experience tpwhuzz haiti and it was an unusual response to fema. we usually don't respond out of the country. and we did. and i was in the national response coordination center. and craig is off at the white house doing stuff, so they had pow would you and said where is the private sector folks? it's, like, they are not here. what do you mean they are not here? they were not part of our team in the nrcc. i was shocked. it would be an understatement to say i was shocked. we fixed that in a few months where as now we have a private sector representative not only during time of disaster but full-time. we have a detail person there. somebody from target then rotated to somebody from big lots then to somebody with the building trades then one of the company's building management companies now we have somebody from verizon and they come and spend three months working for fema then rotate every three months to another country but are in every one of our briefings and when we activate the people who used to be assign there had from the other companies, the

nancy ward who is our region nine fema director. we have cal e.m.a. here, mike dayton and his staff. chief greg sir and they brought their whole command staff. we have many nert scroll teers. nert was a group that came about from 9/11 i mean -- shows where my mind is. from loma prieta. we have a lot prepared for you and i want to welcome our two chiefs up. joanne, would you like to start with a few words and then chief greg sir after that? >> thank you, anne, for the kind introductions. it was amazing 22 years ago this city in the bay area region experienced the loma prieta earthquake. i was not yet in the fire department. it was about five months before i joined and like anne alluded to, if anyone lived here, they remember where they were. >> i was at a high school when it happened and all of us remember the frightening moments and the aftermath of loma prieta. and it's always fitting when we celebrate an anniversary to take a minute not only to commemorate that but to next on the importance of how the community needs to step up an

prior to coming to fema mr.fugate served as the director of the florida division of emergency management, a position he held for eight years. mr. fugate began his emergency management career as a volunteer firefighter emergency paramedic and finally as a lieutenant with the alachua county fire and rescue. mr. fugate and his wife came from gainesville florida. administrator fugate your entire written statement will appear in the record. i ask that you summarize your testimony please and you are now recognized. >> thank you mr. chairman and ranking member richardson and ranking member thompson. staff spent a lot of time coming up with a bunch of facts and figures on how we have gotten better and how we have improved on the post-katrina reform act and as i read it like kind of took me -- approach later today. we have done a lot but we stuff a lot to do so i want to focus on what i think are the key elements of the post-katrina emergency management format and how they play out in the last couple of years that i've b

for years we gave the impressions that -- i'll speak for fema. we're going to be there. we're going to help. we're not going to be there right away. we'll be there as quickly as we can. and initially, the true heroes in response, as we saw in tusk louisa and saw in newark, new jersey, recently. saw in upstate new york and vermont are the first responders. the police officers, the paramedics, the e.m.t.'s and nurses and doctors and neighbors helping neighbors. talked to a woman in tennessee last year during the floods in nashville, and it was this home that was completely flooded. actually it was a week later, and it was being mucked out or cleaned out by again, lutherans and another, i forget the other name of the other faith-based group. there were two groups cleaning up her front home and she's sitting out this 86-year-old woman saying all these nice people are helping me clean out literally what's left of their home and she said i wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for my neighbor that broke my front window out and pulled me out and saved her life. he was a nice youn

it establishes fema. it establishes our mission, our structures including the regional office structure, it clearly defines many of the activities that we are to engage in and prepare for and recover/respond and mitigate activities. but i think it's most important that we recognize that that access and the likelihood that an event would be declared or potentially require federal assistance, the federal government must not wait until a governor requests or identifies that they are overwhelmed. it says we shall be prepared and will begin response with the tools that we have including the ability to use, as ranking member thompson spoke about, disaster relief fund. prior to the president getting a formal request from a governor. now, this may seem rather bureaucratic, but i think it's important that if you wait until you know how bad something is to begin a response, you've lost time. you have to be able to respond in those events that will likely require federal assistance by anticipating needs, not waiting

what lessons have we learned -- fema has made strides.hat lessons have we learned about gaps in our capabilities, and what additional authority to further develop the response capacity? >> i am not sure yet about additional authorities, but i know there are some areas we are working on, and this comes back to technology. we have been working with ed g.o. spatial nga in providing us better information. our ability to get information before people get on the ground can help the team make better decisions. this is an area where we have a tendency to wait until we are down in an area to get information. we are waiting for things to come up through official channels when they are busy responding. if two things we are focused on is how do we get information from various types of sensors platforms, and on the other hand, how we get more information from the public? this is one of the things i've seen more and more of. often times will getting faster and more accurate information from people that were sending out everything from social media to l

when we questioned selective insurance about its payout it blamed fema saying it was simply followingdures outlined by the national flood insurance program. but fema tells us it does not provide a price list and confirms selective and its adjustors came up with the repair prices on their own. and while fema may not dictate the payout, it does dictate which companies determine the payoff. >> they have a few selective companies as opposed to competition. >> reporter: he feels federal flood insurance is a monopoly and unlike property policies when it comes to government backed flood insurers, they are reluctant to take them on. can you expect to get a full rebuild? >> yes, some people do recover in full. it often takes more time and effort and money. after more than 6 months of fighting, for many in capitola, time, effort and money are dwindling. >> it's been a roller coaster. that's all i can say. >> reporter: now, fema says its authorized insurers are required to follow a strict set of guidelines for investigating claims. we asked how it insures those guidelines are followed and we're

