Thursday, November 2, 2017

Research Puerto Rico & USVI Previous Funding for Non-Disaster and Relief Funding. DHS\FEMA Grant Funding. Summary and Key Findings 2016.

How much preparedness funding has YOUR LOCAL community received?

GET INVOLVED!  Research your local EM office, development planning, water & waster management and other critical areas in your community to determine what funding has been received, and what improvements have resulted.  

Always keep in mind that disasters are LOCAL not national in nature.  Preparedness starts in your home, and your community.

CDS CEO BEMA International

NOTE:  
     I tend to follow the money that was previously allocated for relief and recovery to determine current status
     to determine if preparedness and planning was truly taking place.


    Except from report: 
  
     Page 32


Report
Type of

Number,
Grant,
                                                                                    Amount
Amount
Potential
Date
Disaster
Awarded
Audited
Monetary
Issued
Number
Title
($M)
($M)
Benefit

13
OIG-16-43-D 2/2/2016
PA 4017
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Effectively Managed FEMA Public Assistance Grant Funds Awarded for Hurricane Irene in August 2011
$8.0
$7.3
$0
14
OIG-16-52-D 2/21/2016
PA 4152
FEMA Should Recover $312,117 of $1.6 Million Grant Funds Awarded to the Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico
$1.6
$0.9
$312,117
15
OIG-16-60-D 4/6/2016
PA 4017
FEMA Should Recover $267,960 of $4.46 Million in Public Assistance Grant Funds Awarded to the Municipality of Jayuya, Puerto Rico, for Hurricane Irene Damages
$4.5
$3.5
$267,960









  

Summary and Key Findings of Fiscal Year 2016 FEMA Disaster Grant and Program Audits

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) does not manage disaster relief grants and funds adequately and does not hold grant recipients accountable for properly managing disaster relief funds. We continue to identify persistent problems such as improper contract costs, and ineligible and unsupported expenditures as examples of this continued failure. In fiscal year 2016, we found $155.6 million, or 23 percent, in questioned costs out of the $686 million that we audited, which we recommended FEMA disallow as ineligible and unsupported costs.
As part of our open recommendation follow-up responsibilities, we determined that as of April 8, 2017, FEMA allowed $85.7 million of the $155.6 million in costs that we questioned. Further, FEMA continues to not hold grant recipients accountable for failing to provide adequate monitoring or technical assistance to subgrantees. In FY 2016, 29 of our grant audit reports contained recommendations addressing the lack of adequate oversight on the part of grant recipients. Read Report OIG-18-06


Office of Public Affairs
E: dhs-oig.officepublicaffairs@oig.dhs.gov
                       
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL l DHS
WWW.OIG.DHS.GOV  l TWITTER: @DHSOIG

  

Monday, October 30, 2017

Hearings 10/31/17. 2017 Hurricane Season: Oversight of the Federal Response

Full Committee Hearing

Location: SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building

Witnesses

  • The Honorable  Brock Long
    Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency
    U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • General  Lori J. Robinson, USAF
    Commander, U.S. Northern Command
    U.S. Department of Defense
    Accompanied by Robert G. Salesses, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense Integration and Defense Support of Civil Authorities, U.S. Department of Defense
  • Major General  Donald E. Jackson
    Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations
    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Defense
  • The Honorable  Robert P. Kadlec, M.D.
    Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
    U.S. Department of Health and Human Services


FOIA for all. SITREPs and updates. Dominica, USVI, and Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico’s long-term recovery from 2017 hurricane disaster dominates the news outlets, and are bringing to light very interesting reconstruction issues in just one sector, the Energy Sector.

Other sectors in building a more resilient community for PR must be reviewed.

Not only for PR, but for all the other island nations of the Caribbean.  Water & food sectors are areas of vital concern, and the housing\compliance sectors are sectors that must be reviewed daily for transparency and innovative ideas with full ‘WHOLE COMMUNITY’ participation in building more resilient communities.

Thanks to all (news media, others) for bringing to light.  Public documents, are just that public documents.  FOIA  (Freedom of Information Act, https://www.foia.gov/),  are vital to all communities for transparency, and to address the issues of those responsible for our protection and interests, are truly protecting OUR INTERESTS, and OUR LIVES.


