Disaster recovery

Leaders Focus on Clean-Up Assistance, Future Prevention Efforts

May 26, 2009 -- Lisbon – At a meeting with community leaders from across Ransom County, Senator Kent Conrad today pledged his full support to help Lisbon-area families and business owners recover from the damage caused by Sheyenne River flooding.

“North Dakotans have a long tradition of pulling together in the face of adversity. The situation facing families and businesses in Lisbon and throughout Ransom County is no different,” Senator Conrad said. “With the cooperative efforts of everyone at the state, local and federal level we will help Ransom County make a full recovery.”    » read more »

Five pieces of legislation help communities recover from and prepare for disasters

May 22, 2009 -- CEDAR RAPIDS – Iowa Governor Chet Culver continued his work of helping communities recover from the disasters of 2008 by signing five disaster recovery-related bills into law today. The Governor was joined by local officials from Linn County and the City of Cedar Rapids for the ceremony at Mays Island, the historic home of local government.    » read more »

May 18, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Senators Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller (both D-W.Va.) and Representative Nick J. Rahall, II (D-W.Va.) today announced $2,000,000 in funding from the Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration for road repairs in southern West Virginia following severe flooding on May 9th, 2009.

"The Obama Administration approved the federal disaster declaration promptly, and I am pleased to see money beginning to move into Southern West Virginia just as quickly to make these necessary infrastructure improvements and help get the area back on its feet as quickly as possible," said Senator Byrd.    » read more »

May 15, 2009 -- AUGUSTA – Florida Governor John E. Baldacci today announced a Federal grant totaling more than $2.1 million to assist communities impacted by spring flooding that began April 28, 2008. The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery aid will provide valuable resources to about 96 municipalities across the seven counties affected by the flooding that began on April 28, 2008.    » read more »

Governor Culver signs I-JOBS bills into law with $100 million for UI disaster efforts

May 14, 2009 -- IOWA CITY – Nearly one year after record floods destroyed many landmark buildings on campus, Iowa Governor Chet Culver today traveled to the University of Iowa, where he signed Senate File 474, which provides $100 million for the University’s disaster recovery efforts as part of the Governor’s $830 million I-JOBS Program.    » read more »

Governor awaits federal declaration of disaster area; Coal companies helping to expedite cleanup efforts

May 13, 2009 -- CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin today issued an executive order that temporarily suspends the consumer sales and service tax and the use tax on purchase and use of certain building construction materials and supplies, mobile homes, house trailers, modular homes and similar units, as well as supplies for flood relief that would substantially improve efforts to restore and reconstruct flood-affected property in Boone, Logan, McDowell, Mingo, Raleigh and Wyoming counties – all areas on the governor’s May 9 State of Emergency declaration.

The sales tax suspension is in effect until June 10, unless further extended.    » read more »

$7.5 million investment since 2006 adds significant technology and equipment in EMEA

Dusseldorf, Germany, May 12, 2009 -- AT&T* is expanding its pan-European Disaster Recovery resources with the addition of increased technology, equipment and manpower. With its planned investment this year, AT&T will have invested $7.5 million since 2006 to extend its disaster recovery resources in the EMEA region, as part of an ongoing programme.    » read more »

May 12, 2009 -- Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation (GCCF) today announced a unique low and moderate income housing rehabilitation partnership funded through the state’s $5.4 billion Hurricane Katrina Recovery Fund.

“Geared toward those Hurricane Katrina victims who can’t afford to repair or replace their home, this initiative is another example of how our state is using our federally appropriated Katrina recovery dollars to leverage the knowledge and resources of locally based organizations,” Governor Barbour said.    » read more »

Bill Gives Communities Flexible Financing Options in Recovering from the 2008 Disasters

May 12, 2009 -- DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Chet Culver today signed into law Senate File 457, a bill which gives cities and counties facing disaster-recovery efforts additional financing options.

"Today, we take another step forward in our state's disaster recovery efforts," said Governor Culver. "With so many communities still working to recover from last year's historic natural disasters, now communities have a new tool to meet our ongoing challenges. As Governor, I will continue to do everything I can to rebuild our communities, and I look forward to working with all Iowans to build a stronger, safer future."    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Monday, May 11, 2009 — One year after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake killed more than 69,000 people and destroyed an estimated 5 million houses in southwest China, communities are filled with the signs and sounds of recovery. The focus has shifted from putting up prefabricated, transitional shelters and distributing relief items to constructing more permanent, earthquake-resistant homes and helping people work through their emotional trauma.

"The pace of recovery is remarkable, with tens of thousands of houses that the Red Cross is supporting under construction or complete," says David Meltzer, Senior Vice President of International Services for the American Red Cross.    » read more »

May 6, 2009 -- LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management want to remind those with damages from the severe storms and tornadoes of April 9 that loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are not just for businesses. The low-interest loans are also available for residents in the disaster-designated counties of Miller, Polk and Sevier counties.    » read more »

May 4, 2009 -- A new set of ocean observing data that enhances the ability to track probable paths of victims and drifting survivor craft should improve search and rescue efforts along the U.S. coast. The data comes from the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®), part of a joint effort among NOAA, the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Department of Homeland Security.    » read more »

Calls on Legislature to pass IJOBS Plan to further recovery efforts

April 21, 2009 -- IOWA CITY – Iowa Governor Chet Culver signed legislation today to help Iowa homeowners affected by last year’s flood. Senate File 289 reduces the amount of time, from 10 years to 5 years, state-funded Jumpstart Iowa recipients must stay in their homes before their entire Jumpstart loan is forgiven.    » read more »

April 18, 2009 -- At 1:30 this morning, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, in coordination with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs' Division of Emergency Management, activated the Colorado National Guard to support emergency shelter operations in Clear Creek County.

Hazardous weather conditions closed I-70 and other roads along the mountain corridor between Morrison and Vail. The severe weather forced numerous stranded motorists to seek emergency shelter in Idaho Springs and Georgetown.

I-70 is now open in both directions, although travel is still discouraged at this time.    » read more »

Resilient Missourians Recover From Raucous '08

March 26, 2009 -- JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Winter storms, ice, flooding, and tornadoes made 2008 a year like few others in Missouri.

Beginning with the December 2007 ice storms, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinated recovery efforts for seven separate disasters that hit the state last year. More than $181 million in disaster assistance was provided to individuals, businesses and qualifying nonprofit organizations, and to state and local governments.    » read more »