Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Eight days after addressing Hurricane Harvey in Texas, the General Services Administration on Thursday pivoted to the Irma storm aimed at Florida, relaxing certain contracting rules to encourage speed and local awards. Senior Procurement Executive Jeffrey Koses signed a "memorandum raising thresholds for areas included in the Irma declaration response," a GSA spokeswoman told Government Executive .
Hurricane Irma battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday and Cuba evacuated tourists from beachside resorts as the fearsome storm continued a rampage through the Caribbean that has killed at least 11 people, with Florida in its sights. Waves as high as 20 feet were expected in the Turks and Caicos.
The American Red Cross will for the first time fly a drone to assess damage and funnel aid to areas of Houston flooded by Hurricane Harvey over the last two weeks, the agency and sponsors said on Thursday. The Red Cross is expected to be the largest U.S. non-profit aid group to employ the technology when it begins flights next week in a test program that could be used after disasters in other parts of the United States.
In January, 2001, newly inaugurated President George W. Bush invited U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy to the White House for movie night to watch Thirteen Days, which is about President John F. Kennedy's handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The point of the overture, however, was to appeal to Senator Kennedy to support "No Child Left Behind," not just to pop popcorn.
Lingering and potential threats from hurricanes off the southern U.S. coast are testing everything from gasoline supplies to oil production, analysis finds. Hurricane Irma is a Category 4 storm expected to make landfall on southern Florida by Saturday afternoon.
U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed with Democratic congressional leaders to increase the nation's debt ceiling and extend the federal government's funding through mid-December, a deal that included relief funding for victims of Hurricane Harvey. The agreement was reached Wednesday at a White House meeting with a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers.
Conservative grumbling aside, the House is heading toward backing a $15.3 billion disaster aid package that President Donald Trump and Democrats have linked to a temporary increase in America's borrowing authority and keeping the government funded through December. The House vote on Friday would send the massive package to Trump for his signature, replenishing rapidly dwindling emergency accounts as Florida braces for the impact of Hurricane Irma this weekend and Texas picks up the pieces after the devastation of the Harvey storm.
As Hurricane Irma barrels toward Florida, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the brink of running out of cash for disaster relief and could be in the red by the end of the week. The lack of money could force the agency to essentially start operating on IOUs if Congress doesn't act in time.
For an entire generation in South Florida, Hurricane A... . In this geocolor GOES-16 satellite image taken Thursday, Sep. 7, 2017, at 11;15 a.m. EDT, shows the eye Hurricane Irma just north of the island of Hispaniola.
The five living former U.S. presidents said Thursday they would team up to create the "One America Appeal" to raise money for storm recovery as Texas and Louisiana seek to regroup from Harvey and Florida and the Atlantic coast brace for Hurricane Irma. The hurricane recovery effort was announced by former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.
Floridians began a mass exodus on Thursday as Hurricane Irma, the powerful Category 5 storm, plowed through the Caribbean toward the Sunshine State. Thousands of cars headed north, causing interstate backups and slowdowns.
As the Senate on Thursday easily approved $15.25 billion to bolster the federal disaster response to Hurricane Harvey, GOP lawmakers gritted their teeth over provisions added to the bill with the blessing of President Donald Trump which would extend the federal debt limit for three months, and provide for the funding of government operations until December 8. "It's unfortunate, they ought to be separate votes," said Rep. Joe Barton , who predicted he would not be the only Texan on Friday to oppose the Harvey aid bill in the House, all because of the deal that President Trump struck with Democrats, and forced on GOP leaders.
In this Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, photo, Steve and Sherri Blatt pose for a photograph amongst the debris from theirs and their neighbors' homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday tapped a veteran Democrat to lead the state's recovery effort after Harvey, which is shaping up to be among the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. John Sharp is chancellor of Texas A&M University and doesn't plan to leave that job while heading the new Governor's Commission to Rebuild Texas.
After a catastrophic Hurricane Andrew revealed how lax building codes had become in the country's most storm-prone state, Florida began requiring sturdier construction. Now, experts say a monstrously strong Hurricane Irma could become the most serious test of Florida's storm-worthiness since the 1992 disaster.
High winds and rain sweep through the streets of the Matelnillo community during the passage of hurricane Irma, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017.
6, 2017 photo, a pedestrian walks past the Acton Congregational Church in Acton, Mass. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments Thursday whether the town is improperly permitting taxpa... .
President Donald Trump will host Speaker Paul Ryan at the White House residence Thursday evening, according to the president's daily schedule, the day after Trump took a deal that may favor the Democrats on debt ceiling negotiations. Trump met with congressional leaders of both parties Wednesday, and decided to back a three-month lift of the debt ceiling, combined with funding for Hurricane Harvey relief and a continuing resolution to fund the government.