Latest FEMA Headlines

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

FEMA: Insurance Applies if Oil from Spill Mixes with Flood Waters

Jun 9 2010 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has clarified that in the event of a declared flooding disaster, National Flood Insurance Program coverage will apply even if oil from the British Petroleum deep well blowout in the...

NOAA Cites Factors Supporting Forecast of Busy Hurricane Season

May 27 2010 // An “active to extremely active” hurricane season is expected for the Atlantic Basin this year, according to the seasonal outlook issued today by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center – a division of the...

Flood Insurance Rates Cut for Property Owners Affected By Remapping

May 24 2010 // Property owners across the country fearing they may be forced to buy expensive flood insurance under a push to draw up new floodplain maps will catch a break by being offered the coverage at sharply lower rates for two...

Arkansas Official: Flood Insurance Push a ‘Scam’ to Raise Money

May 4 2010 // Recommendations by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for landowners in Trumann, Ark., to purchase flood insurance are nothing more than a scam, a levee district official told a crowd of concerned residents on May...

Data Show New Orleans Recovery Stalled Under Nagin

May 4 2010 // As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin leaves office, hundreds of damaged city buildings including police stations and fire houses sit unrepaired more than four years after Hurricane Katrina, stark reminders of how the recovery...

Many Midwest Homeowners Reject FEMA Flood Buyouts, Despite Benefits

Apr 19 2010 // Two years ago, Larry Frese thought he’d escaped the worst of a flood that had left a lot of his neighbors’ homes in Chelsea, Iowa, and a large swath of the state underwater, even as overflowing Otter Creek...

FEMA Nixes Aid for Florida Chinese Drywall Damage

Apr 5 2010 // Florida asked for federal assistance for thousands of homeowners with property damage caused by defective Chinese drywall but the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which typically deals with hurricanes and other natural...

FEMA Charges Georgia Man with Multiple False Claims

Mar 29 2010 // Desima James would seem to be the unluckiest man in America.In 2005 and 2006 alone, he suffered through three devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes, a tornado in Indiana and flooding in New Hampshire. Or so he told the Federal...

FEMA Administrator Visits North Dakota To Discuss Flooding Response

Mar 22 2010 // Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate visited North Dakota to observe operations in response to Red River flooding and meet with North Dakota Governor John Hoeven, U.S. Senators Kent Conrad...

FEMA Denies Aid for Florida Families with Chinese Drywall Damage

Mar 17 2010 // Last week Florida asked for federal financial assistance for thousands of homeowners with property damage caused by defective Chinese drywall.But the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which typically deals with...

Salina, Kan., Considering Appealing New Floodplain Maps

Mar 10 2010 // Salina, Kan., city officials said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new floodplain map is just plain wrong and they will consider appealing the floodplain maps for the south part of town.Most of the...

U.S. Senator Presses Agencies for Information About Illinois Levees

Mar 1 2010 // U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin wants a meeting with two federal agencies to seek information about efforts to certify five levee systems in three southwestern Illinois counties.Durbin and other overseers of the levees in Madison,...

Midwest Cities Say New FEMA Flood Maps Are Full of Errors

Jan 25 2010 // More than a year and a half after a massive flood left a huge swath of eastern Iowa underwater, the tiny farming community of Oakville is clinging to survival.Many of the town’s 400-or-so residents moved on after the...

Sen. Durbin: FEMA Delaying Flood Insurance Maps in Illinois

Jan 6 2010 // Property owners in three southwestern Illinois counties who worry they’ll have to get sharply higher flood insurance once new Mississippi River flood maps are drawn are getting a bit of a reprieve. Sen. Richard...

FEMA Publishes New Flood Risk Maps for Caldwell County, Texas

Nov 4 2009 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has published draft flood risk maps of communities in Caldwell County, Texas. The maps will help county officials and local residents identify known flood risks and will be...

FEMA Grant to Help Build Tornado Shelters in Oklahoma

Oct 16 2009 // Residents of a southern Oklahoma town that was devastated by a deadly tornado are getting help to build storm shelters in their homes.Lone Grove City Manager Marianne Elfert says half of a $600,000 Federal Emergency...

Missouri Town Left Off Flood Maps; Portions of Others Missing, Too

Oct 16 2009 // Officials from central Missouri towns say preliminary flood insurance maps presented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week were incomplete and based on old information.Huntsdale Mayor Debby Lancaster said...

Report: FEMA Overpays Private Insurers for Handling Flood Insurance

Oct 5 2009 // The federal government is overpaying private insurance companies that manage flood insurance policies by as much as 16.5 percent, according to a new government report. To just six of the 87 participating carriers, the...

Report: FEMA Overpays Private Insurers for Handling Flood Insurance

Sep 24 2009 // The federal government is overpaying private insurance companies that manage flood insurance policies by as much as 16.5 percent. To just six of the 87 participating carriers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)...

Fugate Brings Florida Ideas to FEMA

Sep 24 2009 // Craig Fugate brought three lessons with him when he took over the Federal Emergency Management Agency: Always be ready for disasters, make sure people take responsibility for themselves and get the message out...