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Federal Program Offers Cash to Cover COVID-19 Funeral Costs
Families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19 can apply for reimbursement from the federal government for up to $9,000 to cover the cost of funeral expenses
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Towns Split as Home Buyouts Help People Move on After Floods
Tammy Kilgore raised the giant claw of a John Deere excavator high in the air, then slammed it down on the roof the house where she had spent nearly her entire adult life. The shingles crunched, but not much else. So she did it again, and again — each time taking a bigger bite with the mouth-like claw, until the...
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New Federal Grant Program Allots $10M for Dams in 26 states
Built for irrigation in 1884, Smith Reservoir in Colorado no longer can hold as much water as it once did.
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Gov. Newsom Declares Statewide Emergency as Wildfires Drive 200K People From Homes
California’s governor declared a statewide emergency with nearly 200,000 people ordered to flee their homes because of wildfires fueled by historic winds, while millions were without electricity after the largest utility cut power in some areas as a precaution to prevent other fires. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that officials are deploying “every resource available” to respond to...
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Wealthy Counties Get Many FEMA Buyouts of Flood-Prone Homes, Study Finds
FEMA buys flood-prone homes more often in wealthy, populous counties than in poor, rural areas, even though lower-income rural areas may be more likely to flood frequently, a new study found. The reason is probably that better-off local governments have the resources to apply for and administer the programs — and that could keep many of the people who most...
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Trump Wants Acting FEMA Head to Have Job Permanently
President Donald Trump wants Pete Gaynor, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s acting administrator, to have the job permanently. Trump says in a statement Thursday that he intends to nominate Gaynor to be the permanent head of the government’s disaster response agency. Gaynor has filled the role on an acting basis since February, when Brock Long stepped down over questions about...
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Many Homes Still Without Roofs in Puerto Rico, 2 Years After María
When Doña Milagros Matos Marquez and her husband Don Cruz Marquez received the news that Hurricane María was approaching Trujillo Alto in Puerto Rico, they expected some rain and maybe a little bit of wind, like with previous storms. Instead María blew their roof off once the storm made landfall exactly two years ago on Friday. In the months after...
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Hurricane Update: What to Know as Dorian Approaches New England
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency issued an updated statement Thursday about potential local impacts this weekend as a result of Hurricane Dorian. The Category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, is now located about 50 miles east-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. Dorian is forecast to turn to the northeast by Thursday night and increase in forward speed...
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Uncertainty Remains About Hurricane Dorian's Track: MEMA
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency issued an updated statement Wednesday about potential local impacts this weekend as a result of Hurricane Dorian. The Category 2 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, is currently located 90 miles east-northeast of Daytona Beach, Florida. Little change has occurred to the forecast for Dorian since yesterday, and the storm is still expected...
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What to Know About Hurricane Dorian: MEMA Issues Situational Awareness Statement
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency issued a statement Tuesday warning of possible local impacts this weekend as a result of Hurricane Dorian. The Category 2 hurricane is currently located just to the east of Grand Bahama Island and 105 miles east of Florida. MEMA said current modeling suggests that over the next 48 to 72 hours, Dorian will begin to...
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Count on Hurricanes to Spark Storms of Online Misinformation
The names of hurricanes may change, but one thing seems to stay the same: Misinformation spreads quickly during these dangerous storms.
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Trump Officials Defend Decision to Send FEMA Funds to ICE Ahead of Hurricane Dorian
Trump administration officials said Sunday that transferring $155 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund to Immigration and Customs Enforcement won’t affect the federal government’s ability to respond to Hurricane Dorian, a massive storm headed for the country’s east coast. As NBC News reported last week, the Department of Homeland Security notified Congress in July that to...
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Texas Gov. Abbott Stresses Need to Find Solutions to Mass Shootings
Texas Governor Greg Abbott discusses the need to find ways to stop mass shootings while protecting second amendment rights.
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Trump Says He'll Work With Congress to Stop Mass Shootings
President Donald Trump expressed a commitment Sunday, hours after the latest deadly mass shooting, to work with a divided Congress to “stop the menace of mass attacks.” He said any measures must satisfy the competing goals of protecting public safety and the constitutional right to gun ownership. Trump spoke shortly after the death toll in Saturday’s rampage in West Texas...
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Evacuations Begin in Bahamas as Category 4 Dorian Bears Down
Hurricane Dorian bore down on the northern Bahamas on Saturday with howling winds, surging seas and a threat of torrential rains, forcing some evacuations and hotel closures ahead of the fierce Category 4 storm. Forecasters expected Dorian, packing 150 mph winds, to hit the northwestern Bahamas on Sunday before heading near Florida and then skirting along or off the U.S....
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Dorian Upgrades to Category 2, Could Become Category 4 Hurricane as It Heads for Florida
Florida residents picked the shelves clean of bottled water and lined up at gas stations Thursday as an increasingly menacing-looking Hurricane Dorian threatened to broadside the state over Labor Day weekend. Leaving lighter-than-expected damage in its wake in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the second hurricane of the 2019 season swirled toward the U.S., with forecasters warning it will...
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Vegas Police Release Report on Lessons From 2017 Massacre
Las Vegas police learned from the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history to secure high-rise buildings overseeing open-air crowds and train more officers with rifles to stop a shooter in an elevated position, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Wednesday. Among 93 recommendations in a newly released department “after-action review” are requirements to plan ahead with neighboring police, fire,...
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President Trump Declares Emergency Over Earthquakes
President Donald Trump Monday approved a request to declare an emergency in California and ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from the earthquakes that began in the Ridgecrest area Thursday.
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President Trump Declares Emergency Over Earthquakes
President Donald Trump Monday approved a request to declare an emergency in California and ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from the earthquakes that began in the Ridgecrest area Thursday.
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Cost of Buying Out Flood-Prone Homes: $5B and Rising
Federal and local governments have poured more than $5 billion into buying tens of thousands of private properties over the past few decades to try to diminish the long-term costs of repeated floods.