The audit released Tuesday by the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security examined a program that spent about $642 million to provide emergency lodging for nearly 227,000 victims of hurricanes in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Florida and Texas and wildfires...
Puerto Rico is updating its building code and will use a $79 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve enforcement, the agency stated. The grant to the Puerto Rico Planning Board and the Office of Permits Management will increase the number of compliance officials from...
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience, or COR3, have obligated nearly $7.5 million in additional funds for 78 projects related to the recovery and reconstruction of Puerto Rico, the agencies announced. These funds were obligated fr...
Puerto Rico. Congressional Research Service 9 FEMA’s Public Assistance Program: A Primer and Considerations for Congress Figure 4. FEMA’s PA Program Eligibility Pyramid Source: CRS interpretation of FEMA, Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide, v. 4, effective June 1, 2020, p. 38. ...
In January,Risk Management Monitorreportedthat 62% of large U.S. companies with operations in Florida, Texas or Puerto Rico said they were not fully prepared for major storms and hurricanes in 2017. “These candid admissions drive home a fundamental truth about catastrophe,” Louis Gritzo, vice...
The agency is already under pressure after a grueling hurricane season last year that included Harvey, Irma and Maria. The federal response to Maria in Puerto Rico was widely criticized; President Donald Trump has lashed out over the criticism and suggested without evidence the revised death toll ...
The Homeland Security Department’s Office of Inspector General found the breach occurred when FEMA was working with a contractor that helps provide temporary housing to those affected by disasters. FEMA is one of Homeland Security’s many agencies; the sprawling 240,000-person department also includ...
With just five weeks to go until the start of hurricane season, FEMA has made changes to better handle increasingly severe storms, Gaynor said. That includes keeping more supplies in places such as Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska, which can be harder to reach in emergencies. Congress has also...
FEMA works with the Puerto Rico’s Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency, or COR3, through the agency’s Public Assistance program to obligate recovery funds to private nonprofit organizations, municipalities and agencies of the government of Puerto Rico for expenses related to Hu...
In a March interview at FEMA’s joint field office in Puerto Rico, Michael Byrne, FEMA’s top official overseeing the response to Hurricane Maria, downplayed the importance of the plan. “A plan is good when you don’t have all the ground truth about what your requirements are going to...