Preparedness…not just for scouts anymore
June 1st, 2009 | Agencies Commerce Homeland Security | Posted by Elise Castelli
Happy first day of hurricane season everyone! Your fellow feds at the National Weather Service are predicting a “near-normal Atlantic hurricane season” this year, with “nine to 14 named storms, of which four to seven could become hurricanes, including one to three major hurricanes.”
With this news, both the National Weather Service and FEMA remind us that “be prepared” should be everyone’s motto, not just the Boy Scouts’ motto. FEMA had this to say in a news release today:
Everyone, even, those living outside of hurricane-risk areas, should check personal preparations such as emergency kit supplies (enough to last at least 72 hours), note messages from local emergency officials, and rehearse emergency evacuation routes…Important items to have ready in case of an emergency include a battery-powered radio, flashlight, extra batteries, medicines, non-perishable food, hand-operated can opener, utility knife, and first aid supplies. Copy and store your important documents in a waterproof bag. These may include medical records, contracts, property deeds, leases, banking records, insurance records and birth certificates.
Now that you know what to do at home, do you recall what to do in the federal office space should a storm strike? Have you looked at your continuity of operations plans lately? Are you prepared?
Tags: COOP, emergency preparedness, FEMA, hurricane season, National Weather Service
FEMA will stay in DHS
May 13th, 2009 | Agencies Homeland Security | Posted by Rebecca Neal
President Barack Obama’s administration put an end to years of debate Wednesday when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will stay within DHS.
FEMA had been an independent agency before the creation of DHS after Sept. 11, 2001, and many have argued that it could respond to disasters best by being removed from the bureaucracy of DHS.
For a full story, check back with Federal Times shortly.
Tags: Barack Obama, DHS, FEMA
Hold lifted on FEMA nominee
May 12th, 2009 | Agencies Congress Homeland Security | Posted by Rebecca Neal
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., announced Tuesday he’s lifted his hold on the nomination of W. Craig Fugate as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Vitter had put the hold on Fugate’s nomination as an effort to get answers from FEMA officials over rebuilding coastal areas, V-Zones, decimated during hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He lifted the hold after recieving a letter from FEMA Acting Administration Nancy Ward promising to resolve the rebuilding issue quickly.
He said he was pleased that FEMA responded to his concerns.
Louisianans have gotten way too many easy spoken assurances from FEMA over the last four years that didn’t mean anything. Now that I’ve secured a specific written commitment from them on the V-Zone issue, we can move forward.”
Fugate’s nomination had been thought to be non-controversial. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved his nomination by voice vote April 27. A floor vote on his nomination hasn’t been scheduled.
Hey kids! It's a 9/11 coloring book!
May 1st, 2009 | Homeland Security | Posted by Steve Losey
The Smoking Gun reports that FEMA pulled a children’s coloring book from its Web site earlier this week after it drew criticism for including images of the World Trade Center attacks. The coloring book, “A Scary Thing Happened,” was intended to teach children about disasters and the emotional turmoil they cause. But some felt that showing the smoldering Twin Towers might be going too far.
“Oh gosh, that was on the front of a coloring book?” Kim Pressley-Herrick, founder of Coloring Away Pain, told Fox News. Pressley-Herrick’s company produces coloring books intended to help children deal with traumatic events. “As a parent, I don’t think children need to see that. There are ways of delivering messages to children on their level without being graphic.”
But with some of these drawings, you have to read between the lines to find out what FEMA’s really trying to warn you about. Hidden subtext after the jump:
Tags: FEMA, Friday Fun
More nominations head to Senate floor
April 28th, 2009 | Agencies Congress HHS Homeland Security Transition | Posted by Rebecca Neal
The Senate could vote this week on more of President Barack Obama’s nominees.
The Senate Homeland Security and Government Reform Committee approved two nominations by voice vote Monday: W. Craig Fugate for Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator and John Morton for assistant secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Senate may vote this week on their nominations, which aren’t controversial. No vote has been scheduled.
Meanwhile, senators are debating the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for secretary of Health and Human Services Tuesday, with a vote expected later in the day. The vote on her nomination has been delayed almost three weeks, as some Republicans have taken issue with her pro-choice stance and her acceptance of campaign contributions from a Kansas doctor who performs late-term abortions.
She must receive at least 60 votes for her nomination to pass, part of a compromise reached by Senate Democrats and Republicans late last week. She’s expected to have the needed number of votes, but not by much.
Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, FEMA, HHS, ICE, Transition
Support for FEMA in DHS
December 3rd, 2008 | Homeland Security | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
The president-elect hinted on Monday that he would keep FEMA inside the Homeland Security Department. DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday that the alternative — pulling FEMA out as a separate agency — would be a mistake.
Today, two prominent senators voiced their support for keeping FEMA where it is.
In a letter to the New York Times, Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine — the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee — said FEMA needs to stay inside DHS.
The agency still needs improvement, but our reforms are working: FEMA’s response to the 2008 hurricane season was effective. Lives are saved when skills, resources and missions are united — not dispersed.
FEMA is becoming a far stronger agency. The last thing it needs is another upheaval.
But what does secretary-designee Janet Napolitano think? We’ll have to wait and see.
Tags: FEMA
A hint about FEMA's future?
December 1st, 2008 | Homeland Security Transition | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
No surprises from the president-elect’s press conference this morning. You can read about Obama’s national security team, and watch the conference, on the transition Web site.
But there was an interesting bit of language in Obama’s introduction of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, his nomination for Homeland Security secretary:
She understands the need for a homeland security department that can respond to terrorist attacks and respond to catastrophes.
What’s interesting is the part about “respond[ing] to catastrophes.” That’s the responsibility of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And there’s been a lot of talk about removing FEMA from DHS and restoring it to the Cabinet-level status it had before DHS was founded.
But if Obama’s language this morning is any indication — and he tends to pick his words carefully — that doesn’t look likely.
Tags: FEMA