As deadly tornadoestore through the Midwest and Plainslast weekend, state and local search-and-rescue crews rushed to the devastated areas to look for survivors. It wasn't until the teams deployed that they realized they were operating without a critical tornado-tracking tool typically provided by FEMA.
That left responders with a less precise picture of where to search first, two sources familiar with the situation told CNN.
The mapping tool pinpoints a tornado's path of destruction within minutes of touchdown, helping responders focus on the hardest-hit neighborhoods as quickly as possible. Even in storms where FEMA itself doesn't respond, state and local rescuers rely on the mapping tool, which is provided to them through the agency.
But it wasn't available this time, because FEMA's roughly $200,000 contract with the company that provides the data expired in February, and the agency's request to renew it is still moving through Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's strict spending-approval process, according to the two sources and internal documents reviewed by CNN.
"Rescuers were flying blind, having to drive around or use news reports to figure out where the impacts were," one of the sources told CNN. "And when a tornado hits in the middle of the night, every moment counts."
The disruption echoesproblems FEMA facedduring last July's deadly floods in Texas, when the same approval processes implemented by Noem – including a rule that all spending over $100,000 receive her personal signoff – slowed the agency's ability to pre-position search-and-rescue teams, left call centers understaffed and delayed the sharing of data with state partners.
Billions of dollars in contracts and grants have stalled at the agency in recent months pending approval by Noem and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, as the Trump administration seeks to rein in wasteful spending and shift more responsibility for disaster response to states.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
FEMA insiders have been warning that Noem's policies are hampering operations and their ability to respond to disasters.
Noem is scheduled to leave her position atop DHS at the end of March. Trump has tapped Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, to replace her. For now, her team continues to oversee FEMA's operations.
Over the past week, dozens of tornadoes have been reported from Texas to Michigan, part of a wave of severe storms that have killed at least 11 people.
As the storms spread, officials from several states started contacting FEMA, asking why they couldn't access the tornado tracking data. By early this week, they were reaching out to FEMA's acting chief, Karen Evans – appointed by Noem and the Trump administration – urging her to get the contract approved, especially with more tornadoes in the forecast.
Inside FEMA, leaders pressed Evans and DHS to let them restore the mapping tool, which search-and-rescue teams across the country can access when they need it most.
This wasn't the first time they had made the request. FEMA staff wrote to DHS back in January, asking officials to renew the contract and ensure the potentially life-saving technology would be readily available, especially heading into the spring, when tornadoes are most common, according to two sources with knowledge of the request.
Thousands of FEMA spending requests have made their way to the desks of Evans and Noem, sources and documents show. Many have been slashed; others have sat for months.
As of earlier this week, the tornado mapping contract still had not been renewed, the two sources said.
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"We've been told to get out of the way and empower the states, but the reality of what that looks like is not even providing these basic enabling technologies to our state and local partners," one of the sources said.
Shutdown: 'Sitting around with nothing to do'
When DHS partially shut down last month, Noem directed FEMA to scale back to "bare-minimum, life-saving operations only." In a follow-up email to the agency's regional leaders, Karen Evans wrote that "all activities at FEMA need to cease."
The email, which CNN obtained, carved out four exceptions: work tied to President Trump's State of the Union address, immediate response to the recent winter storms, meetings connected to the World Cup and Olympics and "Nuclear activities."
The directives were unusual, officials inside the agency said, as much of FEMA's work typically continues uninterrupted during government shutdowns because it's funded through the Disaster Relief Fund – a separate pot of money Congress provides for disasters and emergencies.
Nonetheless, work stopped immediately for some workers, seven FEMA officials in various parts of the country told CNN.
While some teams and regions directed workers to continue operating as usual, or close to it, others told staff to stand down from a wide range of projects that help communities recover from past disasters and prepare for the next.
"People are being told not to even open their computers," a high-ranking FEMA official said about their regional office, one of several across the country. "It's the most appalling experience of my professional life."
For those left with little to do, some are playing video games or cards to pass the time; others are watching TV at their desk. Some staffers have been told to stop communicating with state and local partners.
"We're sitting around with nothing to do," a high-ranking FEMA official in a separate region said. "I literally had someone next to me fall asleep at his desk the other day. Next week we're planning a cookout at the office."
Others are "making up work" for staffers "like case studies, reviews of plans, and inventory," another regional official told CNN.
FEMA insiders say, at this time of year, they should be focused on preparing for hurricane season, spring tornadoes and a severe drought that could fuel wildfires in the coming months.
"It's a huge waste of time and taxpayer money for no reason, just to make the impact of the shutdown more significant," another FEMA official said.
Noem and the Trump administration haveblamed Democratsfor the budgetary impasse at DHS, which they say is hampering disaster response work and holding up relief. Democrats support standalone funding for several key agencies, including FEMA, but Republicans have opposed such a piecemeal approach.
Noem has been one of FEMA's fiercest critics over the past year, calling it bloated, partisan and ineffective, and at times calling for it to be eliminated altogether.
All this comes as a task force assembled by President Trump to help reform FEMA is set to present its final list of recommendations in the coming weeks.
CNN's Brandon Miller contributed to this report.
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