Training Opportunity. FEMA State Public Assistance Operations 2022
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Event
Date: March 25, 2021 FEMA Disaster
Declared: Major Disaster Declaration declared on https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/11/fema-black-owned-property/ ‘The real damage’ Why FEMA is denying
disaster aid to Black families that have lived for generations in the Deep
South. HALE
COUNTY, Ala. — Not enough people were signing up for help after a series of
tornadoes ripped through rural Alabama, so the government sent Chris Baker to
figure out why. He had driven past the spot where a tornado threw a
13-year-old girl high into a tree, past where injured cows had to be shot one
by one, and past where a family was crushed to death in their bathtub. And
now, as another day began in this patchwork of destruction, he grabbed a
stack of fliers with a picture of an outstretched hand and headed to his car
to let people know Washington had assistance to offer. He needn’t have bothered. “There goes FEMA,” called a
woman on her porch as they drove by. Two burly White men in khaki cargo pants
on a hot day — who else would it be? A majority-Black county named for an
officer in the Confederate Army, Hale County is a place of little interest to
outsiders; an area of dense forests, catfish farms and 15,000 residents, most
of whom can trace their ancestry back to enslaved people or plantation
owners. President Biden has instructed FEMA to prioritize
getting help to these kinds of “too often overlooked” communities — the places that climate change is
already overwhelming with more storms, floods and heat waves. And
Baker was eager to do just that. “That’s why we’re knocking on what doors we
can,” he said. Baker was new to the agency, and this was his second
deployment to a disaster zone. His supervisors had asked him to spread the
word that people who lost homes to the March 25 tornadoes still had time to
apply for grants of up to $72,000. But as he canvassed the area, a different
message was spreading much faster: That people here were in fact not eligible
for anything, because of how they had inherited their land. Because of the
way Black people have always inherited land in Hale County. |
Event
Date: June 24, 2021 FEMA Disaster
Declared: Emergency Declaration declared on https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/25/us/surfside-collapse-site-future-memorial/index.html (CNN)Firefighters
used a cherry picker to pluck Steve Rosenthal from his Unit 705 balcony after
the Champlain Towers South partially crumbled last
month. The advertising executive escaped
from his Surfside, Florida, condo building with just a few items in a paper
bag -- including a T-shirt, pants and his wallet. Rosenthal now lives in a hotel
paid for by friends and wears donated clothes. And he's worried about what's
in store for the site of the collapse, which has killed at least 97 people. Rosenthal still owes money on the
two-bedroom condo he bought 20 years ago, and wants a solution that provides
the fastest financial recovery for the survivors and victims' families. "I lost everything, my life
is totally upside down, people I called friends are gone," he told CNN.
"I'm 72 years old, I can't spend what's left of my life trying to
rebuild. Whatever they do, they just need to compensate people." He also would like to see some
sort of memorial at the site to honor the lives of those lost. But resolving the long-term
future of the property -- the site of a deadly disaster that also happens to
be valuable beachfront real estate -- will likely be complicated. And judging
by what's happened at the sites of other mass tragedies, it will take some
time………… |
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Black Emergency Managers
Association International Washington,
D.C. |
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