Release Date: August 24, 2006
Release Number: 1606-241
» More Information on Texas Hurricane Rita
AUSTIN, Texas -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that federal disaster aid in the form of Public Assistance has been made available to reimburse the State of Texas for disaster relief. The State of Texas administers FEMA's Public Assistance program under which eligible and documented disaster-related costs are reimbursed to state and local government units. FEMA has obligated funds for the following projects:
Texas Department of Public Safety, $7.85 million for emergency functions associated with Hurricane Rita, before and after the hurricane's landfall, including response by 18 Highway Patrol districts and overtime staffing of the State Operations Center .
FEMA's Public Assistance reimbursement program is one way federal assistance gets to the state and local governments and to certain private nonprofit organizations. These reimbursement grants allow them to respond to disasters, to recover from their impact and to mitigate impact from future disasters. While these grants are aimed at governments and organizations their final goal is to help a community and all its citizens recover from devastating natural disasters.
FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003
Last Modified: Thursday, 24-Aug-2006 09:51:48