Recovery

The agency announced on Friday that it will fundamentally overhaul the way it delivers aid to survivors, launching new programs to provide quick cash payments to those in need and eliminating much of the bureaucracy that hampers aid access.

“This is really a transformational, deeply impactful, meaningful, and historic change in our provision of individual assistance to survivors of natural disasters,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA. “For too long, in the face of too many natural disasters and extreme weather events, survivors have had to overcome many barriers to access to federal assistance.”

...

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about U.S FEMA to improve disaster relief program to speed help for disaster victims
Log in or register to post comments

U.S. Government watchdog agency identifies fraud problems in homeowner disaster recovery grant programs

Mon, 2023-08-28 10:37 — mike kraft

GAO Finds Disaster Recovery Grants for Homeowners are Subject to Fraud - HS Today GAO says the decentralized environment in which HUD's disaster block grants operate creates vulnerabilities to different types of fraud. GAO says the decentralized environment in which HUD's disaster block grants operate creates vulnerabilities to different types of fraud. Kylie Bielby Hstoday

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Analysis

Situation Report

Country by country, scientists are charting a possible end to the COVID-19 pandemic

Wed, 2021-11-03 09:45 — mike kraft

Analysis: Country by country, scientists eye beginning of an end to the COVID-19 pandemic As the devastating Delta variant surge eases in many regions of the world, scientists are charting when, and where, COVID-19 will transition to an endemic disease in 2022 and beyond, according to Reuters interviews with over a dozen leading disease experts. Julie Steenhuysen Reuters

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Analysis

Read more about Country by country, scientists are charting a possible end to the COVID-19 pandemic
Log in or register to post comments

How Storms, Missteps and an Ailing Grid Left Puerto Rico in the Dark

Mon, 2018-05-07 10:25 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A transmission tower and downed lines in the mountainous terrain of eastern Puerto Rico. Workers from the island and throughout the United States have worked to restore power after Hurricanes Irma and Maria last September.

It took months to restore electricity in Puerto Rico after hurricanes dealt a one-two punch. Many homes are still without power, and the system’s future is far from certain.

nytimes.com - by JAMES GLANZ and FRANCES ROBLES - Photographs by TODD HEISLER - May 6, 2018

. . . After Maria and the hurricane that preceded it, called Irma, Puerto Rico all but slipped from the modern era . . .

. . . an examination of the power grid’s reconstruction — based on a review of hundreds of documents and interviews with dozens of public officials, utility experts and citizens across the island — shows how a series of decisions by federal and Puerto Rican authorities together sent the effort reeling on a course that would take months to correct. The human and economic damage wrought by all that time without power may be irreparable.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about How Storms, Missteps and an Ailing Grid Left Puerto Rico in the Dark
Log in or register to post comments

Motel Misery: Hundreds Fled Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico Only to End Up Functionally Homeless in Florida

Sun, 2018-04-22 09:28 — Kathy Gilbeaux

cnn.com - by John D. Sutter - additional reporting by Cristian Arroyo - photograph by Jayme Gershen for CNN - April 20, 2018

With no running water, no power and no school for her kids, Carmen "Millie" Santiago fled Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria hit the Caribbean last fall. Like thousands of evacuees, she landed here in central Florida. And, like hundreds, she's still stuck in a motel.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Federal Harvey Relief Funds Might Take Years, Officials Tell Legislators

Thu, 2017-10-12 10:52 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Flood damaged debris piled outside of homes in Port Arthur Texas. The city saw 47 inches of rain during the storm. - Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune

texastribune.org - by Brandon Formby - October 2, 2017

. . . state lawmakers were told that Housing and Urban Development disaster relief funds, which includes money for extensive home repairs or rebuilds, could take seven to 32 months to work their way through bureaucratic processes and several layers of government agencies . . . Congress approved $7.4 billion in HUD disaster relief funds last month. But that may have to be shared with Florida and Puerto Rico, which have each been hit by hurricanes in the weeks after Harvey battered Texas, unless legislators approve another aid package . . .

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about Federal Harvey Relief Funds Might Take Years, Officials Tell Legislators
2 comments
Log in or register to post comments

Once Parched, Florida's Everglades Finds Its Flow Again

Sun, 2016-03-06 21:44 — Maeryn Obley

This is one of several canals that will be filled to slow the movement of water through the Everglades, restoring an ecosystem environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the "river of grass." Greg Allen/NPR

Image: This is one of several canals that will be filled to slow the movement of water through the Everglades, restoring an ecosystem environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the "river of grass." Greg Allen/NPR

npr.org - February 19th 2016 - Greg Allen

When people talk about Florida's Everglades, they often use superlatives: It's the largest protected wilderness east of the Mississippi River, and it's the biggest subtropical wetland in North America.

But it is also the site of a joint federal-state plan that is the largest ecosystem restoration effort ever attempted — one that is beginning to pay off after decades of work.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions