Ex-FEMA chief: Agency can handle Harvey, Irma

Structure’s 10 regions designed to take on multiple disasters

WASHINGTON The man who ran FEMA while Superstorm Sandy roared up the East Coast in 2012 and dealt last year with Louisiana floods and Hurricane Matthew in the Southeast U.S. says he has no doubt the agency can simultaneously manage the recovery from Hurricane Harvey and the response to Hurricane Irma.

As long as Congress provides enough money.

“That’s always been the reality for FEMA,” said Craig Fugate, who was chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Obama. “Big disasters don’t happen one at a time.”

FEMA’s structure, divided into 10 geographic regions coordinated through the Washington headquarters, means the agency is set up to handle several emergencies at once. While Region VI has been working on response and recovery to Harvey’s devastating flooding in Texas and Louisiana, Region X is managing response to wildfires in the Northwest.

With a permanent workforce of about 5,000 that can double when disaster strikes, the agency has the flexi- bility to prepare for un- expected floods, earthquakes and tornadoes, Fugate said. Regions work with local governors to coordinate response and then conduct the larger and much longer job of recovery.

“FEMA’s got the people and resources to respond to multiple disasters,” he said. “The most critical issue for FEMA right now is getting the supplemental (spending bill) passed because they will run out of cash just to be able to respond to disaster much less do any long-term recovery.”

The House overwhelmingly approved a nearly $7.9 billion recovery aid package on Wednesday for Texas and neighboring Louisiana in what is likely the first tranche of what’s expected to be tens of billions of dollars in federal aid to the areas hit by Harvey.

The effort, however, may be complicated by the Senate, where Republican leaders have signaled they want to add language raising the nation’s debt limit. The federal government needs an increase in the debt limit in order to continue paying its bills or it risks going into default.

Money for FEMA is scheduled to run out by Friday unless Congress acts.

Anticipating a direct hit by Irma on Florida, the state’s two senators — Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio — are urging congressional leaders to add money for the Category 5 storm to the Harvey bill.

“As Floridians are preparing for one of the worst storms on record, they need to know that the federal government is both ready and willing to direct the necessary resources needed to help them in the recovery process,” the senators wrote to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky,., and Democratic leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

In tweets Wednesday, President Trump acknowledged the daunting threat Irma poses to Florida, noting his administration is preparing for the worst.

FEMA already has sent more than 100 employees to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico ready to respond. In addition, FEMA has pre-staged meals and water in preparation for the storm, according to the agency.

Also, FEMA’s Regional Response Coordination Centers in Atlanta, New York City and Philadelphia all activated with interagency partners to monitor Hurricane Irma, and respond as the storm track changes.

For FEMA, there is no down time between crises, Fugate said.

“Some of the teams, they literally roll from disaster to disaster,” he said.

AL DIAZ, AP Traffic heads north along the Florida Turnpike near Homestead, as tourists in the Florida Keys evacuate Wednesday. Hurricane Irma is on its way to a possible hit on South Florida.

GETTY IMAGES Craig Fugate