As police and firefighter numbers fall, officials urge prep

Jake Goodrick, Bridgette Waltermire, Natalie Anderson and Christian Gravius

Associated Press

CARSON – With natural disasters increasing in frequency and intensity, first responders are finding it more difficult to reach and rescue the thousands of victims of floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.

Throughout the country, many emergency units have fewer people to navigate disaster response, meaning they must do more with less.

"So even if you were the slickest agency in the world, and you dealt with disasters all the time ... if you train every day, a disaster is still called a disaster fo...