Climate change is supercharging the frequency and severity of storms and flooding. At the same time, the White House is gutting disaster management. Can the Highlands take care of itself?

Four years ago this month, the remnants of Hurricane Ida slammed into the Highlands, dumping 5½ inches of rain. Basements flooded, trains shut down and roads were washed out. Dry Brook on Mount Beacon overflowed, sending debris down the mountain and into Jessen Pond.

"That's the area off Violet Drive where Dry Brook comes down from the mountain, and all the cobble and the waste came pouring down and filled it in," said Beacon City Administrator Chris White. Ida came at the tail end of an especially wet summer in the Highlands; a month later a nor'easter dropped another 3 inches of water in two days.

If Jessen Pond hadn't been cleared before that storm, the neighborhood around it probably would have flooded. Fortunately, then-President Joe Biden issued a disaster declaration in Dutchess and Putnam counties, making them eligible for funding and help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"We spent weeks cleaning out that pond," said White. "FEMA paid the bill," which was $60,000 to $70,000.

However, the next time a hurricane or nor'easter affects the Highlands, Beacon and Philipstown may be on their own.

FEMA was created in 1979 after years of governors complaining that the U.S. lacked a comprehensive emergency management policy and that some disasters were so costly and destructive that no state could recover from them alone. Like many federal agencies, it has found itself in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump's effort to shrink the size of the government. FEMA's workforce, already short-staffed before this year, has been reduced by more than 10 percent since January, and Trump has spoken about eliminating the agency.

Last week the Government Accountability Office released a report warning that because of staffing cuts, FEMA no longer has the resources to respond to multiple disasters in a short period of time, such as in 2011 when Tropical Storm Lee hit the Hudson Valley weeks after Hurricane Irene. In response, the White House blamed Biden for making too many emergency declarations, "burning through FEMA's budget on so-called 'climate change' and DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] pet projects."

The turmoil at FEMA comes as the effects of climate change are being increasingly felt across the country, leading to costlier and deadlier disasters. New York State has spent at least $5 billion over the past five years on disaster recovery, and the number of disasters that cause at least $1 billion in damage is increasing. However, that may become harder to track. Recently, the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that "in alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates and staffing changes," it would no longer be updating its database.

"Many states had already braced themselves for having to continue the fight against climate change, in terms of mitigation and adaptation, without help from the federal government when Trump was re-elected," said Amanda Stevens of the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA). "This is not an either/or situation. We do need to continue to reduce greenhouse gases. Reducing our emissions will reduce the severity of climate change and the severity of the impacts, but we will still experience impact."

With FEMA being diminished and possibly eliminated, municipalities in New York and the Highlands will have to shoulder the burden of those impacts.

"Who's going to respond to tornadoes and floods and heat emergencies and fires?" asked White. "People need help getting on their feet again. We don't have the capacity to do that as a city."

Bracing for impact

A report released last year by NYSERDA outlined how climate change may affect the Hudson Valley: more days above 90 degrees, more humidity, more droughts, more deluges and more ...