Coast Guard, FEMA and TSA budgets hit for Trump's wall during hurricane season?

Homeland Security raids Coast Guard coffers to pay for border programs

The Associated Press
By: Colleen Long
August 27, 2019

"Taking money away from TSA and from FEMA in the middle of hurricane season could have deadly consequences." House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson

Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Puerto Rico personnel attach hurricane shutters on Monday in preparation for Tropical Storm Dorian. (Ricardo Castrodad/Coast Guard)

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security is moving $271 million from other agencies such as FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard to increase the number of beds for detained immigrants and support its policy forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases play out.

The news comes as hurricane season is ramping up and Tropical Storm Dorian is heading toward Puerto Rico.

The sprawling 240,000-person Homeland Security Department includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and the new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in addition to immigration agencies.

It is not uncommon for unassigned funds to be transferred between agencies under the same department as the fiscal year ends. Last year around the same time, about $200 million was transferred, including $10 million from FEMA that prompted major criticism from Democrats.

Homeland Security officials said in a statement Tuesday they would transfer $155 million to create temporary facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border for holding hearings with the aim of moving asylum cases through the system faster.
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Disabled Veteran Turned Down By FEMA After Hurricane Maria?

Disabled veteran says FEMA denied him aid after Hurricane Maria because he gets VA benefits

WFTV News

Lauren Seabrook

November 3, 2017

Because he is already receiving Veterans Affairs assistance, he said FEMA told him he didn’t qualify for a FEMA hotel room.

ORLANDO, Fla. - As thousands of people come to Florida from Puerto Rico in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been giving assistance to evacuees.

Armando Figueroa, though, told Channel 9 Friday that he was not among them.

Tears were streaming down his face as he sat inside Orlando International Airport where FEMA is operating an assistance center.

A disabled veteran who served 15 years in the U.S. Navy and another 16 in the Army, Figueroa is on 100 percent disability after he was paralyzed by an improvised explosive device while serving in 2008.

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Washington National Guard not called when ready for mudslide

10 minutes ago
Precious time wasted in critical first hours after slide, some say
Seattle Times
Brian M. Rosenthal
March 27, 2014

SEATTLE — As days continue to pass without any sign of life in the vast wreckage, some local politicians are increasingly second-guessing how officials responded in the critical first hours after the deadly Oso mudslide.

State Rep. Elizabeth Scott and Snohomish County Councilmember Ken Klein say officials should have more quickly recognized the magnitude of the disaster, asked for experienced assistance and allowed knowledgeable locals to help.

Instead, Scott and Klein say, officials wasted precious time trying to handle a difficult situation on their own.

“There was a real shortage of common sense in this whole mess,” Scott said. “It’s just ridiculous.”

The commander of the Washington National Guard said Wednesday that he offered his help to county emergency-management officials last Saturday and Sunday but was rebuffed until midday Monday. A spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said its help was requested around noon on Monday.

The National Guard has a 50-person search-and-extraction team with experience and specialized equipment. FEMA has a nationally recognized 65-person urban search-and-rescue team.
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List of Senators voting against helping Hurricane Sandy Survivors

UPDATE

High winds, tornado trap Georgia residents, turn over cars
By Michael Pearson. Phil Gast and Vivian Kuo
CNN
January 31, 2013
(CNN) -- Powerful winds and a tornado spawned by a 1,000-mile-long storm system pounded communities in northwest Georgia on Wednesday, overturning dozens of vehicles and trapping residents.

The tornado caused significant damage in Adairsville, Georgia.

One person died in that town and another died in Tennessee, authorities reported. At least 17 people were injured in Georgia, two critically.

The Adairsville death marks the first person killed by a U.S. tornado in 220 days, a record for most consecutive days without such a fatality, said CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen.

In the mountains of North Carolina, iReporter Matt Able said most of the roads around Appalachian State in Boone were impassible because of flooding. He sent in video of people driving down U.S. 321, which was under several inches of water.

Earlier, in Alabama, the storms blew the metal roof off a building in Sheffield, CNN affiliate WHNT said. The storm also damaged a church steeple in Rogersville, the station reported.

In Kentucky, winds blew off much of the roof of the Penrod Missionary Baptist Church and damaged several homes, CNN affiliate WFIE reported.

In Nashville, the weather service listed dozens of damage reports across the region: a funnel cloud was reported early Wednesday in Jackson County, there were dozens of reports of downed trees and power lines, and law enforcement reported damage to homes and businesses.

CNN affiliate WSMV also reported the partial collapse of an office building in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.

"I built it myself to take an event like this. And it looks like a freight train hit it," the station quoted building owner Dewey Lineberry as saying. "It's just destroyed. It laid the building down on top of cars, it put the building on top of people. It's unbelievable."

