion here is that congress had asked fema to administer a program for migrants sheltering which included some funding. fema administered that program as they were asked to do by congress. that funding was separate. that funding was never meant for disaster survivors and was not part of the disaster relief fund which is where it fema draws the relief funding from when there has been a presidential disaster declaration. host: teresa and dandridge, tennessee. caller: good morning. i am glad you are talking about the money allocated to the migrants. i am not being disrespectful. and i have a politico advertisement, they get millions from fema from asylum-seekers and that was in 2023. there was an article, the department of home and security which approved fema announced that $333 million allocation that went to communities along the southern border. new york rece

samantha montano, her point?st: there are a number of really great nonprofits that are going to be out in these communities helping and certainly neighbors are going to be helping neighbors. we see that in every disaster in every disaster and those are incredible resources. we would not be able to rebuild communities without the work that people do to help family, friends and neighbors and without the works of art disaster nonprofits do. at the same time, i think it is important to understand the limitations of the nonprofit sector. in the way the recovery system was designed, the nonprofit sector is supposed to fill the gap between what people can afford on their own and what government provides in recovery. as we discussed, government is not providing the whole thing. we know many individuals do not have the money to recover from their own and don't cap insurance and savings accounts. so that leaves a lot to the nonprofit sector. the amount of needs across the country has grown exponentially since around 2015,

host: samantha montano, do you want to take that? guest: no, fema is not spending any funding that is not for disaster survivors. any migrant sheltering related issues. the confusion here is that congress had asked fema to administer a program for migrants sheltering which included some funding. fema administered that program as they were asked to do by congress. that funding was separate. that funding was never meant for disaster survivors and was not part of the disaster relief fund which is where it fema draws the relief funding from when there has been a presidential disaster declaration. host: teresa and dandridge, tennessee. caller: good morning. i am glad you are talking about the money allocated to the migrants. i am not being disrespectful. and i have a politico advertisement, they get millions from fema from asylum-seekers and that was in 2023. there was an article, the department of home and security which approved fema announced that $333 million allocation that went to communities along the southern border. new york rece

joining us this morning is samantha montano, the author of the book "disasterology: dispatches from the frontlines of the climate crisis." as florida wakes up this morning to the devastation of hurricane milton, what happens first on the ground with officials, first responders, those on the front lines as you work? guest: the first priority is always life-saving measures. that will be everything from making sure that hospitals and other critical facilities have what they need to start their operations doing search and rescue, checking on folks who were unable to evacuate, checking in at shelters and making sure they have the resources they need and is starting the process of assessing damage, getting basic supplies like food and water out to folks who need it. host: who does that work? guest: a whole bunch of people, all different agencies, organizations are going to be involved from a local first responders to other first responders who have come from outside of the state of florida. you'll have fema officials involved in that and state and local emergency management and lot -- local n

you write the massachusetts maritime academy emergency management professor samantha montano, declareda post on twitter that helene was quote, twitter's last disaster and quote, talk to us a little bit more about how we're seeing this play out in this instance and what we could see in the future so we're seeing this horrible combination. >> i think of three factors. one is the technology, as i described, her, twitter because of the new algorithms under elon musk, the pushing of so right-wing conspiracy theories that twitter itself as unhelpful in a disaster that not, that used to not be the case. it used to be the sort of go-to for a lot of communities, a lot of emergency managers to hear what's happening. you add onto that technology challenge, ai the misinformation the pictures that aren't real people putting stuff up, saying help my family, they're hurt and seeking fundraising. so you have the technology problem. you then have the infrastructure problem, which is communications are down local reporters to the extent that there are any are are it's impacted as the people that they're

host: we are talking with samantha montano, who can take your questions and comments about the role ofst responders in disaster preparedness and response. if you live in the eastern and central part of the country dial in at (202) 748-8001, mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8000, and if you have been impacted by a hurricane, we want to know your story or dial in at (202) 748-8002. you can join us in a text with your first name and city and state at (202) 748-8003. let's begin with the role of fema. what is it that they do when it comes to natural disasters? guest: so fema is in charge of coordinating the federal efforts to emergency management across mitigation prepared and -- preparedness response and recovery. fema sets the direction for the rest of the country and what the approach to emergency management is going to be. they are responsible for being the backup for local and state governments when it is needed. they are also responsible for coordinating the federal elements of the response. it is not only fema that is responding within the federal government. most federal agencies at