|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Find out your community's risks with the US Natural Hazards Index.
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
FEMA Updates “Engaging Faith-Based and Community Organizations: Planning Considerations for Emergency Managers”
|
2023 Hurricane Season Predictions: Two Category 3 or higher with maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
The local EMA works year-round with the state and federal counterparts to update evacuation plans, response plans and to update the county's website with all of the most up-to-date information so the public can be informed.
(TNS) - Andy Leanza keeps a plastic storage container in the corner of his closet that he gets out once a year to ensure everything he and his family need is there to be ready for a hurricane.
Consider it leadership by example. As the director of Glynn County's Emergency Management Agency, he preaches the virtues of hurricane preparedness and knows well that it is only a matter of time until a major storm impacts the Golden Isles.
"It truly is a matter of, 'when is it your turn?'" Leanza said.
Consider it leadership by example. As the director of Glynn County's Emergency Management Agency, he preaches the virtues of hurricane preparedness and knows well that it is only a matter of time until a major storm impacts the Golden Isles.
"It truly is a matter of, 'when is it your turn?'" Leanza said.
The annual Atlantic hurricane season forecast from Colorado State University predicts conditions are right for 13 named storms this summer and fall. Six of those are predicted to become hurricanes, two of which are predicted to be major hurricanes, which are Category 3 or higher with maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
The predictions from the CSU Tropical Meteorology Project say that is about 80 percent of the average activity during the annual hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. An El Niño pattern is expected to develop that meteorologists predict will dampen some tropical weather activity.
El Niño refers to a warming of the ocean surface to above-average temperatures in the central and Easter tropical Pacific Ocean that can disrupt the formation of tropical storms in the Atlantic hurricane basin, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The predictions from the CSU Tropical Meteorology Project say that is about 80 percent of the average activity during the annual hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. An El Niño pattern is expected to develop that meteorologists predict will dampen some tropical weather activity.
El Niño refers to a warming of the ocean surface to above-average temperatures in the central and Easter tropical Pacific Ocean that can disrupt the formation of tropical storms in the Atlantic hurricane basin, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Below-average activity or not, Leanza said everyone in the Golden Isles should be prepared for a storm this summer and fall.
"I would still consider this year just as dangerous," he said.
He went recently to a workshop with the team at the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center and said they used bowling pins falling as an example. Eventually, a storm will hit, he said.
The local EMA works year-round with the state and federal counterparts to update evacuation plans, response plans and to update the county's website with all of the most up-to-date information so the public can be informed.
The site, glynncounty.org/557/Emergency-Management-Agency, includes the most updated flood modeling, storm damage models, evacuation routes and other information so residents and business owners can get an idea of what to expect should a storm make landfall in the Golden Isles. The site is a must-see for anyone preparing locally for a hurricane.
"Look at our website, Ready Georgia and the Red Cross," Leanza said, noting that all three are great resources when preparing for hurricane season.
He suggested checking on flood and homeowner's insurance and anything that may be needed in the aftermath of a storm prior to the season beginning so that everything is in place if needed.
On a more basic level, Leanza said the items in the bin he keeps aren't what you need for an apocalypse. Instead, hurricane prep packages like his need things you might use every day.
"You don't need all the fancy prep stuff," he said. "Make it be common sense stuff."
He and Deputy EMA Director Sharon Courson emptied a backpack they keep packed as a demonstration piece when they present preparedness programs to local groups, businesses and organizations. They pulled out of it everything from hand-cranked radio and solar-powered charger to dog treats, toilet paper and a bag of ketchup and mustard packages.
"It's the little things that can make a big difference," Courson said.
Packing birth certificates, marriage licenses and other important documents to avoid damage from wind or surge also is prudent.
Courson also advised anyone who may want to leave when a storm is coming to do it sooner than later. Don't wait to get the order from the county to evacuate if you are ready to go, Courson said.
"If you have family you can go stay with, go do it," she said. "You don't have to wait on us to say 'evacuate.'"