List of Senators voting against helping Hurricane Sandy Survivors

Sessions (R-AL)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Boozman (R-AR)
FEMA Disaster Declarations

Flake (R-AZ)

McCain (R-AZ)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Rubio (R-FL)
FEMA Disaster Declarations

Chambliss (R-GA)

Isakson (R-GA)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Grassley (R-IA)
FEMA Disaster Declarations

Crapo (R-ID)

Risch (R-ID)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Kirk (R-IL)
FEMA Disaster Declarations

Coats (R-IN)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Moran (R-KS)

Roberts (R-KS)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

McConnell (R-KY)

Paul (R-KY)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Blunt (R-MO)
FEMA Disaster Declarations

Burr (R-NC)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Fischer (R-NE)

Johanns (R-NE)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Ayotte (R-NH)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Portman (R-OH)
FEMA Disaster Declarations

Coburn (R-OK)

Inhofe (R-OK)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Toomey (R-PA)
FEMA Disaster Declarations

Graham (R-SC)

Scott (R-SC)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Thune (R-SD)
FEMA Disaster Declarations

Corker (R-TN)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Cornyn (R-TX)

Cruz (R-TX)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Hatch (R-UT)

Lee (R-UT)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Johnson (R-WI)
FEMA Disaster Declarations

Barrasso (R-WY)

Enzi (R-WY)

FEMA Disaster Declarations

Deplorable House GOP scraps Sandy relief bill

Chris Christie On Sandy Aid: House Republicans Were 'Disappointing And Disgusting To Watch' (VIDEO)
Huffington Post
Luke Johnson
Sabrina Siddiqul
Posted: 01/02/2013

WASHINGTON -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) lit into House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Republicans Wednesday for not holding a vote on a Hurricane Sandy relief bill.

"There is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: the House majority and their speaker, John Boehner," he said. "This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. Natural disasters happen in red states and blue states and states with Democratic governors and Republican governors. We respond to innocent victims of natural disasters, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. Or at least we did until last night. Last night, politics was placed before oaths to serve our citizens. For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch."
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House GOP scraps Sandy relief bill
Republicans abandoned a vote this session, infuriating NY lawmakers in both parties
BY LARRY MARGASAK
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAN 2, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — New York area-lawmakers in both parties erupted in anger late Tuesday night after learning the House Republican leadership decided to allow the current term of Congress to end without holding a vote on aid for victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he was told by the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia that Speaker John Boehner of Ohio had decided to abandon a vote this session.

Cantor, who sets the House schedule, did not immediately comment. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters that just before Tuesday evening’s vote on “fiscal cliff” legislation, Cantor told him that he was “99.9 percent confident that this bill would be on the floor, and that’s what he wanted.”

A spokesman for Boehner, Michael Steel said, “The speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month.”

In remarks on the House floor, King called the decision “absolutely inexcusable, absolutely indefensible. We cannot just walk away from our responsibilities.”
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Flood took away everything, FEMA let her down, town picked her up!

Lewis Co. flood victim: 'I'd lost hope'

By Marlee Ginter Watch the story
WINLOCK, Wash. - For nearly two years, a flood victim hasn't had a place to call home after she was turned down repeatedly by FEMA and had to seek out help on her own.

Finally it was the community and some helpful public servants who came together to help Pam Lytle, who lost her home in the 2007 floods in Lewis County.

She now is living in a mobile home with three bedrooms and two baths. Volunteers removed the panels, cleaned up the home and got it ready for its new owner.

She considers it a palace.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/53750997.html

Katrina victims to be evicted — again

While I fully understand this nation has deep troubles and many problems to fix, I cannot understand how it is that the survivors of Katrina, after all this time, still have not received the help they need to move on with their lives. President Obama and his cabinet have only been on the job a few months but didn't they have someone taking care of these people? Wasn't it bad enough they were abandoned by the government and then given trailers to live in with formaldehyde? I know that wasn't on President Obama's watch but surely he must have been aware of what they've been going thru. So what are they supposed to do now?

Katrina victims to be evicted — again

By Muriel Kane

Published: May 29, 2009
Updated 1 day ago

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has decided to enforce a June 1 date — originally established by the Bush administration — for the eviction of several thousand victims of Hurricane Katrina who are still living in temporary trailers after nearly four years.

In a Friday press release, the US Human Rights Network stated that this decision “not only lacks basic compassion but is also a derogation of the government’s responsibilities to uphold fundamental human rights.”

“Instead of carrying out the former administration’s callous plan for eviction,” the press release continues, “the Obama administration and Congress should apply the United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, a human rights policy that, for several years, has guided our government in providing temporary and permanent homes for people in foreign countries who become displaced by earthquakes, typhoons, and flooding.”
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Katrina victims to be evicted — again

Hurricane Ike problems go on long after storm gone

Storm over, but hunger, fear remain
Advocates push for food donations, day care support
By ALLAN TURNER
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 17, 2008, 11:14PM
Hurricane Ike was an ill wind for tens of thousands of Houston-area children, who, more than a month after the storm blasted the Texas coast, are still hungry, fearful and sometimes abused, a coalition of social service providers warned Thursday.

