FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate on supply movements and Gulf Coast preps for Tropical Storm Isaac as it nears the U.S.
Companies that made and set up trailers used as emergency housing after Hurricane Katrina have agreed to a nearly $43 million settlement with people who say they were hurt by formaldehyde in the units.
The federal government, hoping to harness the power of young volunteers, is creating a new unit within AmeriCorps to help FEMA prepare for and respond to hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other disasters.
On the eve of submitting a request for funds to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Washington Mayor Vincent Gray inspected the damage done to the National Cathedral from the August 23 earthquake that rattled the nation's capital and much of the East Coast.
The Senate reached a bipartisan agreement to end a dispute over disaster relief spending. Kate Bolduan reports.
The standoff continues Monday between the House and the Senate over emergency funding, which is holding up a short-term spending measure to keep government running into the new fiscal year that begins this weekend.
In an emergency, do you know how to best use your cell phone to stay safe, informed and in touch?
No part of the country is immune from the effects of Mother Nature.
Lawmakers and the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency met for about an hour Thursday to discuss FEMA's response to flooding along the East Coast, and to announce a loose coalition of lawmakers to monitor that response.
September is National Preparedness Month -- do you know where your cell phone is, and how to use it during an emergency?
The Federal Disaster Relief Fund, the pot of money used to help communities and individuals hit by disasters, is nearly depleted. That's bad news for victims of both Hurricane Irene and other disasters like the tornadoes that hit earlier this year.
Three months ago, Republicans in the House of Representatives tried to slash 2012 spending for the Federal Emergency Management Agency by 55% compared with 2011 spending levels, 70% compared with the 2010 budget. Thankfully, Senate Democrats avoided the most extreme cuts to FEMA. But since then, the United States has been pelted by several major disasters and FEMA is almost out of money.
The House Appropriations Committee approved an additional $1 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday to ensure the agency has enough resources to cover disaster response efforts in Missouri and in other states recently hit by natural disasters.
For the National Flood Insurance Program, there are good years and there are bad years. This is shaping up to be a bad year.
An eighth victim of the September 9 natural gas explosion and fire in San Bruno, California, has died, according to San Mateo County Coroner Robert J. Foucralt.
Federal officials have turned down California's request for federal disaster aid for a deadly gas pipeline explosion earlier this month, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday.
Benilda Caixeta, who was paralyzed from her shoulders down, was one of many residents of New Orleans, Louisiana, still trying to evacuate when Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005. But despite her repeated calls to the local transportation system that served people with disabilities, as well as to 911, help never arrived. She was found dead in her apartment several days later, floating next to her wheelchair.
In an attempt to raise awareness of disaster preparedness, the American College of Emergency Physicians has teamed up with casual games publisher and developer Legacy Interactive to create "Disaster Hero.
CNNMoney: Flood assistanceupdated: Mon May 17 2010 14:34:00
Floodwaters swallowed up hundreds of homes in Tennessee. And residents there are just beginning to pick up the pieces. If you or someone you know has been affected by the floods, there is assistance available through disaster aid programs.
Elected officials declare emergencies with relative ease. But declaring them over is another matter.
Five days after a deadly earthquake and tsunami slammed into the Samoan Islands, burying parts of the islands under a sea of mud and debris, U.S. agencies continued Saturday helping residents dig out and providing relief to disaster victims.
President Obama plans to nominate Craig Fugate, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, as the next administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the White House said Wednesday.
Food kits recently distributed as part of a disaster relief effort in Kentucky and Arkansas may contain peanut butter contaminated with salmonella linked to a nationwide outbreak, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday.
As if it weren't bad enough that home prices are going down (way down), the cost of homeowners insurance is also moving in the wrong direction: up (in some areas, way up).
FEMA is prepared to send 5 million liters of water, 5 million meals, 270,000 cots and rescue teams to Texas for Hurricane Ike.
The government wasted millions of dollars on four no-bid contracts it handed out for Hurricane Katrina work, including paying $20 million for a camp for evacuees that was never inspected and proved to be unusable, investigators say
A Federal Emergency Management Agency official Thursday defended the agency's handling of millions of dollars worth of supplies meant for survivors of the 2005 hurricanes, but pledged to check with states before any future giveaways.
Federal officials vastly overestimated the value of hurricane relief supplies given away earlier this year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported Monday.
Weeks after flooding devastated farmland and homes in the Midwest, officials in five states said Friday that initial steps are under way for possible buyouts of property in flood zones.
