As Hurricane Florence intensifies, FEMA gears up for disaster response
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Satellite imagery from the ISS and NOAA show the powerful eye of Category 4 Hurricane Florence from space as it continues to track towards the southeastern U.S.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – FEMA is ramping up preparations for Hurricane Florence as the powerful Category 4 storm rumbles towards the Carolinas.
As of Monday evening, the emergency agency had positioned more than 80,000 liters of water, 402,000 meals, 1,200 cots and 34 generators at Fort Bragg near Fayetteville, North Carolina.
In addition, both Fort Bragg and North Field Air Base near Columbia, South Carolina, are serving as “incident support bases” to distribute more supplies, including meals, water, blankets when needed. And FEMA teams have been sent to both states where they will serve as “rapidly deployable assets, with expertise in operations, logistics, planning, and recovery.”
Still smarting from the criticism hurled at the agency following Hurricane Maria, the Trump administration wants to leave nothing to chance as it faces its first major storm in nearly a year.
Nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Maria, making it the second deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. The toll far exceeded the original estimates, leading to verbal reprimands that FEMA did not do its job.
“Because FEMA and the federal government were simply unprepared, thousands of our fellow American citizens have perished – and we now know that the poor and elderly were the most at risk,” Rep. Bennie Thompson D-Miss., ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement when the revised death toll was released two weeks ago.
In a report issued in July, FEMA acknowledged staffing shortages and logistical challenges in responding to Maria where Puerto Rico’s aging infrastructure and its island terrain complicated relief efforts.
But FEMA Administrator Brock Long also said the agency was facing an unprecedented workload that included three catastrophic hurricanes, historic wildfires in California and dozens of other disasters. The agency has learned from last year and will be better prepared to confront disasters this year, he said.
“It is always a question of when, not if, we will be called on again,” Long wrote in a column last month for USA TODAY. “FEMA began incorporating lessons in real time as they were identified and continues to do so to prepare for the 2018 hurricane season. We have substantially increased stockpiles of resources across the nation, focusing on remote, hard-to-reach locations.”
Florence will be the administration’s first major hurricane since Maria.
In a tweet Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump said the storm looks “very bad” and told residents to “take all necessary precautions.” He also mentioned that his administration has begun “mobilizing our assets to respond accordingly, and we are here for you!”
The president Monday night approved separate federal disaster declarations for both North Carolina and South Carolina ahead of the storm. The declaration will allow the state and its localities to seek more assistance as well as federal reimbursement for debris removal, infrastructure repairs and other hurricane-related costs.
Mandatory evacuations were underway Monday in North Carolina and more are scheduled for Tuesday – including the entire coastline of South Carolina.
The National Hurricane Center said Florence was expected to slam into the coast around North and South Carolina as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane on Thursday or Friday. The storm’s winds had increased to 140 mph by Monday afternoon.
Contributing: John Bacon, Doyle Rice of USA TODAY
Read More: If Hurricane Florence hits as a Category 4 storm, the toll could be devastating. Here’s what could happen.
Read More: Hurricane Florence prompts military to scramble assets along Atlantic Coast
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