US faces multiple disasters simultaneously amid Trump aid cuts

The United States is currently experiencing multiple simultaneous weather disasters, including Canadian wildfire smoke in the Midwest and Northeast, extreme heat along the East Coast, and catastrophic flooding in Texas. Experts call these compound events, which are becoming more likely due to climate change. The Trump administration's cuts to disaster relief, particularly to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), have exacerbated the situation. Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, faculty director of Columbia University's National Centre for Disaster Preparedness, stated that the country is less prepared than a few years ago. Samantha Penta, an associate professor at the University at Albany, noted that federal resource scale-backs pressure state and local governments. Climatologist John Abatzoglou from the University of California at Merced warned that compound calamities will increase as wildfires ignite during more frequent heatwaves, and a climate-charged super El Niño could bring extreme rain, flooding, and landslides across multiple states.