Free Republic

Operation Gotham Shield: Emergency responders from across the region stage nuclear bomb drill POSTED 10:07 PM, APRIL 25, 2017, BY CHRISTIE DUFFY RUTHERFORD, N.J. — First responders and federal agencies in multiple states geared up Tuesday for a simulated response to a fake nuclear bomb detonation in northern New Jersey. The goal was to test emergency coordination between federal, state and local emergency resources in the case of such a disaster. "The exercise will simulate a highly challenging and complex incident with multiple cascading events resulting in long term regional impacts," said a FEMA spokesperson. FEMA was the lead agency...

California Gov. Jerry Brown asked President Donald Trump on Sunday for federal emergency assistance for the fourth time in just two months since the new administration took office, putting the nascent “CalExit” movement in a difficult position.

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Nevada and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms, flooding, and mudslides from January 5 to January 14, 2017. Federal funding is available to State, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storm in the counties of Douglas, Lyon, Storey, and Washoe; the independent city of Carson City; and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe,...

President Trump approved Tuesday disaster relief for California, putting an end to speculation that the bad blood between the White House and Gov. Jerry Brown would jeopardize the state’s plea for emergency aid. The Federal Emergency Management Administration announced that the assistance would be provided “due to the emergency conditions resulting from the potential failure of the emergency spillway at Lake Oroville Dam beginning on February 7, 2017, and continuing.” Mr. Brown, a Democrat who called Mr. Trump a “fraud” during last year’s presidential campaign, made the request for federal help Friday after heavy rainstorms inundated Northern California, flooding creeks,...

California was granted emergency funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Tuesday for both the situation at Lake Oroville and to help with the damage caused by the severe January storms.

On Friday, California Governor Jerry Brown sought federal help from President Trump by asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to declare “a major disaster” in California in light of the damage done by recent storms. The East Bay Times reports: “Brown formally requested the declaration for the series of storms striking the state between Jan. 3 and Jan. 12.” He noted that “heavy rains, winds and snow, particularly in Northern California, left eight people dead and knocked out power to an estimated 1 million Californian homes and businesses.” Brown’s request comes as Gov. Brown has challenged the Trump administration...

As President Trump settles into the Oval Office, most folks dealing with dire emergencies would probably agree that FEMA is one of the executive agencies that deserves disbanding Disorganization of federal agencies is never more evident than when a natural disaster strikes and the bureaucracy charged with coordinating relief efforts is nowhere to be found. The South has had more than its share of weather related tragedies over the last decade and, despite the numerous opportunities for FEMA to learn from past inefficiency, nothing has changed. What has changed in Mississippi is how well the community and churches have garnered...

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. Senator Hillary Clinton says she's pleased the Bush administration and a United Arab Emirates company have agreed to delay the company's takeover of significant operations at six major American ports. But the New York Democrat says she's still opposed to the deal and plans to introduce legislation that would block Dubai Ports World or any other company owned by a foreign government from operating U-S ports. Clinton said critical infrastructure like ports must be operated by the United States, not foreign-owned companies. She made the comments yesterday in an appearance in Miami Beach. Clinton, who is seen...

[H]undreds of Ohio emergency responders were exposed to a potentially fatal toxin while training at a FEMA facility in Alabama. The federal agency released a statement Wednesday saying that they have received no reports of illness as a result of the ricin exposure. Ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans that kills cells by preventing them from creating protein. Exposure to the toxin can lead to death.

FEMA is spending $62,500 for mobile homes for flood victims, when the industry estimate for an equivalent mobile home is $35,000. FEMA charges for installation, set up, and overhead bring the total FEMA cost to at least $129,200. The local Congressman, Garret Graves, says,"It's idiotic. It's the fleecing of America, example No. 10,000." He adds, "you're spending more money and it's taking longer. You're saying, 'We may be slow, but at least we're more expensive.'"

In light of today's widespread Internet outages, we should discuss contingency plans for FR availability, news updates and emergency communications. Please share what ham amateur radio shortwave frequencies to monitor for emergencies and news updates, as well as practical ham email on the HF and VHF bands.

