WASHINGTON — As thousands of workers with the Federal Emergency Management Agency respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the border crisis, staffing is at record lows. 

That is leading to growing concerns the agency may be stretched too thin, ahead of what forecasters say is expected to be a very active Hurricane season. 

“There’s no time to recoup, it’s constantly go-go-go,” said Steve Reaves, the president of American Federation of Government Employees National Local 4060, the union that represents FEMA employees.

Reaves said the workload has been non-stop for the agency, as the majority of its staff have been dispatched across the country to administer COVID-19 vaccinations and assist at the border.

“The last numbers I’ve seen is that we have less than 25% available,” Reaves said in an interview with Spectrum News.

Reaves worries many workers are burned out, which could affect the agency’s response to hurricanes this year.

“You’re historically there for the worst day of someone’s life. Whether that’s a fire, hurricane, flood, or COVID. Being around that all the time can be a definite mental drain,” he explained.

FEMA normally has 5,000 full-time employees, and 23,000 temporary workers on standby for emergencies. They typically use the months before hurricane season to reset and prepare.

A recent FEMA memo showed the agency has less than 3,000 workers available in the event in an emergency. 

“They’ve all been working for at least 15, 18, maybe 24 months long now,” said Elizabeth Zimmerman, a former FEMA associate administrator in the Obama Administration.

Zimmerman said it is not uncommon for FEMA to handle multiple emergencies at one time. However, she said the situation is unusual. 

“Typically this time of year, FEMA with its headquarters, regions, they are working with those states that could potentially be impacted by hurricanes. You are usually doing briefings, talking about what the predictions are for the hurricane season, getting everybody back familiar with their counterparts that they are going to be working with, doing disaster exercises, drills. You don’t see a focus on that right now,” Zimmerman said.

There are fears the agency could dip below the 2017 record for the fewest people available in reserve. Reeves said staff can easily be shuffled in an emergency. But, it’s the quality of the response that can take a hit. 

“It can lead to some mission inconsistencies. In our contracting, we weren’t able to provide some oversight that we normally do. Maybe instead of meals, they got Snickers,” Reaves said, reflecting on the situation in 2017.

Lawmakers also are worried that FEMA’s staffing has not kept pace with the nation’s needs. 

“They tell us right now they have the resources, but do we have the people power to be on task if we go through another summer where we have hurricanes, wildfires and floods and we are trying to get out of the pandemic? It is an issue,” said Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Florida.

We reached out to FEMA for comment - but they did not have a response by deadline.