FEMA Recovery Slow, Says D.C. Delegate

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a meeting on the status of the recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita four years ago called “Final Breakthrough on the Billion Dollar Katrina Infrastructure Logjam: How is it working?”

However, according to Chairwoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) some of the new ideas proposed to help with the recovery of Katrina are just now coming to fruition.

She said FEMA resisted efforts to break the logjam preferring its own traditional devices. She also discussed HR 3247, which the house passed in October 2007 encouraging the use of third parties to review and expedite public assistance appeals, as well as for projects up to $100,000.

“We passed this bill, which also raised the federal contribution of certain projects from 75 percent to 90 percent, not once but twice. It is sad the administration wasn’t able to pass this legislation,” Norton said during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing Tuesday.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) said he’s experienced working with FEMA and seen great success with them alongside the delays that may occur.

“We all know addressing the delays in public assistance ... is critical in the recovery process following a major disaster like a hurricane. Unfortunately delays have plagued the recovery process in Louisiana, and also in other states that were impacted by Katrina and Rita,” he said.

He said that since then Congress has taken a number of steps to strengthen FEMA and to try to ensure that Louisiana and other states can recover. Still, Diaz-Balart said delays still persist.

FEMA deputy administrator Dave Garratt said he’s recognized there’s still steps that must be taken in regard to recovery in states like Louisiana and that they are at no means able to say 'mission accomplished.'

“We recognize that there’s still much to do, and we intend to work with our partners to make sure it happens,” Garratt said.

Post-Katrina Recovery Still At Stake

By Michael Combier-Talk Radio News Service

Nearly four years after Hurricane Katrina hit the shores of Louisiana and Mississippi, affecting 90,000 square miles, there are still many people to relocate and solutions to be found. More than 4,000 temporary housing units continue to be in use in Louisiana while the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s housing program formally ended on May 1, 2009.

The Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management held an hearing this morning entitled “Still Post-Katrina: How FEMA decides when housing responsibilities end”.

“The situation we now face was both predictable and predicted. It has been clear from the recent FEMA hearings that those left in disaster housing would be the most vulnerable members of society, who may have had prior difficulties that have been exacerbated by the disaster. While these programs have formally ended, we still have families without a long term housing solution,” said Committee Chair Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

Ranking member U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) told the subcommittee that it has been “44 months now that families and individuals have been living in travel trailers and hotel rooms and obviously never intended for long time use. But even after all this time, there seems to be no other solutions that has been developed. There has not been a real viable solution developed and implemented by the state and local governments to address long-time affordable housing needs for low income residents.”

The members of the subcommittee agreed that it is not FEMA’s duty to act indefinitely but that it was common sense to not leave people in the streets without any adequate housing.

Responding to the upcoming role of the FEMA for people still living in temporary housing units, David Garratt, Deputy Administrator of the FEMA, pointed out the activities made by the agency since Katrina. Garratt said that the “FEMA conducted the largest temporary housing operation in the history of the country” by providing temporary housing to more than 143,000 families across the Gulf Coast and more than $7.8 billion in housing and other needs assistance to around 2.4 million individuals.

However, Garratt said that the FEMA has provided long term housing units to individuals affected by Katrina but approximately 1,400 have refused to participate in those relocations and decided to stay in their temporary housing units which are often located near their home or even on their lots. These people still do not know whether or not their trailers will be taken away from them by the FEMA when its housing program ends.

A Swine Flu Primer

Coffee Brown, MD, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service

Is swine flu the pandemic we know is coming? According to federal agencies and a blue-ribbon panel of experts: maybe. The situation is early enough and changing fast enough that we can reasonably hope for the best even as we plan for the worst. This primer is designed to help you do just that. We will continue to post updates. The short answer is that basic hygiene is the most important thing to concentrate on.

The swine flu is a virus, not a bacteria, therefore, antibiotics are not useful against it.
The virus is Influenza A (H1N1), meaning that not all flu is this particular swine flu, and not all respiratory viruses are this virus. This virus has elements of human, avian, and swine flu virus genetics (i.e., not human genes, or bird or pig). There is little or no current human resistance to this strain. Pork is not in any way associated with this virus at this time. raising pigs or eating pork are not thought to carry any risk whatsoever for this infection.

Well then, what can you do? For now, treat this as good practice, not just for the WHO and the CDC, but for each individual: Wash your hands frequently, cover your face when you sneeze or cough, wash your hands after doing so, and demand the same courtesy from those around. Clean doorknobs, faucet handles and similar items that are touched by many other people. Avoid unnecessary travel to Mexico, Avoid work, school, or gatherings if cases have been reported in the immediate area, or if you have any infectious symptoms. Working while ill is not the heroic thing to do.

Should you go to work or school? Yes, with these exceptions: If you have any respiratory symptoms or if swine flu has been identified in your immediate community. These are also the circumstances which would support wearing a mask or avoiding gatherings.

What symptoms should you look for? If your are worried about a contact, symptoms should begin within 7 days. Symptoms should include some combination of the following:
Respiratory symptoms, like sniffles, congestion, cough (typically not productive), or sore throat, are almost always present. Fever, muscle aches, chills, fatigue and malaise are frequent, Occasionally nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. If you believe you may have the flu, your doctor can test for it.

Currently available antivirals are effective against this strain, and a quarter of government stockpiles, totaling about 11 million doses, have been released from government stockpiles to communities for treatment and prevention. Protection lasts about 10 days. Your has physician has specific guidelines for the use of these medicines, They should NOT be used “just to be sure.”