"Things are getting back to normal," said Bob Sanborn, president of Children of Risk. "The lights are back on and schools are open. ... But there are still problems, still needs. ... Children are still in poverty. They still have hardships."

The children's advocates gathered to call for support of the Houston Food Bank, which distributed 12 million pounds of food in the hurricane's wake, and area day care centers, many of which were damaged and have not reopened.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6065373.html

Ike relief fund returns day care to Galveston
Many Ike victims still waiting for help from FEMA

FEMA Says No to Ice For Hurricane Survivors

FEMA Says No to Ice For Hurricane Survivors
Under New Policy, FEMA Says Ice is Not Its Responsibility
By MEGAN CHUCHMACH
September 18, 2008

Hurricane survivors are being put at risk in Texas and other hot weather states because the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is no longer providing ice in relief situations, say watchdogs, relief workers and local leaders in Hurricane Alley

"It's frustrating that the government can deliver $85 billion to bail out AIG, and they can't deliver ice in Texas," said Ben Smilowitz, executive director of the Disaster Accountability Project (DAP), a nonpartisan organization that monitors the nation's disaster response system.

In fact, while the federal government can deliver ice to disaster areas, it's chosen not to, under newly-revised FEMA rules. Instead, individual states and local governments are now tasked with purchasing, delivering and storing ice, even though they face tough logistical challenges in doing so, according to critics of the new policy.

"FEMA is effectively saying we can't guarantee you ice," said Mike Womack, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
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http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5828158&page=1
Linked from RawStory

Galveston County Jail, no generators from FEMA causes major problems

Galveston officials: Feds blocking generators at jail
By TERRI LANGFORD Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Sept. 16, 2008, 11:59AM

GALVESTON — Frustration was brewing at the Galveston County jail this morning, but not from the inmates.

Dudley Anderson — the architect of the Galveston County Justice Center, which includes the jail, courts and law enforcement offices — said the Federal Emergency Managment Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers are letting rule books get in the way of supplying generators and, thus, air flow to the estimated 1,000 inmates in the jail.

"We've been trying to get some power hooked up inside the justice center," Anderson said. "There's a small one in there now, but they need power."

While President Bush was inside the facility talking with officials this morning, Anderson and other contractors were outside complaining that the government is getting in the way.

Anderson said the only generator in the jail this morning was supplying a small operator area. He had another generator ready to help a bit with air flow, but the large generators expected from the federal government are what he's frustrated about.

"FEMA won't turn loose of the generators until they inspect the area themselves. They keep saying that will be tomorrow. I've heard that for days," he said. "We know the exact size we need. We told them. Apparently, that's difficult for them to accept."

Anderson said that, without air circulating in the closed facility in this climate, mold and mildew can start growing everywhere. The lack of water and properly working toilet facilities exacerbates the problem, he said.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6004686.html

Police kill man in standoff over FEMA trailer

Police kill man in standoff over FEMA trailer
Story Highlights
Eric Minshew's mental illness worsened after Hurricane Katrina, family says

He occupied one of last FEMA trailers in Lakeview neighborhood

FEMA was taking steps to reclaim trailer from weed-choked lot

Minshew ordered FEMA off property, barricaded himself in gutted house

Next Article in Crime »


NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- A man fatally shot by police after a 10-hour standoff Wednesday had suffered with mental illness for much of his life, and it worsened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a family member said.

Eric Minshew, 49, ordered Federal Emergency Management Agency workers to leave his trailer when they arrived for an inspection Tuesday afternoon, according to accounts from police.

Later, police said he fired at them several times and was fatally shot after pointing a handgun at officers who tried to arrest him. No officers were injured.

Rosemarie Brocato, who lives about a block away from the house, said she had told police, "He's sick. Please don't shoot him. He needs help."

The man had moved into the family home about eight years ago, with no money and no job, his brother, Homer M. Minshew III, said Wednesday. He survived the hurricane, but the family was awaiting government aid so they could either pay the house off or fix it up and sell it.

He suffered for years with mental problems that "got a lot worse after the storm," his brother said. He felt his hopes of inheriting his parents' home -- a place he'd felt a strong connection to -- diminish, he said. He owned a gun because he had gotten a job as a security guard, according to his brother.

"He had a lot of serious mental issues and would all of a sudden go off on a rant about the government, the local, state government, the feds and everything else," he said. "He has some issues. He just snapped. Thank God nobody else got hurt."
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/04/fema.standoff.ap/index.html