Federal Emergency Management Agency News

Kentucky Seeking Federal Help As Floodwaters Cause Damage

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s governor toured parts of his state hard by heavy rains Tuesday and pledged to seek federal assistance after massive flooding inundated several areas. Gov. Andy Beshear said “parts of cities are underwater in eastern Kentucky” …

Watch Out Los Angeles: Feds Calculate Riskiest, Safest Places In U.S.

Spending her life in Los Angeles, Morgan Andersen knows natural disasters all too well. In college, an earthquake shook her home hard. Her grandfather was affected by recent wildfires in neighboring Orange County. “It’s just that constant reminder, `Oh yeah, …

Emergency Experts Contemplate What FEMA Should Do Next

Perhaps no single federal agency has been tested as much by 2020 as the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It has been a year of disaster. In addition to Covid-19, it was the busiest Atlantic hurricane season on record, and wildfires …

Few Requests for Help With Graves Damaged by Hurricane Laura

NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Laura damaged nearly 1,900 graves in Louisiana, but fewer than 25 families have asked for help with them, officials say. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office has surveyed 127 cemeteries in nine parishes, and found about …

Recovery From Hurricane Sally Incomplete on Alabama Coast

GULF SHORES, Ala. — Alabama’s beaches have reopened, but the state’s coast has hardly recovered fully from the effects of Hurricane Sally last month. Visitors still have limited options for getting to the sand because so many boardwalks and beach …

U.S. Lawmaker Wants Insurers, Govt to Share Future Pandemic Business Losses

U.S. legislation introduced on Tuesday would create a taxpayer-backed insurance program to protect businesses from revenue losses during future pandemics and require insurers to pay a slice of the claims. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from …

U.S. Insurers Propose Taxpayer-Funded Business-Loss Coverage For Future Pandemics

With U.S. insurance companies facing criticism over their response to the coronavirus outbreak, three industry groups on Thursday proposed putting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in charge of a taxpayer-backed program to protect businesses from revenue losses during future …

New Jersey, Other States, Work to Fight Virus Misinformation

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s top homeland security official received nearly nonstop calls in early March from grocery chains, trucking companies and other logistics firms wanting to know if rumors of an impending national lockdown were true. They weren’t, and …

Already Braced for Covid-19, Towns Watch the Rising Mississippi With Fear

From her home window, Belinda Constant, mayor of Gretna, Louisiana, watches the mighty Mississippi flow by. Beyond it are the sparkling lights of New Orleans. She views both warily these days. New Orleans is a hot spot for Covid-19, and …

Western Iowa Community Finds Flood Recovery a Long Process

HORNICK, Iowa — For a year now, every time Bob Nelson hears a flood watch has been issued, he’s up and out the door, no matter the time of day, checking on creeks and the West Fork of the Little …