In Florida, from Pensacola on the west end of the
Panhandle to Key West, Hurricane Irma had a severe impact across the state
of Florida.
A combined federal, state, local, and private sector response
resulted in restoration of power to 99.9% of the population within 10 days of
landfall. At peak, there were some 60,000 utility linemen in the state. Fuel
depots were established around the state that provided gas to first responders
and utility workers, allowing them to continue working uninterrupted.
As we
move into recovery, FEMA, state and local governments are committed to
assisting Floridians in rebuilding their lives after the storm. Registering
with FEMA is the first step in beginning the recovery process. Nearly 2.4
million homeowners and renters who suffered damage as a result of
Hurricane Irma have already registered. The deadline to register with the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for possible federal disaster
assistance is Nov. 9.
In the one month since the major disaster
declaration in Florida, the recovery continues. Here is a look at whole
community progress made through the efforts of tireless emergency workers, volunteers
and community organizers.
More than $847 million in state and federal disaster
assistance funding has been approved for Hurricane Irma survivors and their
communities.
Individuals eligible for assistance received more than $494
million for housing assistance and more than $245 million for other
needs.
Operation Blue Roof, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program FEMA
tasks in disasters, placed plastic sheeting over the damaged area of 4,536
home roofs to help prevent further damage.
FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crews made nearly 18,000 referrals
to non-profit programs serving individuals and communities of Florida,
including the 211 telephone-based service, faith-based and affiliated
charities, American Red Cross, aging services, crisis counseling and veteran’s
services.
More than 6.7 million meals have been provided by
volunteers. Among them were American Red Cross members who provided nearly 1.2
million meals and snacks.
Disaster Survivor Assistance teams met face-to-face with 65,654
survivors to assist them in registering and obtaining information about
resources and assistance.
Nearly 2.4 million survivors have applied to FEMA for
disaster assistance.
216,528 FEMA housing
inspections, an essential part of the recovery process, have been completed.
In Georgia, FEMA and the
Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) are working in close
coordination with other state and federal agencies and voluntary organizations,
including Salvation Army, American Red Cross, and Georgia Baptist Disaster
Services, to help Georgians recover from the damage left by the storm. GEMA and
FEMA are initiating a new Public Assistance (PA) delivery model. There are 102
counties designated for all PA categories, and all 159 Georgia counties are
designated for debris removal and emergency protective measures, categories A
and B.
In
the past month since Hurricane Irma caused damage across Georgia:
-More than $15 million in state and
federal funds have been approved for disaster survivors.
- FEMA approved more than $9.7 million in Individuals and Households Program grants.
- More than 40,000 individuals and households registered
with FEMA in the seven Georgia counties designated for Individual Assistance.
- More than $5 million in expedited funding
has been approved for National Flood Insurance Program policy holders, and
approximately 1,900 claims
have been filed.
- More
than 3,300 survivors have
visited seven disaster recovery centers, five of which remain open.
- The U.S. Small
Business Administration approved more
than $535,000 in low-interest disaster loans for homeowners and renters
and established Business Recovery Centers in Brunswick and Savannah.
- The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers is providing technical assistance to local officials for
debris removal efforts.
-The U.S. Coast
Guard is removing 37 sunken and
damaged vessels from the St. Mary’s River.
The fastest way to help the survivors of the hurricanes, whether through financial donation or personal volunteerism is through a trusted organization.
Donations - cash is best: The National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) lists trusted organizations receiving donations. The NVOAD website has information on non-profit organizations accepting or registering individual in-kind donations here. For corporate donations connect here. You may also make financial donations to a National VOAD member organization to help voluntary or charitable organizations continue to provide services to hurricane survivors.
NVOAD is coordinating
closely with the governor’s offices on offers of assistance. To
provide assistance directly to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, go to www.unitedforpuertorico.com, and for USVI, go to
https://www.usvirecovery.org.
Volunteering: Anyone seeking an opportunity to get involved in response and recovery operations is encouraged to volunteer with local and nationally known organizations. A list of volunteer websites is available at www.nvoad.org. Those who wish to register to volunteer to support response efforts for Hurricane Maria can go here for Puerto Rico (https://prvoad.communityos.org/cms/irma) and here: (https://usvivoad.communityos.org/cms/irma) for the U.S. Virgin Islands. To register as an affiliated volunteer with a voluntary or charitable organization, visit the National VOAD for a list of partners active in disaster. Alternatively, you may register your interest to volunteer here for partner organizations to reach out to you.
