Federal Emergency Management Agency

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Get Ready for Lots of Noise Wednesday Afternoon

FEMA, FCC are conducting emergency alert test

(Newser) - Starting midday on Wednesday, your cellphone will likely start making a lot of noise—and it won't be alone. FEMA, in conjunction with the FCC, will be conducting a nationwide test of both its Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts, with an emergency alert sent to radios and...

FEMA Told Them to Get Out. It Was Pretty Much Impossible

The 'Washington Post' looks at Camp Fire survivors' inability to find housing

(Newser) - The hits just kept coming for Mike Erickson. The California man lost his home in 2016 in the face of medical debt incurred by wife Crystal's stroke, which partly paralyzed her. In November 2018 came the Camp Fire, which decimated the town of Paradise and left Mike and Crystal...

Texas Requests 5 Mobile Morgues
Texas Requests
5 Mobile Morgues
Aug 17, 2021 12:20 PM CDT

Texas Requests 5 Mobile Morgues

'Deaths are starting to mount for sure'

(Newser) - Texas has asked the federal government to supply five trailers to serve as morgues with COVID-19 deaths in the state expected to mount. Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman Doug Loveday tells NBC News that the request was made Aug. 4 as "we are anticipating a need within...

Biden Doubles Budget for Extreme Weather Planning

FEMA funds community preparations before disasters hit

(Newser) - With wildfires, floods and other weather-related disasters steadily worsening, President Biden doubled the budget for communities trying to mitigate the destruction through preparation. The added $500 million will make for a total of $1 billion in a Federal Emergency Management Agency program that distributes money to do things like move...

FEMA Hotline on Funeral Costs Is Swamped on Day One

More than 1 million people called to take advantage of government assistance for COVID-linked deaths

(Newser) - More than 564,000 Americans have died of COVID , and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been trying to help with funeral expenses. On Monday, FEMA opened up a hotline that allowed those who've lost loved ones to the coronavirus to apply for reimbursement of up to $9,000...

FEMA Asked DOD for Help on Vaccines. The DOD Delivered

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has OK'd the deployment of 1K troops to vaccination sites

(Newser) - The Pentagon will deploy troops to assist getting Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House said Friday. Coronavirus senior adviser Andy Slavitt announced that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved a request for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, per the AP . It means about 1,000 active-duty military...

Trump Secured 45 Ventilators From Russia. All Were Trashed

Meanwhile, Russia collected 200 US ventilators, BuzzFeed reports

(Newser) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency received 45 Russian ventilators on April 1, shortly after President Trump asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for help dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. As BuzzFeed reports, "they were part of a lopsided aid deal between the countries that would ultimately see Russia delivering a...

Trump Contradicts CDC, Claims He's Not Contagious

It's been a week since diagnosis was made public; CDC calls for at least 10 days of isolation

(Newser) - President Trump is "cured" of the coronavirus—or so he claims in his first interview since his hospitalization a week ago. "I feel perfect. There's nothing wrong," he told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News in a phone interview on Thursday, per CNBC . "I don't...

Dems: Trump's $13B Aid to Puerto Rico Is for Votes

3 years after hurricanes, some say surprise relief package is 'too little and too late'

(Newser) - In 2017, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico. It took nearly a year to restore power to the entire island, with a final death toll said to be around 3,000, though Trump has pushed back on that number. Now, three years after the storms, the president is...

Plug In Your Address to See Odds of Flooding
Plug In Your Address
to See Odds of Flooding
the rundown
Jun 29, 2020 10:40 AM CDT

Plug In Your Address to See Odds of Flooding

New database shows federal estimates are way too low

(Newser) - The official stats we use to determine whether our homes are at risk of flooding are woefully out of date and understate the actual danger in a big way, according to a new initiative to set the record straight. Across the US, millions more homes are at risk than government...

'Heartbreaking' News on Paramedic Who Went to Help NYC

Paul Cary, 66, who traveled from Colo. to assist in city's fight against COVID-19, has died from virus

(Newser) - Paul Cary, a grandfather of four who'd served as a paramedic and firefighter in Aurora, Colo., for more than 30 years, knew he wanted to help the people of New York City as they battled the coronavirus. And so, NBC New York reports, at the end of March, the...

GM CEO: 20-Hour Days Sped Up Ventilator Process

First batch will be delivered by end of April

(Newser) - Late last month, President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to mandate that General Motors start cranking out ventilators in bulk to help in the fight against the coronavirus. Now GM and Ventec Life Systems, the medical tech firm it's working with, say they'll deliver their first batch...

Report: Pentagon Asked to Provide 100K Body Bags

FEMA request was sent to Defense Department

(Newser) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has reportedly asked for 100,000 body bags—enough to deal with fatalities at the lower end of the estimate under the White House's most optimistic coronavirus scenario . Sources tell Bloomberg that FEMA requested the "Human Remains Pouches" as civilian COVID-19 deaths continue...

FEMA Struck by a 'Major Privacy Incident'

Agency disclosed sensitive data of more than 2M disaster survivors, per DHS IG report

(Newser) - Survivors may still be picking up the pieces after the natural disasters that have swept across the country over the past couple of years, and now they have a new issue to contend with: the possibility of identity theft thanks to what the Federal Emergency Management Agency is calling a...

She Insulted Michelle Obama. Now, a Guilty Plea

Pamela Taylor, who called ex-first lady 'ape in heels,' admits taking money from FEMA

(Newser) - "The flood was a natural disaster. Stealing from FEMA is a manmade disaster." Per a DOJ release , that's US Attorney Mike Stuart speaking on the case of Pamela Taylor, a 57-year-old from West Virginia who made headlines in 2016 for calling then-first lady Michelle Obama an "...

FEMA Chief Resigning
FEMA Chief Steps Down
Feb 13, 2019 3:08 PM CST

FEMA Chief Steps Down

Brock Long resigning

(Newser) - The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is resigning, months after an investigation found he misused government vehicles to travel to his home in North Carolina. Brock Long said in a letter Wednesday to agency employees that he was resigning to spend more time with his family, the AP...

Trump Had Warned California. Today, Another Shot Fired

President says he's cutting off FEMA money unless state gets 'act together, which is unlikely'

(Newser) - When President Trump demanded California get its wildfires in check , he apparently meant business. "Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forrest fires that, with proper Forrest Management, would never happen," Trump said in a Wednesday tweet, ultimately replaced with one in which "...

Most Americans Will Get the Same Text Next Thursday

You can't opt out out of this 'Presidential Alert'

(Newser) - You may hear a bit of noise next Thursday afternoon after lunch, and you can thank FEMA and the FCC. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the two agencies are pushing out a "Presidential Alert" test to nearly every cellphone in the nation Sept. 20 to "assess the operational readiness...

Former FEMA Official Accused of Disturbing Behavior

Corey Coleman allegedly harassed subordinates, hired frat brothers

(Newser) - The conduct of FEMA's former personnel chief was definitely sleazy and possibly criminal, according to a damning internal investigation seen by the Washington Post and the AP . Corey Coleman—who resigned weeks ago, before the investigation concluded—allegedly sexually harassed subordinates, hired unqualified fraternity brothers and women he met...

They're FEMA's Elite Rescuers, Yet Some Do Little Rescuing

Bureaucracy, too much gear, and other inefficiencies are marring response efforts

(Newser) - They're called the "national Swiss Army knife of emergency response," teams of highly trained first responders sent by FEMA across the US when disaster strikes. But when hurricanes pummeled Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico last summer, many of the thousands deployed via the agency's National Urban...

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