Courtesy of Pam Martens.
President Obama; Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano; Craig Fugate, Administrator of FEMA.
The cries for assistance from desperate families and elderly in the flood ravaged areas of the Rockaways and Staten Island could not be met by the already overwhelmed New York City responders and volunteers, and so the Marines have now stepped in to pump basements with their sophisticated equipment and provide other relief.
Likewise, New York City did not possess the ability to get the flooded subway tunnels pumped out in a reasonable amount of time – leaving the danger that the salt water would further eat away at the electrical systems. The Army Corps of Engineers stepped in with high tech equipment they used during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and had the job completed within a few days.
People whose homes collapsed like crumpled match-sticks under a tidal surge as high in some places as 14.8 feet, are receiving help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is providing up to two weeks of free rent in hotels or apartments until a more formal housing plan for the newly homeless can be arranged. FEMA has already approved $158 million in disaster assistance.
The Department of Defense, through FEMA, has provided millions of gallons of gasoline and diesel; millions of ready to eat meals; dozens of electrical generators; and sophisticated storm relief equipment.
The U.S. Transportation Command delivered 61 power restoration vehicles and 65 technical personnel from March Air Reserve Base in California to the New York area and another 63 power restoration vehicles and 132 technical personnel from Phoenix, Arizona to help restore electricity in the tri-state area.
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