For more information, go to https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-maria, https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-irma, and https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4332 for Hurricane Harvey.
With a large percentage of
the FEMA workforce in the field supporting 28 disasters, the agency
continues to grow its workforce to bolster recovery activities underway in the
states and U.S. territories affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate.
FEMA is hiring dedicated people to join our recovery team, comprised of
locally-hired workers. Through its hiring of temporary local employees
and Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees (CORE), FEMA
diversifies its workforce while affording opportunities for survivors to help
fellow survivors. Fluency in English and Spanish, for some positions, is preferred.
The types of jobs that are available include (but are not limited to): applicant services specialist, administrative support assistant, analysts, civil engineer, construction cost estimator, courier, crisis counselor, customer service specialist, digital communications specialist, emergency management specialist, environmental specialist, equal rights advisor, floodplain management specialist, graphics specialist, geospatial information, systems specialist, hazard mitigation, outreach specialist, historic preservation specialist, housing coordinator and reports writer, insurance specialist, intergovernmental affairs, mass care specialist, media relations specialist, program liaisons, resource manager, registered nurse, travel specialist, voluntary agency liaison, and writers.
Temporary Local Hires
FEMA hires local residents, who are often disaster survivors themselves, to
help their fellow citizens in the recovery process. Local hiring allows
disaster survivors to get back to work while adding to the long-term recovery
of the local community and bringing a special understanding of the problems
faced by fellow disaster survivors.
Most temporary local hires are employed following a streamlined, rather than
a competitive, process. A local hire’s term of employment is 120 days, though
it may be extended in 120-day increments up to one year. Temporary local
hires do not earn career
tenure or competitive status in the federal government. This means that
they must compete with the public for future federal jobs rather than receive
preference.
If interested in joining FEMA as a Temporary Local Hire, applicants
can search positions on FEMA’s Hurricane Workforce page. For additional information
on temporary local hire positions, contact FEMA Region II, IV, or VI Office.
- Florida: To apply for open
positions, create an account at employflorida.com
and use the keyword: FEMA. More information for job-seekers and employers
can be found on the Hurricane
Irma Recovery Jobs Portal.
- Puerto Rico: Those who wish to
apply should email their resume to fema-workforce-caribbean@fema.dhs.gov
and include the words “Puerto Rico” in the subject line. For those
applicants without internet access, they should submit resumes in a sealed
envelope at any post office in Puerto Rico marked “FEMA Jobs.” The U.S.
Post Service will deliver resumes to the FEMA recovery team in Puerto
Rico.
-Texas: Job-seekers should
register at WorkinTexas.com,
the Texas Workforce Commission’s website, where application instructions
are posted. In partnership with the Texas Workforce Commission, the
National Labor Exchange identifies positions here
to assist Texan employers with recruitment needs related to Hurricane
Harvey.
FEMA will host a webinar October 12 from 2-4 p.m. Eastern Time to gain feedback on potential enhancements to the Fiscal Year 2018 State Homeland Security Initiative (SHSP) and Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) risk assessment methodology. Assistant Administrator for Grant Programs Thomas DiNanno will host the webinar along with a question and answer session.
Please submit enhancement ideas, comments, or questions on the risk assessment process beforehand to FEMA-MSA-Process@fema.dhs.gov. Questions should focus on a specific area of the assessment, provide a tangible set of data, or portion of the methodology that could be added, improved, or updated. Also, there will be the opportunity to pose a question or comment during the webinar in the comments section or by sending an email to FEMA-MSA-Process@fema.dhs.gov.
There will be no conference line as all audio will be through the webinar. Please test your capabilities to hear the audio online through your computer’s browser software, speakers or headset.
Registration Link: https://icpd.adobeconnect.com/risk10121/event/registration.html. Please register for the webinar beforehand. If a pop-up asks for your credentials (username and password), first click cancel and then you will be taken to the registration page. Test your Adobe Connect connection at: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm prior to the meeting. The webinar will offer captioning.
