HURRICANE HUNTERS
AT LEFT, one of the storm chasing aiplanes that your government, and the Air Force, send into hurricanes
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NEW YORK TIMES STORY
Trump Team Plans Deep Cuts at Office That Funds Recovery From Big Disasters
Christopher Flavelle has covered U.S. disaster recovery programs for almost a decade.
- Feb. 20, 2025 Updated 12:28 p.m. ET
The Trump administration plans to all but eliminate the office that oversees America’s recovery from the largest disasters, raising questions about how the United States will rebuild from hurricanes, wildfires and other calamities made worse by climate change.
The Office of Community Planning and Development, part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, pays to rebuild homes and other recovery efforts after the country’s worst disasters, such as Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and Hurricane Milton in Florida.
The administration plans to cut the staff in that office by 84 percent, according to a document obtained by The New York Times. The number of workers would be cut to 150, from 936 when Mr. Trump took office last month.
Those cuts could slow the distribution of recovery money to North Carolina and other recent disasters, depending how quickly they happen.
free, OPEN link to the NY Times full story
open link to the ny times below
THE NY TIMES reports on the fires that appear to have changed LA forever
The story has numerous visuals with analysis of the impact of the disaster
A MASSIVE DISASTER ACROSS THE SOUTHERN STATES
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST IN REGARD TO CLAIMS/FLOOD INSURANCE:
Jeff Jackson, the interim senior executive of the National Flood Insurance Program, said in a statement, “Flood risk is under appreciated across the nation — even in flood prone areas. That’s a challenge we continue to face and will continue to work on as we remain committed to closing the flood insurance gap across the nation.”
“Right now, it’s important that survivors of Helene file their flood and or homeowners’ insurance claims immediately,” Jackson added. “I urge those who are uninsured to register for FEMA disaster assistance now.”
ERN NEWS COMMENT: We have heard in the past that getting any assistance from FEMA is a long, drawn out pain so filing NOW means at least people will get started on the process that might take one or two years to complete. Some of the assistance available is in the form of loans, not grants.
AGAIN, from the Washington Post:
Samantha Montano, a professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, says that survivors must navigate a web of complicated red tape to even get that amount of funding (a thousand dollars). Some disaster victims will submit five or six appeals after being denied the first time. “People will describe it as the second disaster, just because of how difficult it is to navigate,” she said. FEMA has attempted major reforms under Biden. You can get details at this link: https://www.fema.gov/assistance/individual/2024-reform
Note: It has been reported that the processes of FEMA in the past have been so difficult and complex that people who work at the agency resign in total frustration with the system. They say they just can't take it anymore.
HERE'S A LINK TO THE CHARLESTON, SC, POST AND COURIER ABOUT THE IMPACT ACROSS WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA. A GOOD, DETAILED, VIVID STORY: https://shorturl.at/juJQp
An earlier report:
The full scope of the disaster from Helene is all but impossible to adequately describe and challenges the largest, best equipped news organizations to cover it. The story, in reality, is many stories scattered across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. While the damage from the high winds on the Big Bend of Florida was a central part of the event, the massive flooding in North Carolina alone is staggering.
It is far beyond the resources of ERN NEWS to bring the intimate details to readers, which is why we have refrained from frequent posting once Helene moved inland. The NY Times and the Washington Post, as news organizations with a national focus, have done an excellent job of collecting and relaying information. Yet, this is an event that is impossible to fully comprehend because it is so widespread and the impact varies from place to place. What is becoming clear is that Hurricane Helene represents an historic level of damage and death comparable to any of the worst storms to ever hit the American mainland.
One point is clear: people in the inland path of Helene either did not get enough warning about what was coming or failed to respond adequately in time. It might be a combination of both factors. New, better systems of spreading information need to be established, ones that take into account not just the predicted rain expected but include upstream monitoring of the rise of creeks and rivers. We can do better and we must in the future to prevent the loss of life involved in this storm system, having claimed around 100 or more lives, as of the latest count.
Below is a link to the NY Times and their survey of the death and damage from Helene
THE FUTURE
ERN NEWS and our associated non-profit, the Emergency Response Network, will be involved moving forward in helping to implement better advanced warning systems and other actions developing as a result of this disaster. We will post information here in the coming weeks and months. Please come back soon.