CDS  CEO BEMA International




DOMINICA
Subject: We Are Dominica Inc. 
Press Conference of October 26 on Dominica Post-Hurricane Maria Relief- Video 
Hello Colleagues,

The We Are Dominica press conference video is up on YouTube. Share with others.






VIRGIN ISLAND TERRITORY OF THE  U.S. (USVI)
1.       Virgin Islands Territory Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) site still in’maintenance’ for over one-year. 
http://www.vitema.gov/vitema-maintenance.png

a.      Has VITEMA received any U.S. Federal DHS\FEMA funding in the last 2 to 5 years?   Mitigation, Fire or LE grants?
b.      If so, what were the funds intended for?
c.      Sheltering and evacuation planning?
d.      Travel?
e.      Staffing?
f.       Education& training?
g.      Community engagement?
h.      Is the Office of Tourism responsible for ‘re-entry’ planning for those citizens evacuated during the 2017 Hurricanes crisis as part of the USVI recovery plans?
i.        Where are the overall emergency planning documents for the USVI?





PUERTO RICO
1.               Here's What's In That $300 Million Whitefish Contract http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/27/560422492/heres-what-s-in-that-300-million-whitefish-contract





Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Certified Line Worker Training Program at Delgado Community College



Monday, October 23, 2017                                               For Immediate Release 

Entergy We Power Life

Entergy New Orleans donates $50,000 to kick off Certified Line Worker Training Program at Delgado Community College

Delgado Community College_logo
NEW ORLEANS - Entergy New Orleans, Inc. officials today (Oct. 23) presented a $50,000 check to Delgado Community College to support the start of the Certified Line Worker Training Program, which was developed through a partnership between the Louisiana Energy Workforce Consortium (LEWC) and the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS).
Recognizing the upcoming need for skilled, trained line workers in the near future, electric utility companies, utility contractors and community and technical colleges from across Louisiana have come together to form the LEWC. Graduates of the 26-week evening studies program at Delgado Community College will obtain National Center for Construction Education and Research certification, be qualified for employment as a line helper and receive job-placement assistance. LEWC members were instrumental in developing the program's curriculum and designing the training facilities.
"This is a great example of the type of cooperation needed between industry and our educational system to develop the workforce of tomorrow," said Charles Rice, president and CEO of Entergy New Orleans. "We're pleased to support this program and look forward to helping its graduates start rewarding careers in a job that is, in many ways, the backbone of the electric utility industry. We're also glad to continue our support of Delgado's workforce development initiatives."

"The workforce of the Greater New Orleans region continues to be upwardly mobile thanks to job training partnerships like this one between Delgado Community College and Entergy New Orleans," said Joan Davis, chancellor of Delgado Community College. "We thank our partners at Entergy for their support, and we look forward to the day when this program's graduates are helping keep us comfortable, safe and productive inside all of our homes and businesses."

Delgado Community College and Fletcher Technical Community College will be the first Louisiana colleges to offer the Certified Line Worker Training Program beginning in January 2018. More information on the program is available at http://www.dcc.edu/academics/workforce/line_worker.aspx or by calling 504-671-6706.

LEWC utility partner companies include: Entergy, Chain Electric, CLECO, DEMCO, Diversified Services, SLECA, Terrebonne Parish Utilities, Lafayette Utilities System, T&D Solutions, Willbros T&D Services, Linetec Services, Utility Lines Construction Services and Southern Electric Corporation.

Delgado Community College is the largest, oldest and most diverse community college in Louisiana. More than 25,000 students are served by Delgado each semester. The college provides more than 100 degree, certificate and diploma programs as well as adult education and workforce development to residents of the Greater New Orleans region and a broad range of the Gulf South, other U.S. states and Latin America.

Entergy New Orleans, Inc. is an electric and gas utility that serves Louisiana's Orleans Parish. The company provides electricity to more than 198,000 customers and natural gas to more than 106,000 customers. Entergy New Orleans is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation.


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