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Twelve reports were rescinded by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General because they 'may have not adequately answered objectives and, in some cases, may have lacked sufficient and appropriate evidence to support conclusions.' In a rare move, the government watchdog for the Federal Emergency Management Administration has removed a dozen largely positive reports evaluating how the agency responded under President Obama to several disasters from 2012 to 2016, according to an internal memo obtained by USA TODAY.
In a rare move, the government watchdog for the Federal Emergency Management Administration has removed a dozen largely positive reports evaluating how the agency responded under President Obama to several disasters from 2012 to 2016, according to an internal memo obtained by USA TODAY. Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate was tapped by President Obama to lead an interagency task force responding to the flood of unaccompanied children illegally crossing the U.S./Mexico border.
From the lobby of a hotel on the outskirts of Boston, Jesenia Flores fills out an online job application, hoping to find work that will get her small family back to normal for the first time since Hurricane Maria flooded their home in Puerto Rico. The hotel along the interstate has been a refuge for her and other Puerto Rican families, but it's frustrating "to be cooped up here without knowing what will happen to us," the 19-year-old mother said as her 15-month-old son squirmed and cried in her lap.
Homeowners and renters in Hamilton County who had losses related to Hurricane Irma have about two weeks more to apply for federal disaster assistance. The deadline to register for assistance from FEMA and to apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration is Friday, March 9. Survivors should register even if they have insurance.
The company that failed to deliver nearly all of the hot meals it promised to Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria plagiarized the bid that won it the $156 million contract from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to a letter penned by three senators this week. Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Gary Peters of Michigan say that Tribute Contracting LLC - which lost its contract in October after just 20 days because it had delivered only 50,000 of the 30 million meals promised - lifted paragraphs from two other companies related to logistics and delivery.
A bit of construction on the abutment at the south end of Oroville Dam, visible in this aerial shot from last month, has caused some chatter in Oroville due to its proximity to the “green spot.” Department of Water Resources spokeswoman Erin Mellon said crews are just replacing a water line that's part of a fire safety system with a larger pipe. Workers from Kiewit Infrastructure use 2x4 wood last week to construct forms for the construction of a concrete beam to be anchored to the top of the underground secant pile, or cut-off wall, at the Oroville Dam emergency control spillway.
With American Samoa under a State of Emergency due to the devastation left behind by Tropical Storm Gita on Feb. 9 as well as to save on financial resources, Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga will not attend the annual meeting of the federal Interagency Group on Insular Areas in Washington D.C. The 2018 IGIA senior plenary session is set for the afternoon of next Monday, Feb. 26, according to the agenda of the meeting, which shows that governors and US Congressional delegates from the insular areas will make their individual presentations. Lolo along with Congresswoman Aumua Amata are on the list to give presentations.
Yenita Rodriguez, 26, and her two children, Yelianis, 1, and Yelismary, 3, arrived from Puerto Rico on Jan. 24 with $400. She is staying at a hotel in Dedham.
The woman at the heart of a controversy surrounding a cancelled $156 million contract to provide 30 million meals for victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico says she is being turned into a scapegoat for problems with how FEMA handles contracts with small businesses. House Democrats have asked for the Oversight Committee to subpoena FEMA officials to explain why the contract was issued to a small company called Tribute Contracting, LLC run by Atlanta-based business owner Tiffany Brown - the sole employee listed for that business.
It has been six months since Hurricane Harvey hit and devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands of Houston-area residents. But new information shows that survivors-including African American families-have received more than $12 billion to help them recover from the catastrophic storm in August.
The field of urban planning is gaining interest as cities around the world, including Houston, are facing increased exposure to weather-related risks and hazards ranging from sea level rise and flooding to temperature build-up and urban heat island effect. Philip Berke, professor of landscape architecture and urban planning at Texas A&M University, recently completed a five-year research project that examined 175 hazard mitigation plans adopted by counties and municipalities along the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Northwest coastlines.
A federal appeals court has rejected Louisiana's contention that the federal government should pay $586 million to restore barrier islands and wetlands damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld decisions by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, an arbitration panel and a district court.
Puerto Ricans were alarmed this week to hear that the Federal Emergency Management Agency planned to halt new shipments of food and water to the island -- and some assumed that meant FEMA was going to stop providing aid. But FEMA was not planning to leave, nor stop handing out crucial supplies, the agency stressed.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it is not cutting off food and water supplies to Puerto Rico despite reports that it intended to do so. FEMA spokesman William Booher told The Associated Press that the agency has been evaluating whether enough stores and supermarkets reopened by Jan. 31 to justify ending distribution of food and water to municipal governments on the island.
Montana is appealing the federal government's denial to a request to help the state cover some of the $44 million in firefighting costs accumulated at the end of last summer. Montana Public Radio reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency last month denied Gov. Steve Bullock's request for additional disaster relief for the 2017 fire season.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will end free food and water aid to Puerto Rico as supermarkets are now set to reopen, four months after Hurricane Maria. FEMA will "officially shut off" its emergency humanitarian aid for the island on Wednesday after providing more than 30 million gallons of potable water and nearly 60 million meals following the storm.
In this Jan. 9, 2018 photo, Enghie Melendez sits with her daughters Lidia, left, Alondra, and husband Fernando Moyet in their hotel kitchen in the Brooklyn borough of New York. After they lost their home in Puerto Rico to flooding during Hurricane Maria, Melendez fled with her family to the U.S. mainland with three suitcases and the hope that it wouldn't take long to rebuild their lives.
It's been more than four months since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, and nearly half a million customers are still without power, the Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday. Some 4,000 power restoration personnel are currently working to repair the electricity to more than 450,000 customers.
Without any notice, families who lost their homes to Hurricane Maria are again faced with the prospect of having nowhere to go. The Federal Emergency Management Agency had promised to provide living arrangements until Feb. 14, only to reverse course last week and signal that the 36 families will no longer receive Transitional Sheltering Assistance.
Tammy Parks has been living in a hotel while waiting to get back to her home. The Red Cross has helped fund part of her stay, but Parks, like many other, are trying to figure out the next steps.