Salon.com > disaster relief http://www.salon.com Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:14:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 FEMA denies funds to rebuild fertilizer plant explosion town http://www.salon.com/2013/06/12/fema_denies_funds_to_rebuild_fertilizer_plant_explosion_town/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/12/fema_denies_funds_to_rebuild_fertilizer_plant_explosion_town/#comments Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:29:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13324428 Even though numerous homes and schools were destroyed by the West Texas fertilizer plant explosion that killed 15 people in April, FEMA has refused to send funds to help rebuilding efforts in the small town. The AP reported:

According to a letter obtained by The Associated Press, FEMA said it reviewed the state's appeal to help West but decided that the explosion "is not of the severity and magnitude that warrants a major disaster declaration."

The blast killed 10 first responders and brought national attention to the agricultural community. President Barack Obama traveled to the area to attend a memorial service for the first responders and others who died trying to help.

The FEMA funds would have helped pay for public repairs such as roads, sewer lines, pipes and a school that were destroyed. It does not impact emergency funds FEMA has provided to individual residents. Last month, FEMA estimated the agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration had approved more than $5.6 million in aid and low-interest loans to West residents impacted by the blast.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/12/fema_denies_funds_to_rebuild_fertilizer_plant_explosion_town/feed/ 95 The future of the planet rests on the hunched shoulders of Gen Y http://www.salon.com/2013/03/02/post_sandy_millennials_are_at_forefront_of_disaster_relief_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/02/post_sandy_millennials_are_at_forefront_of_disaster_relief_partner/#comments Sat, 02 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13216375 On October 29, Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, leaving damage strewn across the Caribbean in its wake. With a diameter of 820 miles, Sandy was the largest Atlantic tropical storm to date and caused roughly $50 billion in damage, making it the second most costly disaster after Hurricane Katrina. Hospitals were evacuated, the stock exchange was closed for the first time since 1888, levees broke, the New York City subway flooded, power was cut to 8 million homes and communities were left to cope with property damage and the loss of loved ones. While damage and hardship were widespread, the storm greatly affected the region’s most vulnerable: the poor, the ill and the elderly.
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