Fire Prevention
Week is this week, from October 8-14. The 2017 theme is Every Second
Counts. Plan Two Ways Out.
According
to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), you may have less than two minutes to get out
safely once the smoke alarms sound. Use these seven steps from USFA to develop
and practice your fire escape plan during Fire Prevention Week:
- Draw a map of your home with all the doors and windows.
- Find two ways out of every room.
- Do not block doors and windows.
- Choose an outside meeting place in front of your home.
- Push the test button to sound the smoke alarm.
- Practice your drill with everyone in the home.
- Get outside to your meeting place.
USFA recommends that everyone have
working smoke alarms (replace
all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old), practice a home
fire escape plan and consider installing home fire sprinklers in their home.
Find more information, go to www.usfa.fema.gov.
The 2017 Great ShakeOut is coming soon. ShakeOut is an annual earthquake drill held on the
third Thursday of October as a way of learning how to react in the event of an earthquake. It is coordinated across all states and
territories with support from the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction
Program, the Southern California Earthquake Center, the Ready Campaign, Prepareathon,
the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation, ShakeOut.org, and
others.
The Great
ShakeOut will be on October 19 at 10:19 a.m. local time. At that time,
participants will "Drop, Cover, and Hold On" as practice for
what to do in the event of an earthquake. Quakes could happen in at least 33 states and territories that have moderate to very high risk of earthquake,
in addition other states also at risk nationwide. Knowing what to
do before an earthquake could determine how well you survive
and recover. Learn steps that you can take with the Earthquake Safety
Checklist. Learn more about how to register and participate in the
ShakeOut drill at www.ShakeOut.org.
FEMA Seeks Input on Fiscal Year 2018-2022 FEMA Strategic Plan
FEMA's Administrator believes in the importance of hearing external partners’ perspectives
to help FEMA improve the way business is done. Throughout the next few months,
FEMA is inviting its stakeholders and partners from across the whole community
to help shape the Fiscal Year 2018-2022 FEMA Strategic Plan. In an
effort to reach as many stakeholders and partners as possible, FEMA is
accepting feedback via IdeaScale – an
interactive, web-based application that allows idea sharing, collaboration and
engagement.
FEMA is looking for input
and engagement on Simplifying Recovery
and Reducing Disaster Costs. How can FEMA simplify
recovery programs and reduce disaster costs while ensuring accountability,
customer service, and fiscal stewardship?
Buying Down Risk
through Preparedness and Mitigation
- How should risk be calculated in awarding grants?
- What type of grants are
best suited for effectively reducing risk?
- How do we incentivize
more investment in preparedness/mitigation prior to a disaster (not only
federal investment)?
- How should the nation,
including but not limited to FEMA, train and credential a surge disaster
workforce ahead of major disasters?
- What are new ways to
think about a true culture of preparedness?
We value the input and diverse perspectives that
you bring to help inform this process, the final product, and our efforts. Our IdeaScale campaigns will be open until October 31, 2017. We look forward to your
ideas and suggestions.
Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Applications Open Until November 14
The application
period is open for two competitive Hazard
Mitigation Assistance grant programs. Eligible applicants including
territories, federally recognized tribes, states and local governments may
apply for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Flood Mitigation
Assistance (FMA) and Pre-Disaster
Mitigation (PDM) grants at https://portal.fema.gov
through 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on November 14, 2017.
FMA grants are
available to implement measures to reduce or eliminate risk of flood damage to
structures insured by the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP). For FY 2017, $160 million is available,
including $70 million for community flood mitigation activities that address
flooding on a neighborhood level, such as floodwater diversion and localized
flood-control measures as well as advance assistance for mitigation design and
development of community flood mitigation projects.
PDM
grants are awarded for all-hazard mitigation planning and projects, such as the
construction of community and residential safe rooms for tornados, and wind
retrofits, which are enhancements made to strengthen the roof, walls and doors
of structures to minimize damage caused by high winds. This year, $90 million
is available, including $10 million for federally-recognized tribes. States,
tribes, territories and the District of Columbia may apply for the statutory
allocation of up to $575,000 federal share. Visit https://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-grant-program for additional details about the grants.
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