Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Last week, I received a text message from Luz, a recent evacuee from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico currently residing in a New York City hotel paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A few days earlier, we had spoken about her anxieties regarding her uncertain future after the FEMA voucher program ends.
A timeline shows Hawaii officials botched efforts to immediately correct a false missile alert over the weekend, taking more than 20 minutes to contact federal authorities for approval they didn't need and then taking another 15 minutes to cancel the alert that was sent to mobile devices statewide. The astonishing error and dismal response has prompted both state and federal investigations and left one of the state's U.S. senators wondering aloud if top brass at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency should be replaced.
Nearly 40 terrifying minutes passed between the time Hawaii officials fired off a bogus alert about an incoming missile over the weekend and the moment the notice was canceled. The state was slow to contain the situation, waiting 23 minutes to call officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get unnecessary approval to send a retraction.
In this Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018 file photo provided by Civil Beat, cars drive past a highway sign that says "MISSILE ALERT ERROR THERE IS NO THREAT" on the H-1 Freeway in Honolulu. Gov. David Ige has appointed state Army National Guard Brig.
A billion-dollar emergency loan approved by Congress to help Puerto Rico deal with the effects of Hurricane Maria has been temporarily withheld by federal officials who say the U.S. territory is not facing a cash shortage like it has repeatedly warned about in recent months. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Treasury Department said in a letter to the director of the island's fiscal agency that Puerto Rico has had a central cash balance exceeding $1.5 billion in the nearly four months since the Category 4 storm.
The Latest on the faulty missile warning alert sent over the weekend by Hawaii's emergency management agency : U.S. Reps. Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii are asking the House Armed Services Committee to hold a hearing to investigate whether a state emergency management agency should have jurisdiction over national security warnings.
In this Jan. 13, 2018 file photo, Diamond Head, an extinct volcanic crater, and high-rises are seen in Honolulu. Gov. David Ige has appointed state Army National Guard Brig.
Four months after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, the devastation and difficulty recovering is still apparent across the island, something that U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas and other members of the congressional delegation from Massachusetts saw firsthand during a visit last week. Officials toured a community health center and a children's hospital, observed damage from a helicopter and met with leaders of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was criticized for an initially slow response, as they work to help the island rebuild.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced today that the federal disaster assistance declaration made available to the state of California to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires from December 4, 2017 and continuing has been amended. The declaration now includes damage from Flooding, Mudflows, and Debris flows directly related to the Wildfires , which may be eligible under the current declaration.
The Minot Public School District has settled a lawsuit filed by a company over unpaid cleanup expenses resulting from the 2011 Souris River flood. The case was set to go to trial Monday in federal court, but the two sides late last week reached a $950,000 settlement.
Two workshops on the affordable housing crisis in Key West are scheduled for this month, four months after Hurricane Irma devastated the Lower and Middle Keys. The first one is hosted by the City Commission and set for 6 p.m. Jan. 11 at City Hall, 1300 White St., with philanthropist and former Monroe County schools superintendent John Padget on the agenda with his proposal to build 480 rentals at the waterfront property at Trumbo Point, where the School Board has its administrative offices.
The Trump administration recently announced that houses of worship damaged during natural disasters will now be able to receive funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency . Some advocacy groups are challenging the new rules, claiming they violate the separation of church and state .
After dealing with the unprecedented carnage left by Hurricane Harvey, Refugio County officials are now dealing with an equally extraordinary recovery process. Like Refugio County, numerous local governments in the Crossroads have asked for expedited compensation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for debris clearing and emergency measures.
American Atheists, a nationwide organization, expressed outrage over FEMA's recent policy change making churches eligible for federal relief funds in the wake of natural disasters. The atheist organization, which most recently gained the national spotlight by posting anti-Christmas billboards in several states, railed against the Trump administration for what they called a misapplication of federal law and for giving federal funds to churches that aided the relief efforts and served as emergency shelters and FEMA response bases for their local communities in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency supported 59 major disaster declarations and 16 emergency declarations in 2017, a year during which unprecedented disasters affected more than 25 million Americans, almost eight percent of the U.S. population. In its year-end review, FEMA notes it was a record busy year for FEMA employees and for state and local emergency responders across the country, as well for the federal flood insurance program, which FEMA manages.
Following a lawsuit filed by three churches damaged in Hurricane Harvey last year, FEMA has reversed a policy that prevented houses of worship from accessing disaster relief funds, according to a guidance document published by the agency today. The disputed policy allowed "community centers" and other nonprofits to receive FEMA emergency funds for certain repairs of storm-damaged facilities, but specifically excluded houses of worship like churches, synagogues and mosques used primarily for "religious activities, such as worship, proselytizing or religious instruction."
The federal government typically spends up to $150,000 apiece - not counting utilities, maintenance or labor - on the trailers it leases to disaster victims, then auctions them at cut-rate prices after 18 months of use or the first sign of minor damage, the Associated Press has learned. Officials have continued the practice even amid a temporary housing shortage in Texas, where almost 8,000 applicants are still awaiting federal support nearly four months after Hurricane Harvey landed in the Gulf Coast.
The completion allows the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to re-energize lines in Rio Piedras, Caguas and Minillas, as well as lines that run from Canovanas to Palmer. These lines will carry electricity to a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Caguas, schools, residential neighborhoods and several busy commercial districts.
In this Nov. 15, 2017 photo, some roofs damaged by the whip of Hurricane Maria are shown still exposed to rainy weather conditions, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog says his office will be investigating how a tiny Florida company won more than $30 million in contracts for desperately needed relief supplies following Hurricane Maria.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency last week announced millions of dollars in reimbursements to cover the costs of President Donald Trump's visits to Mar-a-Lago.