Hurricane Matthew has been called a 'once-in-a-lifetime' storm in which evacuation is a matter of 'life or death'. But it was only when Waffle House announced it was closing 25 locations that many Americans decided the storm must be really bad. The beloved 24-hour restaurant chain is famous for staying open during natural disasters, so much so that even a 'Waffle House Index' was created. FEMA unofficially uses the index, color-coded much like country's terrorism threat advisory scale, to gauge how severely a place was hit by a natural disaster.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/nationwide-emergency-alert-system-test-planned-september-28 September 26, 2016 HQ-16-068 Contact: FEMA News Desk For Immediate Release Nationwide Emergency Alert System Test Planned for September 28 FEMA and FCC Issue Reminder and Key Points about Test WASHINGTON – As a reminder, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a mandatory nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on Wednesday, September 28, at 2:20 p.m. EDT. In light of the upcoming test, the agencies share the following key informational points: The purpose of the nationwide test is to ensure that EAS remains an effective means of...

Upcoming IPAWS National Test IPAWS will hold a national test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on Wednesday, September 28th, 2016 at 2:20pm EDT.

I found that in 2009 Douglas County Nevada tried to sue FEMA because their flood models were grossly incorrect, which resulted in many properties being incorrectly classified as requiring flood insurance that were not in flood zones. Reading around the net, it seems this is an endemic problem, and from speaking to surveyors online, they claim that 75 -85% of all these claims that they have worked are overturned-- the properties are in fact not in flood zones. Worse, the banks take advantage of this and buy insurance for the mortgage holder at outrageous rates. Both of these things happened...

Droves of people turn out to watch Republican nominee hand out water bottles and diapers as locals commend his efforts: ‘This is his stomping grounds’ The post-disaster politicking got under way in earnest on Friday, as Donald Trump appeared in flood-stricken Louisiana to give his image a presidential burnish, and as the White House announced Barack Obama would tour the area next Tuesday. A day earlier Louisiana’s governor, John Bel Edwards, had warned Trump not to show up in Louisiana “for a photo op”. Instead, he said, Trump should volunteer and make donations. Edwards also defended the delayed visit by...

In 2005 President Bush was rebuked by Democrats for his handling of Hurricane Katrina. President Obama scored some cheap political points -- blasting President Bush for his flyover of the devastation in New Orleans. Well, at least President Bush paid a visit. That's a lot more than what President Obama has done for the people of Baton Rouge and other parts of southeastern Louisiana. Some 40,000 homes are under water - a countless number left homeless - many without flood insurance. And even though the waters have begun to recede, President Obama has not set foot in the Bayou State.READ...

The US national security industry is planning for the impact of an unprecedented global food crisis lasting as long as a decade, according to reports by a government contractor. The studies published by CNA Corporation in December 2015, unreported until now, describe a detailed simulation of a protracted global food crisis from 2020 to 2030. The simulation, titled ‘Food Chain Reaction’, was a desktop gaming exercise involving the participation of 65 officials from the US, Europe, Africa, India, Brazil, and key multilateral and intergovernmental institutions. The scenario for the ‘Food Chain Reaction’ simulation was created by experts brought in from...

Starting on June 7th, FEMA will be conducting a large scale drill that has been named “Cascadia Rising” that will simulate the effects of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone and an accompanying west coast tsunami dozens of feet tall. According to the official flyer for the event, more than “50 counties, plus major cities, tribal nations, state and federal agencies, private sector businesses, and non-governmental organizations across three states – Washington, Oregon, and Idaho – will be participating”. In addition to “Cascadia Rising”, U.S. Northern Command will be holding five other exercises simultaneously. According to the...

According to a video stream by Info Wars’ Alex Jones, Sen­ate Ma­jor­ity Lead­er Mitch Mc­Con­nell is attempting to fast track a “war powers” bill. The bill will almost certainly give President Obama nearly unlimited power to deploy the military anywhere in the world for any length of time – including on U.S. soil. This means Marital Law could be utilized by Obama at any time on his discretion.