FEMA News

Oregon City’s Businesses Frustrated by Delayed Flood Maps

For the past two years, Cheri Lerma of Cheri’s Cafe & Cannon Beach Cookie has spent almost $10,000 on flood insurance she knows she doesn’t need. As a part of a countywide study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, preliminary …

Lack of Transparency Clouds Texas Spending After Harvey

Texas has been awarded billions in federal aid to help recover from Hurricane Harvey and the devastating flooding that followed, but it’s unclear how the state is spending its share of the money. State records don’t indicate which contracts are …

Over 20% of U.S. Properties at Risk for Flood Not in Designated Flood Zones

An estimated 23 percent of residential and commercial properties in the U.S. are at High or Moderate risk of flooding, based on CoreLogic proprietary flood analysis, but are outside of designated Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) as identified by the …

Lawmaker Calls for Audit of Hurricane Maria Tarp Contract

A U.S. lawmaker wants the Homeland Security Department inspector general to review contracts worth $30 million awarded to a fledgling company for Hurricane Maria disaster supplies it failed to deliver to Puerto Rico. Rep. Sean Maloney, D-N.Y., asked for the …

FEMA’s Staff `Tapped Out’ After Mounting Disasters

The recent spate of natural disasters hitting the U.S. has left staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency “tapped out” and the agency in an existential reckoning, FEMA‘s chief told a congressional panel. “It is time to question what is …

Big Contracts, No Storm Tarps for Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria

After Hurricane Maria damaged tens of thousands of homes in Puerto Rico, a newly created Florida company with an unproven record won more than $30 million in contracts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide emergency tarps and plastic …

FEMA Reconsiders Ban on Disaster Aid to Church Buildings

When disaster strikes, houses of worship are often on the front lines, feeding and sheltering victims. Yet churches, synagogues and mosques are routinely denied aid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency when it comes time to repair or rebuild their …

FEMA Official Says Weather-Related Disasters Cost U.S. $200M a Day

The U.S. is spending more than $200 million a day responding to recent hurricanes and wildfires, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Congress Tuesday in testimony that also slammed the $300 million Whitefish contract in Puerto Rico. …

Engineers Call FEMA $35M Spend on Generators Redundant

The Federal Emergency Management Agency spent $35.1 million on renting two emergency generators to help power blacked-out San Juan, Puerto Rico. But a group of engineers says existing infrastructure could have been used more effectively at a fraction of the …

Trump Signs $36.5B Emergency Aid Bill for Disasters

President Donald Trump signed a $36.5 billion emergency aid measure on Thursday to refill disaster accounts, provide a cash infusion to Puerto Rico and bail out the federal flood insurance program. The president signed the bill after the Senate sent …