The post-Katrina emergency management agency is doing better in responding to the Iowa floods. But there are still some complaints
CNN's Abbie Boudreau reports Mississippi missed out millions in hurricane Katrina supplies warehoused by FEMA.
A Democratic congressman from Mississippi plans to hold a hearing into how millions of dollars worth of supplies meant for Gulf Coast hurricane survivors ended up being given away as surplus property.
An impoverished town in Illinois has had its flood insurance revoked by the Federal Government. Now the floods are coming. And don't even talk about earthquakes
Even as FEMA rushes sandbags, generators and pumps to the flooded Midwest, a government report questions the agency's ability to distribute relief supplies effectively during major disasters.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as families start returning to their homes damaged by floods.
Some of the $85 million in hurricane relief supplies given away as federal surplus will be sent back to Louisiana and given to nonprofit agencies for distribution, the state's hurricane recovery office said Tuesday.
There are lessons to be learned from the Midwest floods where many homeowners didn't have flood insurance. Some of those people were told they didn't even need it. Here are top tips on what you need to know to keep your home safe.
The director of Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday defended giving away an estimated $85 million in hurricane relief supplies, blaming Louisiana officials for turning down the stockpiles.
Louisiana officials are demanding that hurricane supplies the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave away be returned to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
FEMA gave away about $85 million in household goods meant for Hurricane Katrina victims, a CNN investigation has found.
New Orleans charity worker Martha Kegel tells CNN's Abbie Boudreau that FEMA is "out of touch."
FEMA Administrator David Paulison says that his agency has learned from the past and improving its capabilities.
Some skeptical senators questioned Thursday whether the agency much maligned for its response to Hurricane Katrina is better prepared today to respond to another major hurricane season.
When it comes to our economy, politicians on both sides of the aisle are quick to say that a stimulus package shouldn't have anything to do with political ideology. But while that's nice in theory, it's impossible in practice because economics and ideology go hand in hand.
Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Texas, said Tuesday that Federal Emergency Management Agency tried to control the outcome of a scientific study on formaldehyde in trailers used to house victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Toxic trailers?
updated: Tue Jan 29 2008 17:43:00
CNN's Sean Callebs reports on a controversy involving the trailers provided to survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
A staged news conference during the California wildfires last month claimed the job of a second Federal Emergency Management Agency press official, as a review of the incident revealed "a calamity of bad decision-making."
In an internal memo obtained Monday by CNN, Federal Emergency Management Agency chief David Paulison rips the agency's public affairs staff for a staged news conference in which staff members posed questions to FEMA's No. 2 official, Harvey Johnson.
Josh Levs reports on an embarrassing action from FEMA recently: a fake news conference.
The phony wildfires press conference wasn't entirely unprecedented. So what's the agency's rationale?
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials know the agency's performance in the California wildfires will be watched closely for comparisons to its failures in Hurricane Katrina.
CNN's John Roberts interviews FEMA Administrator David Paulison.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will keep selling and donating surplus disaster-relief trailers despite concerns that the trailers have unhealthy levels of formaldehyde
The federal agency faces tough questions over trailers it supplied to Katrina survivors that turned out to be hazardous
Call it a case of double-dipping victims.
More than 400 people -- including government and charity workers -- have been charged so far with illegally benefiting from Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing flooding, according to a Justice Department report released Wednesday.
As many as 110,000 trailers housing hurricane victims on the U.S. Gulf Coast may need additional locks after the discovery that one key can be used to open many of the temporary homes, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.
Saying it wants to remain a "compassionate" agency but avoid the abuse and inefficiencies that marred its response to Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday announced major changes to the way it will distribute emergency aid.
A $200 bottle of champagne from Hooters and $300 worth of "Girls Gone Wild" videos were among items bought with debit cards handed out by FEMA to help hurricane victims, auditors probing $1 billion in potential waste and fraud have found.
Lawmakers expressed outrage Wednesday over a federal audit report that debit cards handed out to hurricane victims last year were used to buy such items as a $200 bottle of champagne from Hooters and $300 worth of "Girls Gone Wild" videos.
Problems with the distribution of federal disaster assistance after hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused potential fraud and waste topping $1 billion, an audit by the Government Accountability Office found.
Hard-learned lessons from Katrina have led to improved disaster plans for the city of New Orleans and surrounding parishes, FEMA chief David Paulison said as the new hurricane season got under way Thursday.
Julie Steele lives 100 miles from the North Carolina coast, but she's still worried about the coming hurricane season.
A Senate panel chastised the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday, saying the disaster response organization needs to be scrapped.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which floundered in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, should be abolished and replaced with a new organization, a Senate committee recommended Thursday.
