COVID-19: Brief Update on Initial Federal Response to the Pandemic.. GAO-20-708. August 21, 2020

From the NYTimes: U.S. Flood Strategy Shifts to ‘Unavoidable’ Relocation of Entire Neighborhoods. “Using tax dollars to move whole communities out of flood zones, an idea long dismissed as radical, is swiftly becoming policy, marking a new and more disruptive phase of climate change.”

WordPress, the host for this site has just forced a change of editor on all users. As a result the Diva is having trouble posting new material in the old familiar way. Hopefully either the co. will relent and give us back the old editor and the Diva will figure it out.

From CNN: Yes, FEMA has enough money to cover unemployment and disaster relief

From the Insurance Journal: Damage from Whopper Hurricanes Increasing for Many Reasons.

America and the world are getting more frequent and bigger multibillion dollar tropical catastrophes like Hurricane Laura because of a combination of increased coastal development, natural climate cycles, reductions in air pollution and man-made climate change, experts say.

The list of recent whoppers keeps growing: Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence, Michael, Dorian. And hurricane experts have no doubt that Laura will be right there with them.

From AP News: Hurricane Laura further strains FEMA in disaster-filled year. Hurricane Laura is testing an already stretched Federal Emergency Management Agency in what is shaping up to be an unprecedentedly disastrous year.

From HStoday: DHS Needs Urgent Refocus on Modern Threats, Partnerships and Morale, Say Former Officials

“The Department of Homeland Security needs to refocus its mission to tackle major nonmilitary threats including pandemics and cyber attacks, modernize the homeland security enterprise, and pull up its workplace morale, former DHS officials said in a new report from the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.”

From the WashPost: Cities, states fear they may lose critical FEMA dollars for coronavirus response. Local governments say the federal agency could be running out of funds just as more supplies are needed for reopening plans. Some excerpts:

“City and state leaders expressed fears Tuesday that the Trump administration may cease reimbursing some of their purchases of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment, a move they said could tear new holes in their budgets while threatening public health.

The trouble stems from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which typically provides funds for disaster relief and has played a central role in the coronavirus pandemic. In calls throughout August, FEMA signaled that it may soon seek to rethink the criteria by which it doles out those dollars, troubling local governments, which say they are desperate for easy-to-access federal cash as the contagion continues to spread.”

See this 28 page guide: Guide to Post-Disaster Recovery Capitals (ReCap)

Review of this guide from reader John Plodinec: recap-ping-recovery-1

New report ( 4 pp.) from the Congressional Research Service: 2020 Wildfire Season: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources