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City residents will continue to have access to bottled water and filters after a presidential emergency declaration ends in mid-August. Officials announced Thursday, June 2, that the state would begin picking up the entire cost of bottled water, filter cartridges and in-home testing kits after the federal declaration ends on Aug. 14. Currently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been providing 75 percent of the funding needed for supplies to ensure residents have access to clean drinking water.
That's when the test phase for the new GOES-R satellite should be complete, providing the National Weather Service with an improved tool to track lightning, tornadoes and hurricanes. The current combination of human meteorologists and computer forecast models often means "educated guesses based on the data to derive what the impact might be," said Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
President Obama will learn about upgrades and new tools that will contribute to more precise hurricane tracking. Funding for FEMA will also be a central issue.
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File FILE- In this Oct.1, 2015 file photo, Craig Fugate, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency , right, talks about the status of Hurricane Joaquin as it moves through the eastern Bahamas as Rick Knabb, Director of the National Hurricane Center, left, participate in a media briefing at the National Hurricane Center. The U.S. government is set to release its forecast for how many hurricanes and tropical storms are expected to form over Atlantic and Caribbean waters in the next six months.
The changes mean some property owners may be able to drop flood insurance if their area is no longer designated a flood hazard. "It takes some out of a floodplain and puts some in, but more are coming out than going in," said Robb Fellows, senior project manager, stormwater.
President Barack Obama has received criticism for staying on vacation rather than traveling to Louisiana to see the damage first-hand. But Edwards said Thursday that he's spoken with the White House daily and has received quick responses for each request he's made to the administration.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says the state had more than $8.7 billion in damage from catastrophic flooding in August, and the figure will increase as officials finish assessing damage to roads and other public infrastructure. In it, the Democratic governor asked that Congress this month approve $2 billion in federal aid for Louisiana for housing, economic development and infrastructure.
After a tour of flood-ravaged southern Louisiana, the nation's Homeland Security secretary, Jeh Johnson said more than 900 FEMA personnel are on the ground in Louisiana and hundreds more are expected. Both he and Governor Edwards urged those affected by flooding to apply for government assistance.