BOSTON — With record-breaking wildfires, floods and storms battering communities nationwide – and President Donald Trump pushing to slash federal disaster aid – state lawmakers are being urged to build their own emergency management systems and resilience programs, or risk being caught unprepared.

That was the message from experts and lawmakers Monday during a panel on state-level disaster relief at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ annual summit in Boston. As uncertainty grows around the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, panelists warned that waiting on Washington could leave states vulnerable in an era of accelerating climate threats.

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