‘Hurricane could bring devastation’
Michael category 2
MIAMI, Oct 9, (Agencies): Hurricane Michael strengthened to a Category 2 storm with 100-mileper-hour winds on Tuesday as Florida’s governor warned it could bring “total devastation” to parts of the southern US state.
The storm – currently located over the Gulf of Mexico – is sweeping toward the Florida coast at around 12 miles per hour and is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, bringing with it “life threatening” storm surges and heavy rainfall, the National Hurricane Center said.
“It is a monstrous storm and the forecast (keeps) getting more dangerous,” Florida Governor Rick Scott said. “The time to prepare is now.”
It “poses a deadly threat and as it grows stronger, we can expect it make landfall as a major Category 3 storm,” said Scott, warning that it “could bring total devastation to parts of our state, especially in the panhandle.”
A hurricane warning was up across the Florida panhandle, a lowlying area of beachfront resort and retirement communities on northeastern Gulf coast.
Forecasters warned of coastal flooding with storm surge and tides projected to raise water levels by as much as eight to 12 feet in some areas.
Rainfall of four to eight inches, and as much as a foot in isolated areas, “could lead to life-threatening flash floods,” according to the NHC, which also warned that the storm’s approach could spawn tornados in northwestern Florida.
Michael was forecast to have the power to uproot trees, block roads and knock out power for days by the time it hits Florida Wednesday. It is expected to weaken as it moves up into the southeastern United States.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has been in contact with officials about the incoming storm – which he termed “a big one” – and that the government, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was ready.
Meanwhile, emergency crews on Monday were searching for four men whose recreational vehicle was among those swept away from an RV park by raging floodwaters that prompted dramatic rescues by helicopters and boats in a small West Texas city.
Heavy rains started falling Sunday night, causing the South Llano River to rise in Junction, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) west of Austin. Kimble County Sheriff Hilario Cantu said no fatalities had been confirmed but that “all the RVs, everything, got swept away.”
‘Audit failed FEMA contracts’:
A new law requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to investigate how it came to award Hurricane Maria relief contracts to a company with an unproven record.
The Associated Press reported last year that the newly-formed contractor, Florida-based Bronze Star, LLC, won more than $30 million in FEMA contracts but never delivered the emergency tarps and plastic sheeting for repairs of damaged homes in Puerto Rico.
Democratic Rep. Sean Maloney of New York proposed the legislation, which was included in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, citing the AP’s reporting. The provision passed both houses overwhelmingly and was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Friday.
The law requires the Inspector General of the Homeland Security Department to begin an audit of the Bronze Star contract within 30 days and to issue a report to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs within 270 days.
The review must look at the contracting and evaluation process, accountability requirements and how the cancellation of the contracts affected the provision of supplies to people in need in Puerto Rico.
“The Trump Administration bungled the response to Hurricane Maria so badly that almost 3,000 people died - we need to get to the bottom of what happened, and that includes figuring out why we gave a $30 million contract for necessary emergency supplies to people who didn’t know what the hell they were doing,” Maloney said in a statement. “This audit should be part of a comprehensive look at what this administration did wrong. We can’t ever let this happen again.”
Trump has praised his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico as “an incredible, unsung success.”