One of the most important things people can do, Leanza said, is to sign up for the county's Code Red program, which provides emergency updates. It is an opt-in program and allows users to choose what kind of alerts they want to receive. It is a key piece of the communication puzzle during an emergency, Leanza said.
"We encourage everyone to sign up for Code Red all the time. It is a really useful tool," he said.
___
©2023 The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.)
Visit The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.) at www.thebrunswicknews.com
"I would still consider this year just as dangerous," he said.
He went recently to a workshop with the team at the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center and said they used bowling pins falling as an example. Eventually, a storm will hit, he said.
The local EMA works year-round with the state and federal counterparts to update evacuation plans, response plans and to update the county's website with all of the most up-to-date information so the public can be informed.
The site, glynncounty.org/557/Emergency-Management-Agency, includes the most updated flood modeling, storm damage models, evacuation routes and other information so residents and business owners can get an idea of what to expect should a storm make landfall in the Golden Isles. The site is a must-see for anyone preparing locally for a hurricane.
"Look at our website, Ready Georgia and the Red Cross," Leanza said, noting that all three are great resources when preparing for hurricane season.
He suggested checking on flood and homeowner's insurance and anything that may be needed in the aftermath of a storm prior to the season beginning so that everything is in place if needed.
On a more basic level, Leanza said the items in the bin he keeps aren't what you need for an apocalypse. Instead, hurricane prep packages like his need things you might use every day.
"You don't need all the fancy prep stuff," he said. "Make it be common sense stuff."
He and Deputy EMA Director Sharon Courson emptied a backpack they keep packed as a demonstration piece when they present preparedness programs to local groups, businesses and organizations. They pulled out of it everything from hand-cranked radio and solar-powered charger to dog treats, toilet paper and a bag of ketchup and mustard packages.
"It's the little things that can make a big difference," Courson said.
Packing birth certificates, marriage licenses and other important documents to avoid damage from wind or surge also is prudent.
Courson also advised anyone who may want to leave when a storm is coming to do it sooner than later. Don't wait to get the order from the county to evacuate if you are ready to go, Courson said.
"If you have family you can go stay with, go do it," she said. "You don't have to wait on us to say 'evacuate.'"
One of the most important things people can do, Leanza said, is to sign up for the county's Code Red program, which provides emergency updates. It is an opt-in program and allows users to choose what kind of alerts they want to receive. It is a key piece of the communication puzzle during an emergency, Leanza said.
"We encourage everyone to sign up for Code Red all the time. It is a really useful tool," he said.
___
©2023 The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.)
Visit The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.) at www.thebrunswicknews.com
Panel Wants FEMA to Explain Flood Insurance Prices
"Homeowners, particularly those who are financially vulnerable, need affordable flood insurance policies to protect against catastrophic financial loss when future storms befall," wrote House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Kentucky.
May 04, 2023 •
(TNS) - The U.S. House committee charged with investigating government fraud and corruption demanded Monday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency detail just how its new flood insurance pricing system works.
In a letter delivered Monday night to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability gave FEMA until May 29 to turn over any records regarding the system, Risk Rating 2.0, that would help lawmakers "understand the premium calculations" that have increased rates, sometimes dramatically, for many of the 4.7 million Americans buying policies that pay for repairing water damage to individual homes and businesses.
"Homeowners, particularly those who are financially vulnerable, need affordable flood insurance policies to protect against catastrophic financial loss when future storms befall," wrote House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Kentucky. "The process leading to the rate increases has been less than transparent."
In a letter delivered Monday night to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability gave FEMA until May 29 to turn over any records regarding the system, Risk Rating 2.0, that would help lawmakers "understand the premium calculations" that have increased rates, sometimes dramatically, for many of the 4.7 million Americans buying policies that pay for repairing water damage to individual homes and businesses.
"Homeowners, particularly those who are financially vulnerable, need affordable flood insurance policies to protect against catastrophic financial loss when future storms befall," wrote House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Kentucky. "The process leading to the rate increases has been less than transparent."
The three-page letter demanding answers was written Friday but took until late Monday to finish after other House members asked to sign it — a process that required physically taking the letter to individual offices all over Capitol Hill. Fifty-one of the 435 House members from both parties and representing all regions of the country signed, including all six representatives from Louisiana.
Even before the new pricing methodology was to be rolled out in October 2021, Louisiana's congressional delegation and elected officials of both parties asked FEMA to disclose the factors that went into that formula. They suspect that features unique to Louisiana, such as levees protecting low-lying property, were not accurately considered.
"FEMA imposed the disastrous Risk Rating 2.0 before it was ready for prime time, and as a result families across Louisiana and throughout the nation are dealing with the devastating consequences. In my district, some premiums have skyrocketed from hundreds up to thousands of dollars," said Rep. Steve Scalise, the Jefferson Republican who as Majority Leader is the second highest ranking member of the U.S. House. Scalise, who is leading the effort to acquire the data, co-signed the letter.
What congressional lawmakers call FEMA's lack of transparency has long worried local Louisiana officials, including Dwayne Bourgeois, executive director of the North Lafourche Levee District. "We know there are holes in the formula FEMA is using to set Louisiana policyholders' premiums and unfortunately, we've raised the questions and they've gone largely unanswered," he said.
St. Charles Parish filed a lawsuit challenging the pricing methodology last week after being denied a public records request to review the data. "It is pricing people out of their homes and they can't even explain how they've calculated these premiums," said St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell.
The FEMA administrator in charge of the National Flood Insurance Program, however, said the agency has been clear about the pricing system's particulars. "We have done a good job of providing all the information someone needs to assess the program," David Maurstad testified Friday.
He added that while some officials focus only on the dramatic increases, about a million policyholders saw their premiums go down as a result of the new system.
Maurstad pointed out that only new policyholders would pay full price for flood insurance policies — sometimes double the previous cost — based on the individual property's risk of flooding. For those already holding flood insurance, the annual costs can only increase by 18%.
FEMA's new rules also require property owners to share information with new buyers about the property's flooding risk and the costs of insuring it over time.
Risk Rating 2.0 was an effort to make federally subsidized flood insurance more like a commercial product that links the price of premiums to payouts for damage.
Over its half-century in existence, the National Flood Insurance Program has routinely stressed its reserves and relied on federal taxpayers to cover recovery costs. The program is $20.5 billion in debt, to which a million dollars of interest accrues daily.
For years, Congress members from interior states have complained about having to routinely repair coastal properties. Particularly galling, in their view, were the roughly 350,000 properties that had been flooded more than once but that NFIP restored each time.
FEMA stated that Risk Rating 2.0 would use enhanced "technological and mapping capabilities to determine and communicate a property's full flood risk." For most Louisiana homeowners and businesses, the pricing methodology translated into paying a little more or a little less for the annual policies.
But for many living in low-lying and flood prone areas, premiums became so costly that homeowners and businesses couldn't afford the policies and their properties lost value. The congressional letter quoted Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon saying: "Without changes to the NFIP plan, these premium increases will cause many Louisiana policy holders — especially lower income households in the most flood-prone areas — to drop their flood insurance altogether."
"New Jersey has likely seen approximately 12,000 policy holders drop their policies since FEMA moved forward with Risk Rating 2.0 premium hikes and it is estimated that 80% of policy holders in the state will see rate increases," the letter stated.
Though some finance companies require flood insurance in order to mortgage properties, the purchase of flood insurance is voluntary.
NFIP is up for renewal later this year, and Congress is concerned that the program will become unsustainable, partially because higher-priced policies under the new methodology apparently has led to many to drop their policies.
