Last year was a record year for disasters in the United States. A new report from the British charity International Institute for Environment and Development finds that 90 disasters were declared nationwide in 2024, from wildfires in California to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

The average number of annual disasters in the U.S. is about 55.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency provides funding and recovery assistance to states after disasters. President Donald Trump criticized the agency in January 2025 when he visited hurricane-stricken western North Carolina. Though 41% of Americans lived in an area affected by disaster in 2024, according to the institute’s report, the Trump administration is reportedly working to abolish or dramatically diminish FEMA’s operations.

“FEMA has been a very big disappointment. They cost a tremendous amount of money. It’s very bureaucratic, and it’s very slow,” Trump declared, saying he thought states were better positioned to “take care of problems” after a disaster.

“A governor can handle something very quickly,” he said.

Trump’s remarks have prompted a heated response, including proposals to fundamentally overhaul – but not abolish – federal disaster recovery.

But I believe the current discussion about FEMA handling U.S. disasters puts the emphasis in the wrong place.

As a scholar who researches how small and rural local governments cooperate, I believe this public debate demonstrates that many people fundamentally misunderstand how disaster recovery actually works, especially in rural areas, where locally directed efforts are particularly key to that recovery.

I know this from personal experience, too: I am a resident of Watauga County, in western North Carolina, and I evacuated during Hurricane Helene after landslides severely impaired the roads around my home.

Here, in short, is what happens after a disaster.

Federal legislation from 1988 called the Stafford Act gives

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