Proactive Emergency Management Funding

Emergency managers across 11 states say staffing, maintenance of warning systems, and pre‑disaster outreach are chronically underfunded; investments typically arrive only after deadly events. The interviews show mission creep (more responsibilities without resources) and delayed upgrades (e.g., St. Louis warning system) that make disasters deadlier. — If local governments continue to underinvest in core emergency capacity, policy debates about disaster resilience, budget priorities, and federal grant design should shift from post‑hoc recovery to sustained, anticipatory funding.