March 18, 2026 (Falls Church, Va.) – The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), representing over 6,000 emergency management professionals nationwide, urges the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to pass a full-year budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The current funding lapse threatens the stability of our nation’s emergency management system, which is being pushed to its breaking point.

While public discourse often focuses on the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), federal funding is not merely a “rainy day fund” for post-disaster recovery; it provides essential daily support for our agencies.

Impact on Readiness and Operations

The ongoing budget stalemate is now actively impairing the readiness of state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) agencies:

• Training and Certification: The FEMA Independent Study (IS) website, a key resource for professional development for thousands of responders, is currently offline or unmanaged. This platform provides the essential National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) training required by federal mandate for all emergency personnel. The outage prevents new staff and volunteers from obtaining the basic certifications needed to deploy to active scenes and hinders experienced responders from maintaining the advanced skills required for complex incident management. Additionally, the closure of the National Disaster and Emergency Management University (NDEMU) has removed access to critical training for emergency management and emergency management adjacent personnel. This has significant implications for our nation’s preparedness capacity

• Grant Funding: Programs like the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) are the primary sources of salary and equipment support for many local offices. Without an enacted budget, these funds are frozen, forcing local jurisdictions to cover the full financial burden, which can result in staff furloughs or equipment loss.

• Rural Vulnerability: Small and rural communities with limited tax bases are most severely affected, because they cannot sustain emergency operations without federal assistance. A delay in grants could mean the difference between having a functional Emergency Operations Center and having none at all.

• Critical Decision Tools: The shutdown threatens the National Hurricane Program, especially the Hurrevac support tool. With the contract expiring on March 27, the budget impasse makes renewal unlikely, risking the system going offline. This would deprive emergency managers of vital storm surge visualizations (SLOSH), exercise modules, and transportation modeling just as hurricane season approaches.

Emergency management is a non-partisan profession committed to safeguarding everyone in our community. We adhere to the principle of “all-hazards” readiness, but maintaining this readiness becomes impossible when the primary federal partner is incapacitated by a budget lapse.

“Our members serve on the front lines of every crisis, from wildfires and cyberattacks to hurricane,” stated IAEM-USA President Josh Morton, CEM. “We cannot wait for the next disaster to realize that our preparedness infrastructure has been hollowed out by budget delays. Stability in Washington is essential for safety in our communities.”

IAEM encourages Congress to act promptly to ensure the Department of Homeland Security has the funding and operational capacity needed to support the nation’s overall readiness and resilience.

Contact: Dawn Shiley
IAEM Communications Manager
703-538-3542

https://www.iaem.org/News/Press-Releases-News

• The official use of drones at large-scale events

• The threats and hazards posed by unauthorized unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)

• Strategies for tracking and interdicting unauthorized drones

• Jurisdictional differences in UAS policies and operations

This webinar is designed to support local, county, and state emergency managers in preparing for, responding to, recovering from, and mitigating the impacts of UAS—whether authorized or not.

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WASHINGTON – Today, Secretary Noem announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) returned nearly $3.5 billion of taxpayer dollars back into American communities, empowering state and local leaders to better prepare for emergencies like fires, floods, tornadoes, cyber incidents, and terrorist attacks.

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Were you unable to attend the 2025 Vermont Emergency Preparedness Conference? Did you attend, but miss some of the presentations? Videos of recorded sessions and PDFs of in-person sessions are now available on our conference webpage!

Published Conference Content

The Psychological Science behind Misinformation Spread

From the American Psychological Association via the CEMIR

The American Psychological Association (APA) recently created a free online training/education set of modules called “Mind Over Misinformation.” It is a series of short online modules packed with the methods they have developed and tested to help stop misinformation in its tracks.

These modules will help crisis communicators and the public:

• Identify potential misinformation

• Recognize your own biases and how they might affect your judgment

• Evaluate emotional content more objectively

• Apply your cognitive skills, education, and experience to fact-checking

• Approach different media sources with appropriate skepticism

The APA also has a detailed report from 2023, which reviews the best available psychological science research to reach consensus on crucial questions of why people are so susceptible to misinformation and disinformation, particularly as they pertain to health-related misinformation.

The goal of this work is to better understand the psychological phenomena that make us all prone to believing and spreading misinformation, the clever tactics used by its creators, and how our media and political landscape today help it go viral.

Further specifics and details about the APA training and report can be found at the Center for Emergency Management Intelligence’s Substack free post, entitled “The Psychological Science behind Misinformation Spread.”

Local Emergency Management Directors have direct responsibility for the organization, administration, and coordination of the local organization for emergency management. They undergo training and work before, during, and after disasters to mitigate the impacts of events on their community. They serve as a lifeline between their community and the state during times of crisis. All Vermont cities and towns have an EMD.

Chief Nadeau has a longstanding relationship with the Vermont Emergency Management, eagerly taking part in trainings, committees, and other activities that have not only contributed to his own ability to manage disasters in his own town but also the improvement of emergency response in Vermont as a whole.

His recognition reflects the reality that not all emergencies involve snowstorms or floods. In March of this year, a neighborhood in Hinesburg with 56 homes and 100 residents faced a multi-day water outage. Residents of the Sunset Lake Co-Op lacked water to drink, wash dishes, or bathe. There were also school attendance issues; some kids were reluctant to go to school without showering.

From the nomination letter:

“Under Chief/EMD Nadeau’s leadership, within hours of notification, a Point of Distribution (POD) was established at CVU High School to provide affected residents with potable water and access to showers. Emergency crews organized home deliveries of drinking water and distributed hygiene kits and other essential supplies throughout the impacted neighborhood. These efforts helped stabilize the community while long-term solutions were being pursued.”

Chief Nadeau was presented with the EMD of the Year award at the annual Vermont Emergency Preparedness Conference on September 5, 2025.

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CLANTON – Friday, 8:30 AM, September 5, 2025

Two waves of thunderstorms are possible, generally north of I-20, this evening into Saturday.

The first wave has the highest severe threat when a broken line of thunderstorms will enter the northwestern sections after 7 pm and move southward, dissipating somewhere near or north I-20 by early Saturday morning. A few damaging wind gusts and hail are the main threats.

A second line of thunderstorms along a cold front will enter the northwestern sections after 6 AM, reach I-20 by 11 AM, and again weaken as it moves across the southern half of the state through Saturday afternoon. A few wind gusts from 30-40 mph are possible near and north of I-20 with this second line. Little to no rainfall is forecast from Sunday through at least next Thursday.

An area of low pressure in the eastern Atlantic will likely become a tropical depression this weekend or early next week. Models continue to strengthen this system as it approaches the Lesser Antilles by the middle to later part of next week. There is no tropical activity forecast for the Gulf during the next 7-10 days

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