The current flu vaccine is not effective against this strain. A new vaccine is under consideration, but will not be available over the short term. First steps, distributing a “seed virus” to pharmaceutical companies to create pilot batches of vaccine, have begun. The pilot batches need to be tested for safety and effectiveness before full-scale production is requested. By the time that decision can be made, the pattern of this disease will be much more clear. The whole process takes several months before vaccines are available to consumers, which means it will not be available during this season. The vaccine may still be important, though, because history shows that a second or even third wave may present during fall and/or winter.

Sen. Arlan Specter (D-Penn.) attended today’s hearing briefly to emphasize the need to balance fully informing the public with the need to keep the problem in perspective.

What is the government doing about this? Plans have been long since prepared for just this situation, supplies, like antivirals, masks, and respirators have been distributed by the CDC and FEMA. Daily updates are being distributed to healthcare workers all over the country. The CDC advises a regional containment strategy, varying the level of response to the local pattern of illness. Increased screening of arrivals from out of the country, or travel restrictions within the country, would not be expected to reduce the spread.

We are on Stage 4 alert, per the WHO, how bad is that?
It simply means that there definite cases of human-to-human transmission, Stage 4 does not mean that the disease has become more severe.

All the really sick people are in Mexico. It is not known why the most severe cases appear to be confined to Mexico so far, but the CDC expects some severe cases to occur here as well. How worried should you be? Think of this as similar to an orange level terrorist alert. The emergency designations allow government resources and authorities to be positioned before a disaster occurs.There is a real possibility that the outbreak will worsen, but for now, it’s a matter of being ready. Of the 40 American cases as of last night (04/27/09), one has been hospitalized, none has died, the rest have been mild.

As of 04/28/09, 64 cases had been confirmed, and five Americans hospitalized. These numbers will be outdated by the time you read them. What does that signify? This is an expected event: more cases will be discovered each day for a while, and therefore more hospitalizations. The percent who become severely ill may go up, if this turns out to be highly contagious and virulent, or may go down, as screening picks up more of the milder cases that would normally go un-noticed. The ultimate pattern is not clear this early, but all government agencies are taking the possibility of a true pandemic seriously, and individuals should do the same. States and municipalities should review their infectious disaster plans.

Because of increased attention and the need to report new developments rapidly, expect conflicting information and ongoing reappraisal.

Harkin asked the panel whether funding is adequate for their response. they responded collectively that past funding has made it possible to begin work on a vaccine, and also enabled surveillance that Schuchat said lead to the virus beginning analysis in the U.S. before Mexico sent specimens to Canada for identification. Harkin said that he was disappointed that Mexico considered American bureaucracy a stumbling block, and that he would follow up on that. The panel also told him that reduced funding undermined the states’ ability to operate existing epidemic plans, had cost PHS 12,000 employees.

This Information is from The Centers for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/ ,the World Health Organization’s http://www.who.int/csr/don/en/ Dr. Richard Besser and the Senate Appropriations Committee Chaired by Sen Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).
Witnesses included: Rear Adm. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for Science and Public Health Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Paul Jarris, executive director of the Assn. of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Congress sees room for improvement in FEMA

The lack of disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina were "a failure of the public sector," said Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) in a hearing. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee met to discuss how disaster relief went after hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said that while there were major improvements in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), some aspects of the response were not good enough. She said that 1,000 of the poorest citizens were put on buses with no idea where they were going before Hurricane Gustav hit. She said that FEMA and the Red Cross were unprepared for a "large-scale disaster."

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said that preparations for Hurricane Gustav were an improvement on Hurricane Katrina. She said that 97.5 percent of the population evacuated New Orleans this year while only around 90 percent were evacuated before Katrina. He also said that New Orleans was repopulated only four days after the disaster. However, he did mention that the city ran out of supplies that FEMA was supposed to provide including water and food. He said the United States was still playing "Russian roulette" with the lives of its citizens in the New Orleans region.

Deputy FEMA administrator Harvey Johnson said that Hurricanes Gustav and Ike posed "a worst nightmare scenario." Johnson said the response by FEMA as well as state governments restored the confidence of U.S. citizens in disaster relief.

Americans “deserve a better FEMA”

Almost three years after Hurricane Katrina, the government is still discovering critical governmental flaws, according to Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) at a hearing before the Joint Homeland Security Committee to discuss the delivery of donated goods to catastrophe survivors. Thompson said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not properly manage and distribute the donated supplies after Hurricane Katrina.

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said that it was important to ascertain why some goods purchased for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief were supposedly never delivered and failed to be used for their intended purposes. Landrieu conceded that FEMA has made some progress but said that FEMA must learn to be proactive and more collaborative. Landrieu said that Americans “deserve a better FEMA.”

Eric Smith, Assistant Administrator of Logistics Management at FEMA, said that there have been inaccurate reports of the lack of distribution of relief goods. According to Smith, the materials and supplies held in storage and deemed to be in excess of FEMA’s needs are valued at $18.5 million and not $85 million as reported. He attributed the error in value to a manual miscalculation. Smith said that FEMA continues to provide livings kits to help those in transition out of FEMA housing.

Carlos Castillo, Assistant Administrator of Disaster Assistance of FEMA, agreed that FEMA has encountered uncoordinated shipments and volunteers. Castillo attributed this to the volunteers being overwhelmed and the fact that many states may not have the proper infrastructure to support large donations. Castillo said that even with FEMA’s shortcomings, it has distributed more than $50 billion since Hurricane Katrina and has provided more than 90,000 units of temporary housing. Castillo added that FEMA remains committed to those affected by the disaster.