WASHINGTON–The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) urges residents in coastal and inland areas around the Gulf of Mexico to continue to closely monitoring Tropical Storm Lee and be prepared for severe weather including severe rain, flooding and tornadoes. Visit www.Ready.gov or www.Listo.gov to learn how to prepare for these and other hazards.
FEMA, through its regional offices in Denton, Texas, and Atlanta, is continuing to closely monitor Tropical Storm Lee and support state, tribal and local officials as they work to keep their residents and communities safe. In response to Tropical Storm Lee, an Incident Management and Assistance Team (IMAT) is on site in Louisiana to coordinate with and support state emergency management officials, and a FEMA liaison officer is assigned to the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness emergency operation centers (EOC). Additional IMATs and liaisons are on standby and will be deployed to other state EOCs, if requested.
FEMA also currently has personnel in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi who are working on-going recovery efforts from earlier disasters. The Federal Coordinating Officers in these states have been in close contact with their respective state emergency management offices.
FEMA and its federal partners also continue supporting communities impacted by Hurricane Irene. Today, President Obama traveled to Paterson, N.J., where he was joined by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, to view damage from Hurricane Irene and be briefed on response and recovery efforts. FEMA Deputy Administrator Rich Serino also traveled to Brattleboro, Vermont to meet with state and local officials, and visit a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC). Today’s trips follow earlier visits by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, FEMA Administrator Fugate, and FEMA Deputy Administrator Serino, to areas in North Carolina, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont.
“We continue to work side by side to support our state partners as communities from the southeast to the northeast work to recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, and as Tropical Storm Lee comes ashore,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “It’s important to remember that the public plays a major part of our emergency management team, and we are not even half way through this hurricane season. If you haven’t yet, now is the time to get prepared. Anyone can visit www.ready.gov to learn more.”
Over the past several days, President Obama has declared major disaster declarations for the states of North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as more than a dozen emergency declarations signed by the President to provide state and local officials federal resources as they respond to this storm. ...