Millions of Americans across the country have been affected by disasters, from Alaska to Puerto Rico, from Florida to South Carolina. FEMA is not slowing down as it continues to respond and help disaster survivors.
Nearly 10,000 staff are deployed to 462 disasters across the country, to communities that need our help. This includes 520 personnel in Kentucky for flooding, 221 in Missouri for severe storms, 891 in Puerto Rico for Hurricane Fiona and 789 in Florida for Hurricane Ian. Over 1,000 FEMA staff are also supporting response efforts virtually.
We know that challenges are evolving each day. We will continue to assess needs in each community and deploy additional personnel as needed. Below are just some examples of FEMA’s ongoing efforts to support communities as they recover.
Hurricane Ian
In Florida and South Carolina, FEMA is working with local, state, tribal and territorial partners to respond to Hurricane Ian.
Urban Search and Rescue teams from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, Customs Border and Protection and the state of Florida are coordinating rescue efforts with local officials. Nearly 1,600 people and 75 pets have been rescued by these teams.
FEMA Virginia Task Force 2 is providing assessment, rescue and recovery while working alongside local authorities.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is visiting Florida to assess ongoing needs and response efforts. On the left, FEMA State Operations Section Chief Jeff Strickland gives her a briefing at the Incident Command Post. On the right, she hugs a survivor.
Hurricane Fiona
FEMA and other federal agencies deployed more than 1,000 employees to Puerto Rico to support the response. This is in addition to 700 staff who live and work on the island and the hundreds of trained volunteers who also deployed to assist.
FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center was activated to coordinate response efforts. It is the main hub for information, situational awareness, planning and resource coordination. Our partners, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, help to coordinate efforts from different federal agencies.
Administrator Criswell has been traveling to Puerto Rico to continue to assess the situation and determine unmet needs as the island recovers from Hurricane Fiona.
FEMA’s Disaster Survivor Assistant Teams have been traveling around Puerto Rico to help survivors apply for disaster assistance. Teams often include translators, such as this sign language interpreter.
Typhoon Merbok
Response efforts have continued in Alaska. Last week, President Biden made additional disaster assistance available to the state of Alaska to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by Typhoon Merbok and the resulting flooding and landslides.
Administrator Criswell traveled to Alaska to assess recovery efforts. She met with the United States Coast Guard, who responded to and helped safely survey the devastation caused by the typhoon in Nome and along Western Alaska.
You can follow FEMA response efforts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you’re interested in contributing to disaster response efforts, visit the FEMA blog post on how you can help.