Navigation
Search
Languages
Blog
“I know these people, and I can tell you they gave with their hearts.”Surrounded by over 100 colleagues, Federal Coordinating Officer Willie Nunn presented members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve with bins of donated new toys, including over 10 new bikes and helmets. The toys were collected by employees deployed in support of Hurricane Irma at the Joint Field Office in Orlando and branch offices throughout the state of Florida.“Our people work under difficult conditions; they are away from home and loved ones during the holiday season,” said Nunn. “Through...
Posted On: November 29, 2017 By: Lee SnyderOn September 21, the day after Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico, the sleek, black police helicopter landed at the Sabana Seca Navy base without clearance. Several shaken survivors exited the helicopter before it rose back into the sky, headed back to Toa Baja (Barrio Ingenio) for more stranded people. In San Juan, the damage was obvious; buildings had collapsed, trees had toppled, roads were destroyed. The damage was severe, but no one knew yet how extensive it was island-wide, as communications were non-existent.Helicopters from the San Juan-based...
Posted On: November 25, 2017 In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the Government of Mexico generously reached out to the United States to offer life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to survivors in Puerto Rico. Even as Mexico was recovering from several disasters of its own, Mexican authorities worked closely with FEMA’s International Affairs Division to determine what assistance was most urgent for Puerto Rico. The Government of Mexico committed $100,000 for the purchase of humanitarian aid, and also dispatched Mexican experts to support recovery efforts.September saw Mexico struck by two hurricanes, Katia...
Posted On: November 16, 2017 A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data. FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery is home to a GIS team that utilizes a variety of imagery and georeferenced data in mapping the impacts of natural and man-made disasters. FEMA obtains synthetic aperture radar (SAR) geospatial imagery from foreign partners to supplement U.S. capabilities. SAR radar can be used to generate maps of regions under nighttime or overcast conditions and is especially useful in flood response.During the...
Posted On: November 6, 2017 For the past months, FEMA Corps members Christopher Coles and Casey Regnier, both 22, have been on a number of site visits with the FEMA officials who check on the progress of Baton Rouge area residents living in FEMA mobile homes while making repairs to their storm-damaged houses.Coles, of Rockford, Michigan, and Regnier, of Neenah, Wisconsin, are part of a national service initiative through the federal AmeriCorps program. FEMA Corps provides opportunities for young adults to volunteer with FEMA and gain valuable emergency management experience. More than 300 FEMA Corps members were...
Posted On: October 25, 2017 While not the only areas impacted by the wildfires, when many think of Napa and Sonoma in California, it conjures up images of lush vineyards with rolling hills and vibrant green landscapes. Those mental images are in stark contrast to images of devastation wrought by the fires—filled with bold orange flames and gray ash as far as the eye can see. Vineyards, some of the hallmarks of the area, are being reduced to singed grapes and empty fields with nothing for a 2017 vintage; a somber reminder of its own. Many areas are being scorched, reduced to nothing more than their frames and...
Posted On: October 20, 2017 I will never forget the sadness I felt when I first flew over Puerto Rico in the days following Hurricane Maria. It looked as though a fireball had made landfall and burned a path through the center of the island. It was heartbreaking. As the commander of the South Atlantic Division, with responsibility for the southeastern United States, the Caribbean, and the landmass south of the US-Mexico border, I felt responsible and obligated to do whatever possible to make a difference here and restore normalcy.The Corps is performing many important missions in Puerto Rico in support of FEMA and the...
Posted On: October 14, 2017 Editor's Note: On October 7, we updated the title of this blog to reflect the new status of the storm. October for many brings thoughts of postseason baseball and pumpkin spice lattes. For us, it doesn’t change a whole lot, just the page of the calendar and maybe our coffee preferences, as we continue to monitor the potential for tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic.Hurricane season doesn’t actually end until November—after the revelry of Thanksgiving has finished and some places in northern parts of the country have already seen their first snowfalls.This...
Posted On: October 5, 2017 On August 29, during a phone call with President Trump, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong offered a detachment of Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) CH-47 Chinook helicopters to support Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. The Chinooks and their crew have participated in joint training with the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG) since 1996. President Trump accepted Singapore’s offer and FEMA was tasked with integrating the assets into the overall response effort.FEMA coordinated closely with the Department of Defense’s Northern Command and the National Guard to ensure...
Posted On: October 3, 2017 (Español) On August 25, 2017, FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) was fully activated to a Level I with all emergency support functions operational, including Department of Defense (DoD) liaisons in preparation for Hurricane Harvey. The NRCC remains at a Level I activation. Prior to the arrival of Hurricane Maria, federal personnel were already positioned on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in response to Hurricane Irma.These personnel included federal coordinating officers and Incident Management Assistance Teams (IMATs) on both the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto...
Posted On: September 29, 2017