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Sandy Debris Removal Passes 95 percent in 95 days

NEW YORK – Debris removal efforts after Hurricane Sandy in New York are nearing completion. More than 95 percent of the debris has been removed within 95 days of the storm hitting New York.

That includes everything from fallen trees to vehicles, boats, drywall and furniture, washers, dryers and insulation. It all amounts to 5.25 million cubic yards of debris caused by the strong winds and heavy rains created by Hurricane Sandy, beginning Oct. 27, 2012. That’s enough debris to fill the 102-story Empire State Building a little more than 3.5 times.

Collecting and hauling debris to the curbs has involved homeowners, neighbors and volunteers working with city, state and federal agencies. Neighbors and volunteers combined their skill and chainsaws to remove broken trees from yards and streets along with cleaning up disaster debris from public streets.

The demolition of destroyed structures is ongoing and about 20 percent complete.

Early in the cleanup, barges were used to haul debris to landfills in upstate New York.

The debris is also being trucked to landfills in other states.

Vegetation, such as wood, tree branches, leaves and other organic matter, is incinerated or chipped. Chips will be recycled for beneficial reuse.

FEMA’s Public Assistance program reimburses state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations 75 percent of eligible debris removal costs. In order to qualify, damage must be a direct result of Hurricane Sandy.

A U.S. Army Corp of Engineers video of the Hurricane Sandy debris work is at this link: http://www.fema.gov/medialibrary/media_records/11140

Editors: for a free-use FEMA debris news photo: http://www.fema.gov/photolibrary/photo_details.do?id=61125

For more information on New York’s disaster recovery, visit www.fema.gov/SandyNY, www.twitter.com/FEMASandy, www.facebook.com/FEMASandy and www.fema.gov/blog.

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Sandy Debris Removal Passes 95 percent in 95 days

Preliminary Flood Maps in Orange County, Texas Ready for Public View

Public Open Houses Scheduled to Share Map Changes and Flood Risk Information

DENTON, Texas –Homeowners, renters and business owners in Orange County, Texas are encouraged to look over newly released preliminary flood maps in order to determine their flood risks and make informed decisions.

Orange County officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are presenting the preliminary maps to communities and unincorporated areas in order to help leaders and residents identify known flood risks and use that information to make decisions about buying flood insurance and how the community should move forward with any development.

The Texas-based coastal flood mapping effort follows the release of a new, comprehensive storm surge study from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) that gives updated information on coastal flood risks. To share that data, two public workshops have been scheduled in the county where interested citizens can obtain more information about the proposed changes.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 15 & 16, 2013

Bridge City Community Center

105 Parkside

Bridge City, TX 77611

2 p.m. – 8 p.m.

“As we work together with our state and local partners to bring this critical information to the county, we ask that everyone review the maps to understand what flood risks are involved,” said FEMA R6 acting Regional Administrator Tony Robinson. “The role of the community as an active partner in the flood mapping process is very important.”

Additional information is available, including links to the interactive mapping website on www.txchart.com. Residents can also contact the Orange County Floodplain Administrator for more details.

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FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/femaregion6 and the FEMA Blog at http://blog.fema.gov.

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Preliminary Flood Maps in Orange County, Texas Ready for Public View

Removing Obstacles on the Road to Recovery

70 percent of Hurricane Sandy’s 6 million cubic yards of debris has been picked up

Hurricane Sandy’s strong winds, heavy rain and storm surge brought down trees and power lines, damaged houses, schools and businesses and in its wake created an estimated six million cubic yards of debris in New York state. In the seven weeks since the hurricane made landfall, 4.2 million cubic yards, 70 percent, has been collected.

In New York City alone, Hurricane Sandy left an estimated 2 million cubic yards of debris. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the City of New York Department of Sanitation have worked together to remove 1.8 million cubic yards, 90 percent of that debris.

“This has been a tremendous joint effort between FEMA, the Corps of Engineers, New York State, New York City and other local governments,” said Michael F. Byrne, FEMA federal coordinating officer. “Collecting and disposing of debris helps to clear the path for people to get back into their homes, schools to reopen and businesses to resume operations. “

After collection, debris is trucked to temporary staging areas where it is inspected and separated into categories. Items that can be recycled are prepared for reuse. Sand that was removed from roads near the shoreline is being sifted so it can be reused. Where practical, vegetative debris is ground and chipped. The remaining debris is disposed of in the safest, most cost effective manner possible.

The FEMA Public Assistance program reimburses state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations at least 75 percent of eligible debris removal costs. The remaining 25 percent comes from non-federal funds.

