The Atlantic Hurricane season, which officially begins on June 1, is typically FEMA’s busiest time of year. And this year is predicted to be a daunting one, with a record breaking season last year and the Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project recently forecasting above-normal activity (the same prediction as last year). But as the season approaches, FEMA is contending with an array of issues that would seem to threaten its preparedness. It is currently overseeing the deployment of 10,000 personnel across the country battling an array of crises, foremost the COVID-19 pandemic. Given these deployments, only about 20 percent of FEMA’s cadre of largely temporary, intermittent emergency response workers is still available. Even those still at their desk jobs are facing unprecedented pressures, with many of them covering the jobs of others who are out in the field. This factor compounds the challenge of employee burnout. FEMA workers typically have several months around the winter to “refresh and restock,” but the combination of the pandemic and the growing frequency and intensity of storms has made emergency response more of a year-round endeavor. Read more at Government Executive.