In addition to all information and communications regarding Risk Rating 2.0, the committee demanded FEMA provide documents covering a dozen issues that go into calculating rates, including historical losses and risk exposures from 1992 to 2018; catastrophic modeling; consultations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on levees; and state profiles. Additionally, the committee requested specific numbers on the number of policyholders payng more for flood insurance and of previous policyholders who dropped their coverage.
Though FEMA began looking at the new pricing methodology before Democratic President Joe Biden was inaugurated, the Republican-dominated committee requested the information from the start of his presidency. The committee has launched investigations into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and fraud in pandemic recovery spending but ended further investigations into Donald Trump and the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol.
©2023 The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
St. Charles Parish filed a lawsuit challenging the pricing methodology last week after being denied a public records request to review the data. "It is pricing people out of their homes and they can't even explain how they've calculated these premiums," said St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell.
The FEMA administrator in charge of the National Flood Insurance Program, however, said the agency has been clear about the pricing system's particulars. "We have done a good job of providing all the information someone needs to assess the program," David Maurstad testified Friday.
He added that while some officials focus only on the dramatic increases, about a million policyholders saw their premiums go down as a result of the new system.
Maurstad pointed out that only new policyholders would pay full price for flood insurance policies — sometimes double the previous cost — based on the individual property's risk of flooding. For those already holding flood insurance, the annual costs can only increase by 18%.
FEMA's new rules also require property owners to share information with new buyers about the property's flooding risk and the costs of insuring it over time.
Risk Rating 2.0 was an effort to make federally subsidized flood insurance more like a commercial product that links the price of premiums to payouts for damage.
Over its half-century in existence, the National Flood Insurance Program has routinely stressed its reserves and relied on federal taxpayers to cover recovery costs. The program is $20.5 billion in debt, to which a million dollars of interest accrues daily.
For years, Congress members from interior states have complained about having to routinely repair coastal properties. Particularly galling, in their view, were the roughly 350,000 properties that had been flooded more than once but that NFIP restored each time.
FEMA stated that Risk Rating 2.0 would use enhanced "technological and mapping capabilities to determine and communicate a property's full flood risk." For most Louisiana homeowners and businesses, the pricing methodology translated into paying a little more or a little less for the annual policies.
But for many living in low-lying and flood prone areas, premiums became so costly that homeowners and businesses couldn't afford the policies and their properties lost value. The congressional letter quoted Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon saying: "Without changes to the NFIP plan, these premium increases will cause many Louisiana policy holders — especially lower income households in the most flood-prone areas — to drop their flood insurance altogether."
"New Jersey has likely seen approximately 12,000 policy holders drop their policies since FEMA moved forward with Risk Rating 2.0 premium hikes and it is estimated that 80% of policy holders in the state will see rate increases," the letter stated.
Though some finance companies require flood insurance in order to mortgage properties, the purchase of flood insurance is voluntary.
NFIP is up for renewal later this year, and Congress is concerned that the program will become unsustainable, partially because higher-priced policies under the new methodology apparently has led to many to drop their policies.
In addition to all information and communications regarding Risk Rating 2.0, the committee demanded FEMA provide documents covering a dozen issues that go into calculating rates, including historical losses and risk exposures from 1992 to 2018; catastrophic modeling; consultations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on levees; and state profiles. Additionally, the committee requested specific numbers on the number of policyholders payng more for flood insurance and of previous policyholders who dropped their coverage.
Though FEMA began looking at the new pricing methodology before Democratic President Joe Biden was inaugurated, the Republican-dominated committee requested the information from the start of his presidency. The committee has launched investigations into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and fraud in pandemic recovery spending but ended further investigations into Donald Trump and the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol.
©2023 The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Will Globalization Destroy Black America? By Phillip ...
-
https://optiongray.com/ham-vs-satellite-phones/ Off-Grid Communications – HAM Radio vs. Satellite Phones Written by Option Gray i...
-
• Global Financial Integrity watchdog, the Council of Europe says the illicit trade in human organs is worth between $600 million and $1.2...
Environmental Justice
Recovery\Homeless Shelters. U.S.
