Hurricane Harvey: Two major government agencies tasked with disaster response have no permanent directors

Donald Trump's first natural disaster will be handled largely by Obama-era officials

Ramon Lopez, left, and Arturo Villarreal board up windows of a business in Galveston, Texas as Hurricane Harvey intensifies in the Gulf of Mexico (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Hurricane Harvey, the first natural disaster to strike during Donald Trump’s presidency, will be handled by two federal agencies with no permanent directors and a host of Obama-era officials.

The hurricane is expected to hit the Texas coast near Galveston and Corpus Christi late on the night of 25 August.

The US government has warned that the flooding and wind speeds are "life-threatening and devastating".

Coastal residents in Texas and Louisiana have been warned to evacuate.

New Orleans was the epicentre of the destructive Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but it also affected parts of the Texas coast.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), housed under the Department Of Commerce, and the Department of Homeland Security’s US Coast Guard have not been appointed permanent directors as yet by the Trump administration.

NOAA has 11,000 employees and manages the national weather service as well as monitors all storms.

The country’s most important scientists during such storms is Stephen Volz.

Mr Volz is in an "acting" position since his job has not been filled by the administration. He was appointed in 2014 by the Obama administration.

Even DHS Director Elaine Duke is an "Acting" Director, held over from the Obama administration.

Retired General John Kelly, who was in the top position at DHS was recently made the White House Chief of Staff after the departure of Reince Preibus.

Mr Trump has appointed Wilbur Ross as Commerce Secretary, however.

DHS also oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which also does have a Trump-appointed permanent director - William "Brock" Long.

However, most of the officials in place at the 9,000-employee FEMA are either career civil servants or "Acting" officials from the Obama administration since Mr Trump has left the positions vacant.

"There's certainly someone at the helm," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said about Ms Duke.

"And again, I think that we are in great shape having General Kelly sitting next to the President throughout this process, and probably no better chief of staff for the president during the hurricane season, she said.

As Quartz reported, "there’s no reason to believe an "acting" official would be any less expert at handling a disaster than a permanent one."

But, the issue is what authority they have to make decisions in the Trump administration since their positions are political appointments.

There is also the history of federal response to hurricanes in the region. FEMA was criticised repeatedly for what many felt was an ineffective and delayed handling of Hurricane Katrina under the Bush administration.

Mr Trump, according to a Washington Post count, has currently left 368 of 591 positions vacant that require Senate confirmation.

He tweeted that he had spoken to the governors of Texas and Louisiana and is "here to assist as needed".