When the National Hurricane Conference begins on Monday in New Orleans, one thing will be missing: federal hurricane experts.
Agencies such as NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have for decades sent officials to speak at hurricane and flood conferences, where they can connect with local officials, researchers and businesses.
But President Donald Trump’s travel restriction on federal employees has prevented most agency officials from attending disaster conferences this year and sharing their expertise with thousands of people.
“It’s so unfortunate that our federal partners are not able to attend,” said Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, which is holding an international flood conference in May.
