Latest FEMA Headlines

All the headlines from our FEMA Topic Page, ordered by recency.

FEMA OKs Additional $5.5M for Buying Flood-Prone Properties in Penn.

May 25 2012 // Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Thursday approved more than $5.5 million in additional federal funding for property acquisitions in Pennsylvania that will permanently remove flood-prone properties from...

Records: Joplin Twister Was Costliest Since 1950

May 21 2012 // The cost of 30 manhole covers that got sucked away: $5,800. A new concession stand at the destroyed high school: $228,600. Shelter and care for more than 1,300 homeless pets: $372,000.The tornado that tore through Joplin a...

FEMA Halts Agents’ Use of Rebates

May 7 2012 // Federal emergency officials are calling on insurance agents to stop offering clients a cut of their commission if a customer agrees to purchase a flood policy.The Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking aim at...

Once Again, Flood Insurance Program to Expire Unless Congress Acts

May 3 2012 // Federal officials are putting fresh pressure on Congress to take action on the National Flood Insurance Program, whose authorization expires at the end of this month, one day before hurricane season begins.The NFIP has...

More Families Building Their Own Tornado Shelters

May 2 2012 // When deadly twisters chewed through the South and Midwest in 2011, thousands of people in the killers’ paths had nowhere to hide. Now many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time:...

Court Reverses Mississippi Award Over ‘Negligent’ Flood Policy Advice

May 1 2012 // An insurance company selling federal flood insurance has won a case against a Mississippi homeowner who claimed the insurer was negligent in not informing him that he was eligible to buy a preferred risk policy with more...

Florida Agency to Fight FEMA Ban on Flood Insurance Commission Rebating

Apr 27 2012 // One Florida insurance agency is protesting a decision by the federal flood insurance program that would stop insurers and agents from offering clients a rebate on agents’ commission to customers who buy flood...

Vermont and U.S. Officials Highlight Irene Housing

Apr 26 2012 // Stephen Cutlip had only been living in Mendon for several weeks when he was displaced last summer by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene.Following the August flood, he lived in a series of motels then spent three months in...

FEMA Urges Renewal of Flood Insurance Program Set to Expire Next Month

Apr 25 2012 // Federal flood insurance officials are urging Congress to renew the federal program.The National Flood Insurance Program is scheduled to expire on May 31 unless Congress acts, in advance, to reauthorize it. “Without...

FEMA Reports $18.6 Million in Disaster Aid to Kentucky

Apr 25 2012 // More than $18.6 million in federal disaster assistance has been approved for Kentucky residents who went through the tornadoes and severe storms of late February and early March. The Federal Emergency Management Agency...

Companies to Pay $14.8M in FEMA Trailer Settlement

Apr 19 2012 // Nearly two dozen companies that manufactured government-issued trailers for storm victims after Hurricane Katrina have agreed to pay $14.8 million in a proposed class-action settlement of claims that the temporary shelters...

FEMA to Agents: Stop Using Commission Rebates to Solicit Business

Apr 17 2012 // Federal emergency officials are calling on insurance agents to stop offering clients a cut of the agent’s commission if the client agrees to purchase a flood policy.The Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking...

FEMA: More than $2M in Indiana Disaster Aid Approved

Apr 9 2012 // More than $2 million in federal aid has been approved for homeowners, businesses and others affected by southern Indiana tornadoes and other storms earlier this year. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says that...

FEMA Director: Private Sector Needs ‘Seat at the Table’ in Disaster Response

Mar 28 2012 // The private sector should be engaged early and often in preparing for and responding to natural disasters like hurricanes, the top U.S. emergency management official says.Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal...

FEMA Denies Appeal; Harrisburg Fire Chief Says Town ‘Will Survive’

Mar 23 2012 // Harrisburg Fire Chief Bill Summers says his southern Illinois town will recover from last month’s deadly tornado with or without FEMA help.Summers says he’s not surprised that FEMA has denied the state’s...

Vermont, FEMA Join Forces to Buy Out Flood-Prone Properties

Mar 16 2012 // Vermont and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are joining to put $19.8 million toward buying out properties that are prone to flooding. Gov. Peter Shumlin, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and other officials traveled to...

Illinois to Recalculate Storm Damage Cost for FEMA

Mar 16 2012 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has given Illinois more time to recalculate the tornado damage to southern parts of the state to bolster its push to reverse the denial of aid, Sen. Dick Durbin said.FEMA...

Illinois Officials Dispute FEMA Denial of Tornado Aid

Mar 14 2012 // Looking at the destruction in his southern Illinois town, Harrisburg Mayor Eric Gregg couldn’t understand why federal officials turned down a plea to financially help local homeowners. Nearly a hundred homes are now...

FEMA Begins Survey of Illinois Tornado Damage

Mar 6 2012 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency on March 5 began surveying the damage from tornadoes and other severe weather that roiled southern Illinois last week, starting in the small town of Harrisburg, where six people were...

FEMA Gives $19M to Help Rebuild Virginia High School

Feb 27 2012 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded $19 million to help rebuild Louisa County High School, which was damaged during the Aug. 23 earthquake. A news release from Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office last...