After being roundly criticized in a slew of media, congressional and government reports, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's internal watchdog Friday returned its own verdict on the handling of Hurricane Katrina: The criticism against FEMA is largely deserved.
The embattled former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency portrayed himself during testimony Friday as a scapegoat who had fought for emergency aid to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
An independent study warned of managerial and logistical weaknesses at the Federal Emergency Management Agency months before its heavily criticized response to Hurricane Katrina.
Two temporary employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were arrested after soliciting bribes from a contractor supplying food for residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the FBI announced Friday.
More than three months after thousands of people lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina, local and federal officials are trading blame over the slow delivery of trailer housing.
DNA testing is to begin immediately on hundreds of still unidentified bodies found in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana officials said, easing anguish for survivors awaiting word on their missing loved ones.
New Orleans' coroner expressed outrage Tuesday that the process of using DNA to identify more than 200 bodies left from Hurricane Katrina has not begun because the state of Louisiana has not signed contracts with firms that would do the testing.
Hoping to speed up the identification of those killed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, Louisiana said Thursday it would accept a new federal plan to pay for most of the cost for DNA testing.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has no more money to pay flood insurance claims and has advised the nation's 96 companies that underwrite flood insurance to suspend payments, a spokesman for the agency said Thursday.
As soon as the rains ended, construction companies began cleaning up--in more ways than one. Few, however, were small businesses. By law, small firms should get 23% of all federal contracts awarded...
Government response to Hurricane Katrina was sharply criticized at all levels. CNN.com asked readers what suggestions they had to improve federal response to emergencies. Here is a sampling of the responses, some of which have been edited:
Internal Department of Homeland Security e-mails -- requested by a House select committee investigating the government's response to Hurricane Katrina -- show infighting, gaps in communication and general frustration.
A day after a Louisiana sheriff in a hurricane-devastated parish complained he couldn't meet payroll, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's acting director said Thursday that FEMA could loan communities money to pay law enforcement and other personnel.
An official from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has apologized to the president of Louisiana's St. Tammany Parish after a dispute over temporary residences, but the area still faces a housing crunch after Hurricane Katrina.
The president of St. Tammany Parish Monday demanded an apology from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its claim that he had recommended it hire his construction company to develop a property to house people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
Out of chaos sometimes comes inspiration. Consider what happened after the ill winds of Katrina had their way with New Orleans and came ripping through rural Washington Parish, La., at 150 miles pe...
A congressional panel on Tuesday is expected to scrutinize the decision to keep ousted Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown on the federal payroll.
Streams of evacuees are stuck again in a familiar evacuation limbo. While out of harm's way, the return to normalcy is nowhere in sight.
As Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast three weeks ago, veteran workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency braced for an epic disaster.
David Paulison, who recommended in 2003 that Americans stock up on plastic sheeting and duct tape to be prepared for a terrorist attack, was named Monday as acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As flames blazed 400 miles away in New Orleans on Labor Day, about 600 fire fighters from across the nation sat in an Atlanta hotel listening to a FEMA lecture on equal opportunity, sexual harassment and customer service.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Brown resigned Monday after coming under fire over his qualifications and for what critics call a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina's destruction.
Almost two weeks after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, some of the cities hardest hit by the storm are waiting for more help.
The confusing odyssey for New Orleans evacuees began while Hurricane Katrina was still churning in the Gulf of Mexico.
On Friday the Department of the Treasury asked banks to waive ATM fees when Katrina evacuees used their FEMA Assistance Cards to obtain cash.
As the floodwaters recede and the search for the dead begins, there are grim signs that authorities expect a staggering death toll from Hurricane Katrina.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday it will hand out debit cards worth $2,000 each to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Add geography to the growing list of FEMA fumbles.
Louisiana's largest newspaper printed a blistering editorial in Sunday's edition under the headline "An Open Letter to the President," criticizing the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
As the nation comes to terms with the flood-stricken wake of Hurricane Katrina, CNN/Money answers questions about flood insurance, specifically, what it covers, where it's available, how much it costs and whether you need it -- and yes, you do.
Like Elvis Costello said, accidents can happen. You could lose your job unexpectedly or a family member could come down with a serious illness. Bottom line: You need to be prepared.
Unfortunately, it's likely that you will face some sort of a financial emergency in your lifetime.
Homeowners in more than a dozen states who want to fortify their houses against a hurricane, tornado, earthquake or flood will soon be eligible for special loans. Under a new program run by Fannie ...
The government is putting the millions of homeowners with flood insurance on notice: Rates may get higher and claims-paying stingier.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|