Gustav Response and Recovery

Late yesterday I returned from Louisiana with President Bush, after having spent the past several days with Governor Jindal and his team as we monitored Gustav's arrival and initiated response and recovery efforts. I met with several parish presidents and first responders while I was there, and toured many of the communities that were hit hard by this storm. I can tell you that the men and women on the ground who are ensuring the safe return of millions of evacuees are going on little sleep and are working in difficult conditions, but are forging ahead with remarkable determination.

There is still flooding in some areas, and several downed trees and debris-littered roads; but the biggest challenge we're facing right now is downed power lines. State officials are working with FEMA and local power companies to repair these lines as quickly as possible, but it will clearly take several days until power is restored across the region.

I want to take a moment to specifically thank the parish presidents, state officials, and first responders who had a hand in coordinating an enormously successful evacuation prior to Gustav's landfall. As a result of their efforts, our search and rescue operations have been relatively minimal because most of the people in harm's way evacuated well before Gustav's arrival. I also want to thank everyone who assisted with what Governor Jindal described as the largest medical evacuation in their history. It was a true testament to the benefits of pre-planning and coordination, and is a model that should be repeated as we prepare for the oncoming storms currently gaining strength in the Atlantic.

As we identify additional challenges and focus on priorities such as medical needs, power restoration, and debris removal, it's important to recognize that this will be a long-term effort. While the initial planning, preparedness, and evacuation measures were well coordinated, we still have a great deal of work ahead of us. I encourage everyone along the Gulf Coast that is involved in this effort to apply the same vigor and focus on response and recovery as they did for pre-hurricane preparations.

Of course, we must also remain flexible and nimble – Hanna, Ike, and Josephine will present their own sets of challenges in the coming days, as will additional weather systems during this busy period of the 2008 hurricane season.

I encourage residents in Hanna's likely impact area to emulate what Louisianans have done by listening to local officials' instructions and preparing to sustain themselves for at least three days (please visit www.ready.gov for more information). I also encourage everyone to keep up the good work as we roll up our sleeves and continue to respond to this storm and prepare for those ahead.

Michael Chertoff

Gustav Preparations

As we closely monitor Gustav's landfall from Baton Rouge's Emergency Operations Center and remain poised to begin response efforts, I want to briefly update you with some of what I saw on the ground as we finalized our preparations yesterday.

People are taking this storm seriously. More than a million residents have evacuated well ahead of landfall, and those with special needs have been moved out of harm's way.

I've been spending time with Governor Jindal and Mayor Nagin and have been in close communication with Governor Barbour, as well as other state and local officials. I can tell you that preparations for this storm were well coordinated at every level, and everyone is now focused on responding as quickly as possible.

FEMA has pre-positioned assets and personnel in strategic locations and is poised to move in as soon as it's safe to assist with response and recovery operations. Other DHS personnel including ICE, CBP, TSA and Coast Guard teams have been deployed to assist with evacuations and are standing by to begin search and rescue operations as needed. Additional federal partners, including the Department of Defense and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have also deployed assets and personnel to the region and are preparing for response activities.

This will be a severe hurricane and is having a major impact as it continues to move ashore. While the levees around New Orleans have been strengthened since Katrina, there is a still a real risk of flooding because of possible overtopping and rain.

For those who must shelter in place, I hope that you heeded advice to be prepared to sustain yourself for at least 72 hours. This means having enough food, water, and medicine to last for three days.

I'll continue monitoring the storm from Louisiana and will update you as time and circumstances allow. I encourage you to visit www.ready.gov for additional preparedness information.

Michael Chertoff

Hope Restored

In his remarks at the Jackson Barracks in New Orleans last week, President Bush said that “hope is being restored” throughout the Gulf Coast. As we pause to reflect on the third anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and remember the lives that were lost and the heroism that ensued, I think it’s important to acknowledge the progress that has taken place in the wake of one of our nation’s worst natural disasters.

Of course, it’s also important to apply the lessons we’ve learned along the way, and to that end, we’re working closely with our federal, state, and local partners to prepare for Hurricane Gustav’s potential impact. But I want to take just a moment to share some stories of progress along the Gulf Coast.

The hope that President Bush was referring to can be found in places like Boothville/Venice High School, which endured tremendous damage due to Katrina’s storm surge. But thanks to more than $8 million in repairs made possible by FEMA Public Assistance grants, the school now serves more than 200 students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.

Additional signs of progress can be seen at St. Margaret’s Daughters Nursing Home in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, where flood waters rendered the health care facility uninhabitable. With the help of an initial $5.59 million payment for a temporary facility, and an additional $3.7 million, St. Margaret’s was able to reopen in a newly renovated facility last September. All told, FEMA has committed more than $15.9 million in Public Assistance funds for this project.

