Emergency Management Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Helene and Milton

“These storms are forming quicker. They’re forming over warmer waters,” said Ralph Hutton, college associate professor of Homeland, Intelligence, and Emergency Management at University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). “The rainfall has increased. There's actually slower movement, so they are generating more power. And then, of course, everyone is concerned about the sea level rise bringing in the storm surge.”

Brian Powers, collegiate associate professor and the portfolio director for Homeland, Intelligence, and Emergency Management, agreed.

“The other part is the intensifications like we saw with Milton that’s becoming more common too.” Powers said. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen a hurricane form in the Caribbean so quickly and go West to East along that track.”

Federal Responses to Hurricanes and Other Natural Disasters in the United States

Hutton explained that while many federal agencies are involved in disaster relief, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the overarching agency that coordinates the federal response to natural disasters. State and local partners also play critical roles in emergency response.

“Many people think that FEMA just comes in and takes over, and that’s not the case. FEMA comes in to support the localities and the states, coordinate the recovery, and provide different forms of public assistance,” Hutton said. “Other federal agencies work together, like the National Hurricane Center, the Department of Defense, and the National Guard. They provide personnel, rescue operations for search and rescue, and logistical support. The Coast Guard is a very integral part as well, and they partner with FEMA.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also involved in the federal response plan, he said.

In addition to coordinating the response, FEMA sent their task forces to these areas from throughout the United States, Hutton explained. He said these tasks forces have specialized skills and may include firefighters, urban search and rescue specialists, collapse specialists, engineers, and others typically housed in local fire departments.

UMGC adjunct professor Victor Galladora is a member of one of the task forces that responded to Hurricane Helene: Maryland Task Force 1, one of FEMA’s urban search and rescue teams.

“As Hurricane Helene approached, our 45-person team was pre-staged in southern Georgia. Within hours of the storm's passing, we set out to assist a community known as a 'tree city,' where winds exceeding 100 miles per hour had caused significant damage,” Galladora said. “Soon, we learned of even more widespread devastation in western North Carolina, and our team, along with many others, was dispatched to the area.”

Galladora recalled working side by side with state and local emergency responders as well as other FEMA teams.

“What stands out in these moments is the resilience of both the task force and the communities we serve. Even in the face of overwhelming adversity, people come together, and it’s an honor to be a part of that,” he said. “Our team's training and professionalism allowed us to operate efficiently and safely in such challenging conditions, hopefully making a meaningful impact on those affected by the storm.”

State Responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton

In addition to the federal response, U.S. states and territories have their own ways of activating emergency response professionals to help both within their own jurisdictions and outside of them.

Each of the 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands are members of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). EMAC is a national disaster relief compact that “offers assistance during governor-declared states of emergency or disaster through a responsive, straightforward system that allows states to send personnel, equipment, and commodities to assist with response and recovery efforts in other states.”

"EMAC has all 50 states and territories working together to provide resources to other states.” Hutton said. “That is activated through each state’s emergency operations center. One state will call the other one and that state will call out to the resources in their state and get them on the road going.”

What Challenges Did Emergency Response Teams Face from These Hurricanes?

Despite great preparation and a multi-layer natural disaster response system, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton presented unique challenges for emergency management professionals. One of these challenges was how close in time the storms hit.

“FEMA was stretched pretty thin because we had two major events back-to-back,” Hutton said.

The simultaneous efforts to finish cleanup efforts from the first storm while preparing for the second storm resulted in an unprecedented emergency management team response, Weed explained.

“Several members of the team worked on campus nearly every day for weeks, from early morning to the night, under challenging conditions,” he said.

Another challenge was the unusual way in which the storms formed—and how quickly they strengthened.

“Usually, hurricanes start out toward Africa and work their way here,” Hutton said. “These started in the Gulf of Mexico and came East."

In addition, access to the affected areas was a major issue during and after both storms, Hutton explained.

"So, there’s no communication, there’s no transportation,” Powers said. “That’s why in North Carolina you saw a lot of use of private airplanes and private helicopters and drones. They also brought in tracked vehicles rather than wheeled vehicles to improve access.”

The misinformation to disinformation pipeline also offered opportunities for lessons learned.

“It migrated quickly from misinformation to disinformation.” Powers said. “And, it was taken advantage of by some public officials as well as the media to sensationalize the whole thing. I think that’s one of the lessons that FEMA will take from this.”

The misinformation and disinformation got ahead of FEMA, Powers explained. They can learn from the Department of Defense, which has been particularly effective at anticipating what could happen and having the right relationships with the right people such as the media to make sure they are disseminating information as clearly and effectively as possible to prevent misinformation and disinformation from filling in any information gaps, he said.

Emerging technologies were also used during Hurricanes Helene and Milton and offer emergency management professionals insights on how they may be used in the future.

“Solar generators are really showing to have a lot of utility,” Powers said. “What happens is when you have gas generators, you need to bring the gas with it. The solar generators can be dispersed and they’re able to recharge.”

Satellite capable phones have also emerged as great tools, Powers said.

“You can’t charge your phone necessarily, but you can operate it even if you don’t have a cell tower, even if it’s just through text message,” he explained. “This proved to be effective.”