For debris removal to be eligible, the damage must be a direct result of Hurricane Sandy, and the work must be necessary to:

Eliminate an immediate threat to lives, public health and safety,
Eliminate immediate threats of significant damage to improved public and private property when the measures are cost effective, or
Ensure the economic recovery of the affected community to the benefit of the community-at-large.

To date, the Public Assistance program has awarded more than $98 million to local governments to assist with the cost of debris removal. For more information on New York’s disaster recovery, visit www.fema.gov/SandyNY, http://twitter.com/FEMASandy, www.facebook.com/FEMASandy and www.fema.gov/blog.

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Removing Obstacles on the Road to Recovery

Debris Removal on Track

NEW YORK – The partnership between New York State, New York City, other municipalities, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has made significant progress in removing the massive amounts of debris left by Hurricane Sandy. To date, along with private contractors, they have removed in excess of four million cubic yards of debris from New York City’s five boroughs and Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester counties.

FEMA’s Public Assistance program has approved more than $17 million to reimburse Nassau County for 75 percent of the costs of overtime for 270 employees and the rental of heavy duty wood chippers to reduce the volume of the debris. Approved this week is a $2.2 million reimbursement to supplement the $15 million approved for the county in November. More Public Assistance funding is anticipated to offset county costs for debris removal and disposal.

Strong winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy brought down trees, tree limbs and power lines throughout the New York area. Collecting and clearing out piles of debris has been one of the most difficult and time-consuming challenges of the recovery. But despite this, the debris piles are disappearing.

After collection, debris is trucked to staging areas where it is inspected, separated into categories and disposed of in the safest manner possible. To reduce the amount of material going into landfills, the Army Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with the New York City’s Sanitation Department, is looking at alternate ways of using the vegetative debris (wood, tree branches, leaves and other organic matter) that will be of benefit to the communities.

FEMA’s Public Assistance program reimburses state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations 75 percent of eligible debris removal costs. The remaining 25 percent is provided by non-federal funds. The state forwards the federal funds to the eligible local governments or organizations that incurred costs.

For debris removal to be eligible, the damage must be direct result of Hurricane Sandy, and the work must be necessary to:

Eliminate an immediate threat to lives, public health and safety,
Eliminate immediate threats of significant damage to improved public and private property when the measures are cost effective, or
Ensure the economic recovery of the affected community to the benefit of the community-at-large.

For more information on New York’s disaster recovery, visit www.fema.gov/SandyNY, www.twitter.com/FEMASandy, www.facebook.com/FEMASandy and www.fema.gov/blog.

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Debris Removal on Track

FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL PARTNERS TEAM UP TO IDENTIFY TEXAS COASTAL FLOOD RISKS: Storm surge study provides update on flood risks in Kleberg, Nueces,…

DENTON, Texas – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is updating flood maps in Kleberg, Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas, Texas counties following the release of a new, comprehensive storm surge study from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) that gives updated information on coastal flood risks

As FEMA works to update the new flood maps, the agency is working closely with its federal, state and local partners to help these four coastal counties better understand the current flood risk so that action can be taken to reduce that risk.

Meetings with local officials have already taken place and open houses for the general public are currently being scheduled. The local workshops provided an opportunity for local officials to review the storm surge study methods and get an update on the project’s progress. The Open Houses help to educate the public about the current flood risks in their area.

The Texas-based coastal flood mapping effort is part of FEMA’s comprehensive approach to integrating flood hazard identification and analysis with risk communications for affected coastal counties. In addition to the four counties, the effort also includes Brazoria, Calhoun, Cameron, Chambers, Galveston, Harris, Jackson, Jefferson, Matagorda, Orange, Refugio, Victoria and Willacy counties.

Media note: If media would like to join an online, informational briefing beginning at 10 a.m. (CST) tomorrow July 24, please call us at 940-898-5454 for details.

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Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/femaregion6, the R6 Preparedness website at www.fema.gov/about/regions/regionvi/updates.shtm and the FEMA Blog at http://blog.fema.gov.

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FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL PARTNERS TEAM UP TO IDENTIFY TEXAS COASTAL FLOOD RISKS: Storm surge study provides update on flood risks in Kleberg, Nueces,…

FEMA and Whole Communities Continue Support in Aftermath of Storms

Individuals in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic Regions Urged to Check on Neighbors during Extreme Hot Weather

Release Date: July 2, 2012
Release Number: HQ-12-055

At the direction of President Obama, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its federal partners continue to work closely with states affected this weekend by severe storms in parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.

FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) in Washington, D.C. and the Regional Response Coordination Centers in Chicago, Ill. and Philadelphia, Pa. are activated to support state requests for assistance, including coordinating access and functional needs issues affecting storm survivors with disabilities due to power access for medical and mobility equipment, and communications access. FEMA also remains in close contact with our federal partners including the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service forecast offices. In coordination with FEMA, DOE has deployed experts to West Virginia and FEMA Headquarters in Washington D.C., and is supporting FEMA’s regional offices in Chicago, Ill., and Philadelphia, Pa. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has deployed personnel to Ohio to support assessments and generator installations for emergency power. The West Virginia National Guard is also actively engaged in a generator mission for emergency power.

The President issued emergency disaster declarations Saturday for all counties within the states of West Virginia and Ohio in response to requests from the Governors of those states and directed FEMA to coordinate all federal disaster relief efforts in those states. An emergency declaration request is also currently under review for the District of Columbia.

FEMA is staging emergency generators and water supplies in Morgantown and Charleston, West Virginia and Columbus, Ohio to support state and local response needs.

Additionally, FEMA has deployed Incident Management Assistance Teams and liaison officers to the state emergency operations centers in Ohio and West Virginia. A Mobile Emergency Response Support team and Mobile Communication Office Vehicles (MCOV) have been deployed to West Virginia to provide secure and non-secure voice, video, and information services, operations, and logistics support to state response operations.

FEMA is part of a team that includes federal partners, state, tribal and local officials, the private sector, non-profits and faith-based groups. While FEMA and its federal partners continue to bring resources to bear to support state and local officials, FEMA is also working with other members of this team to leverage all available resources.

“From Ohio to Maryland, we’re seeing communities come together to support one another during this extreme weather,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “We encourage those who are interested in helping to do so by supporting the voluntary agencies that are providing disaster relief in affected areas.”

Voluntary agencies are providing shelter for those who are displaced by the storm or without power. National and local organizations are also operating cooling centers and making meals available to families and individuals impacted by the severe weather and power outages in a number of states.

FEMA Regional Disability Integration Specialists in Chicago and Philadelphia are distributing information on cooling stations to the disability community, including through the National Federation for the Blind and Deaf advocacy groups.

Residents should prepare for extreme heat. An Excessive Heat Advisory means that a period of hot temperatures is expected. Hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a situation in which heat illness is possible. Drink plenty of water. Stay in an air conditioned room. Stay out of the sun, and check on neighbors and relatives. Reschedule strenuous activity to early morning or evening. Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing when possible.

For more preparedness information about extreme heat, visit www.ready.gov or www.listo.gov to find out how you can protect your family, pets, business and property.

For information on the latest Energy situation reports, visit www.oe.netl.doe.gov/emergency_sit_rpt.aspx.

Follow FEMA online at blog.fema.gov, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

Last Modified: Monday, 02-Jul-2012 17:21:16

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FEMA and Whole Communities Continue Support in Aftermath of Storms

Fact Sheet: Federal Agency Assistance to the Souris Valley

Release Date: June 11, 2012
Release Number: 1981-AFS003

» More Information on North Dakota Flooding

» 2012 Region VIII News Releases

FEDERAL AGENCY ASSISTANCE OVERVIEW

Immediately following the June 2011 flooding in the Souris River Basin, federal agencies, under mission assignments from FEMA, responded to public health and safety needs throughout Ward County. Federal life-saving and life-sustaining personnel worked under the direction, and at the request of, state and local leadership. Below is a summary of the federal actions funded by FEMA and the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services to ensure communities and people in the area were protected from further harm and could begin their recovery.

In all, FEMA directed 28 federal response assignments at a cost of more than $60 million dollars to FEMA and almost $7 million to the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.

In addition, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program paid out on 488 claims for a total of $59,331,403.36 in McHenry, Reville and Ward counties.

Department of Health and Human Services

Members of Applied Public Health Teams from the Department of Health and Human Services integrated with local fire department, local health agencies, and structural engineers/building inspectors to assist with public health consultations and inspection of homes for reoccupation.

The teams visited approximately 4,600 homes damaged by the flood, meeting with residents as they returned home and providing environmental health consultations and technical assistance. They distributed post-flood information packets from the North Dakota Department of Health, and gave information on general clean-up activities, pumping out flooded basements, mold issues, household hazardous waste disposal, disinfection, asbestos, the safe use of electrical generators and personal health precautions. They also went door-to-door with structural engineers and building inspectors to assess health concerns such as contamination from wastewater, extent of mold coverage, asbestos, and other hazardous material risks. This mission was assigned by FEMA and cost $100,000, with 10 percent paid by the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.

Environmental Protection Agency

EPA was given four missions by FEMA: remove household hazardous wastes from the impacted area; decontaminate and prepare white goods and electronic waste for recycling; collect and process orphaned containers; and conduct environmental monitoring and sampling in impacted and work areas.