And to ensure that the city’s law enforcement operations are efficiently coordinated, the New Orleans Police Department moved into its remodeled headquarters earlier this year, thanks in large part to repairs from $6.8 million in FEMA funding. This, of course, is just a portion of the $21.8 million granted to restore the justice complex.

But our goals are not just short-term fixes. We’re focused on rebuilding the region and making structures safer and stronger. For example, just last month FEMA approved the use of more than $96.9 million in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds to elevate nearly 3,000 homes in Louisiana. This was one of the largest single HMGP project obligations to date, and represents successful collaboration at the federal, state, and local levels.

We also recognize that the road to recovery involves flexibility and innovation. To that end, we fully supported President Bush’s decision to grant Governor Bobby Jindal’s request that Louisiana be allowed to pay their share of levee improvement costs over 30 years instead of just three.

These examples are just a fraction of the work that is being done and the decisions that are being made on a daily basis in New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast. To be sure, there is much work ahead. But by focusing on priorities such as education, health care, public safety, and housing, we’re helping rebuild lives and communities – and the results are beginning to show. All told, FEMA has provided $11 billion for debris removal, reconstruction, and protective measures, in addition to more than $6 billion in individual assistance grants. (Of course, it is ultimately up to state, parish, and local leaders to decide where and what to rebuild).

But our progress three years after Katrina goes beyond dollars spent and structures restored. We’ve learned invaluable lessons from the storm’s devastation, and as a result, have vastly strengthened our nation’s preparedness and response capabilities. FEMA now is a forward-leaning agency, with 21st century tools capable of handling any type of disaster. Following Katrina, we placed a greater emphasis on building stronger partnerships, preparing for emergencies before they happen, and responding quickly and efficiently when they do occur. As I mentioned, this forward-leaning approach is guiding our preparations for Hurricane Gustav.

So as we mark Katrina’s third anniversary and acknowledge the progress we’ve made (as well as how much work remains), I encourage everyone involved in this endeavor to continue their efforts and recommit themselves to rebuilding this vital region of our country.

The daily work of our Office for Gulf Coast Recovery in Baton Rouge is indicative of our long-term commitment to work side-by-side with the people of the Gulf Coast as they rebuild their homes and communities.

Through the strong partnerships we’ve forged during the past three years, I’m confident that our progress will continue full steam ahead.

General Douglas O’Dell, USMC (Ret.)
Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding

Get Serious! Hurricane Prep

Every year, as hurricane season approaches, I take the time to make sure my home is ready. Like Americans in many coastal states, I make sure my supplies and plans are all up-to-date.

This year, I was joined by members of the media and showed them exactly what I do in the hope that they would get out our message to everyone: Get Serious, Be Prepared.

At my home we have a generator, and I make sure before the season starts that we have sufficient fuel on hand to run it. I bought new batteries for my flashlights and radio. I checked my storm shutters to make sure they were in good shape and also confirmed I had little things like tarps and duct tape that can be essential if my shutters, windows or roof are damaged by a storm. I made sure I had enough prepared food and water on-hand to support my family for at least three days.

Go to ready.gov for some helpful information to help you prepare.

Sadly, there are some who still wait until it’s too late. In fact, a recent Mason-Dixon poll shows 85% of coastal residents made no additional preparations for a Hurricane in the past year; 50% said they would not make any preparations until two days before a hurricane is predicted to hit them. On top of that, 13% said they would not evacuate even if ordered to do so. More on the Mason-Dixon poll.

FEMA is doing our part to get ready.

This year, FEMA has teams standing by to be on the ground within hours of a storm or other disaster striking. FEMA has worked with vulnerable states to identify where they will most need support. We have improved our logistics and can better get the supplies and resources to a disaster site more quickly than in the past. We have plans in place to coordinate our activities with our partners at every level of government as well as with the private sector. Simply put: we are all better prepared.

FEMA has also improved our ability to deliver assistance through simple and effective delivery mechanisms, while also minimizing possible waste, fraud and abuse. We have expanded our capability to register those in need for aid and have mobile registration centers that can be on hand to help those without access to phones or computers.

As the official Hurricane Season for 2008 opens, I hope all Americans will join me in building a culture of preparedness. Whether your home is at risk from a hurricane, tornado, flood, fire or earthquake, every community faces its own risks. Being properly prepared can make a big difference.

I took the time to prepare my home this weekend. Now it’s your turn.

David Paulison
FEMA Administrator