In total, EPA removed:

Nearly 6,000 units of white goods – air conditioners, refrigerators, and other household appliances. Freon, mercury, and other hazardous materials were removed by EPA and the scrap was turned over to the city of Minot for recycling.
More than 90,000 small containers, including paint, household cleaners, and small gas cans holding more than 15,000 gallons of gas which was sent to a fuel processor.
Several large containers, including propane tanks as large as 3,000 – 5,000 gallons, which were returned to their owners or sent to a Minot company for reuse.
215 lead-acid batteries which were turned over to the city of Minot.
More than 550 cubic yards of electronic waste such as household electronics, computers, and television sets which were sent to a contractor for recycling.

In addition, EPA collected asbestos insulation from more than 220 households, conducted air sampling during cleanup activities, and conducted soil sampling in city parks once flooding subsided. This mission was assigned by FEMA and cost $5.2 million, with 10 percent paid by the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.

General Services Administration

GSA was given the mission to search for space, facilities and land to support FEMA. GSA also provided approximately 20 GSA fleet vehicles in support of the mission.

Its real estate team arranged the following leases:

The Joint Field Office in Bismarck.
The Area Field Office in Minot located at the State Fairgrounds.
Two land leases at the State Fairgrounds in Minot for FEMA trailer staging.
A land lease in Minot for a FEMA trailer park supporting flooding victims (still in operation).
A temporary space lease at the State Fairgrounds (while FEMA was preparing its Area Field Office for occupancy).
A space lease at the former “Y” building in downtown Minot for Housing Management Office Recovery (still in operation).
A space lease at the Medical Building in Minot for ESF-14 operations (lease ends July 15, 2012).
A space lease for a Disaster Recovery Center at the Dakota Mall in Minot.

There were many other spaces, buildings and lands that were donated by owners such as the city of Minot or the state of North Dakota which were used for the FEMA mission, including land for the base camp in Minot and land in Velva for other FEMA operations. FEMA paid GSA $84,000 for its services.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA evaluated and ensured the safety of response personnel and civilians by providing air sampling and site inspections, and giving seminars on hazard awareness.
OSHA also helped the Vermiculite Asbestos Work Group develop public service announcements (vermiculite is a common insulation which often is contaminated with asbestos) and inspected the responders base camp.
This mission was assigned by FEMA and cost $94,000, with 10 percent paid by the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.

Public Safety and Security

Approximately 135 federal law enforcement officers from four different agencies were deployed to support local police and sheriff’s departments. They protected lives and property in the evacuated areas, maintained points of entry/exit in neighborhoods, did traffic control, patrolled and did other law enforcement duties as assigned. Safety officers came from the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Interior, and were coordinated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. One officer from Customs and Border Patrol was injured responding to a law enforcement request and remains in physical therapy. Local guards were hired by Federal Protective Services to provide security at FEMA facilities. This mission was assigned by FEMA and cost $3.6 million, with 10 percent paid by the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The Corps, at the request of the city of Minot, began funding and building temporary levees in the area on their own authority in April. They continued doing so with 16 levee contracts while the river crested multiple times through June. The temporary leveeconstruction cost the Corps approximately $5 million for Minot alone, another $1 million for Sawyer, $600,000 for Burlington and $500,000 for Velva. The final crest, which overwhelmed the protection system, was almost three times the amount of water of the next highest crest.
Emphasis was put on the city’s priorities:
- protecting the water treatment plant
- protecting three schools
- protecting 17 lift/pump stations
- protecting, maintaining and raising the 3rd St. /4th Ave. levee
- keeping the Broadway Bridge open
Current estimates are that ongoing repairs to the permanent levees and the pump stations, plus the scour at Velva, will cost more than $5 million, again funded by the Corps of Engineers.
After the floods, the Corps and its contractors were given the debris removal mission by FEMA. They removed more than 61,000 tons of debris within Ward County, including 54,000 tons from Minot. This included removing the temporary levees. This mission was assigned by FEMA and cost $17 million, with 10 percent paid by the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.
The Corps designed and built the infrastructure at community group sites, totaling 848 pads at three primary locations. This mission was assigned by FEMA and cost $40 million, with 10 percent paid by the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.
More than 150 Corps of Engineers personnel were deployed for flood fighting and flood recovery operations.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

The Fish and Wildlife Service did airboat missions and patrols on both the Red River and the Minot area. They were assigned that mission by FEMA, at a total cost of $100,000, with 10 percent paid by the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.

Last Modified: Monday, 11-Jun-2012 10:02:14

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Fact Sheet: Federal Agency Assistance to the Souris Valley