he has gone to fema. that's an important effort that fema has undertaken. something that the deputy administrator was talking about. i think the state should bring somebody in there as well. [laughter] yeah, right. i have toe say here in the state we are lucky to have the california resiliencey law and peter who has done a lot of incredible work with the private sector. so once again, so many good ideas, so many things have happened here. just remarkable. state of the art. now, the work that you have to do, we have some questions. my colleague prepared some questions. we don't have a lot of time. we have one mike there in the center, and we had way too many questions. we have 15 minutes or so. but i think maybe the best question to ask, jim, is the last one that we had which is like looking back at the last two-plus decades since loma prieta, you know, what concerns us collectively as a group, you know, most about our current response and recovery capacity and what do we think our greatest stride has been the time as regional community to engage bay area co

fema came in. they -- actually in one particular case, in the gugliamanas case, which is a family there. they talked to this couple -- they are on social security. they talked to this couple about how they are entitled to some fema recovery money to repair their home. fema was actually in the home, took pictures, helped them fill out the paperwork, walked them through the entire process. they ended up getting $27,000 in this fema money for disaster recovery. the gugliamanas did absolutely everything by the book, they followed all of fema's direction, they did it exactly picture-perfect, exactly the way you would think all citizens should conduct their business. then three years later, they get a notice in the mail and fema says oh, we messed up. we didn't -- we shouldn't have given you that money because of some technical reason, and because of that, we now want all that money back. well, they worked a great hardship on this family. this is supposed to be government of the people, by the people and

finance director said tomorrow they will seek a disaster declaration from the federal government asking fema for emergency assistance.

that gets back to the concern that fema had about network congestion. we won't have the problem of network congestion on this network unless we have so many public safety users that we're -- you know, but that would be a good thing. we would hope that we have a lot of users on the network. but we won't have to share it with commercial users. in a large event or in an emergency, everybody gets on their cell phone these days. everybody wants to contact relatives, loved ones, find out if they're ok. in many cases they're taking pictures and sharing photos and videos and really, you know, using up the commercial space. and the key with bay web is we wouldn't have to worry about sharing the network with commercial users. it's controlled. the technology, 4-g l.g.e. technology allows you to prioritize data transmissions. so, for example, if you have a command -- if you have an incident out on the field and you need to set up a command post, you can allocate more bandwidth to that commander in the field to allow that commander to view several different videos a

. >>> and mayor gray plans to ask fema for help rebuilding the national cathedral. we'll be right back. >>> good morning and welcome back to 9news now, we are happy it's friday. glad it's in the raining in for howard bernstein is olga breese. >> a very chilly start this morning, although we don't have the winds that we had most of the day yesterday. yes a little bit of a breeze this morning and you want that jacket especially if you're sending the kids to the bus stop this morning. they need to bundle up just a little bit at least to have that layer. we're going keep the temperatures very cool for this morning. the basically the 40s and 50s but things will definitely improve; lots of sunshine beginning for the morning. a few passing clouds and not too much. but as we move out of the 50s and into the lower 60s this afternoon it's going to be quite confidentable to wrap up the week -- comfortable to wrap up the week. in fact our day planner is right now still keeping us into the 50s for the most part but things will improve later on this afternoon. not expecting highs

and through fema and other federal sponsorships, the city, through the city administrator's office and other agencies, is working with spur to develop a shelter in place concept, which says that we're going to be trying to encourage people to stay as much as possible in their homes during the emergency and post-emergency time, so we can make the emergency plans and gain a neighborhood lovell of involvement and support. we realize that will require a commitment on the city's part to make up the difference of services that are not provided with an someone's home. so you may be in your home without sewer, water, he, or something, but you have a structurally safe place. you can have your goods and assets and be within your community. the city then has to make up some of the differences in the neighborhood community, like providing services for who knows what, mail pick up, the things that are not provided in the shelter and place. maybe water, toilets, something like that. the whole concept of shelter and place is one that changes from let's find space in the parks and put up tents or what

it also sends an additional $ $5 million disaster relief fund to fema. fema has been stretched after natural disasters, including hurricane irene and tropical storm lee. >>> and budget battles are taking a toll on members of congress, at least on their reputations in the eyes of constituents. just 14% of americans approve of the job congress is doing. that's kwoaccording to a new "washington post" poll. 62% strongly disapprove of congress. this disgust also seems to cross party lines as well. just 18% of democrats, 13% of republicans, and 13% of independents approve of congress's performance. >>> to decision 2012. the republican presidential candidates are scrambling to pick up donors who were waiting on new jersey governor chris christie's final decision. several candidates are also reportedly seeking christie's endorsement. christie says the time is not right, and he's not ready to walk out on a promise he made to new jersey when he was elected two years ago. >>> democrat earl ray tomblin has won a special election in west virginia. he has served as ac

the head of office disability and coordination and the head of fema were there addressing the conference and reflecting a real change in our current administration's emphasis on disaster preparedness for disabilities as a civil right. the team that came from san francisco included ben ames from the human services agent si. rod stengel from the department of emergency managements. carle and jill from the mayor's office on disability. they highlighted not only the wonderful things the mayor's office is doing but also collaboration with so many community groups and nonprofits to have a really grassroots ground-up approach to preparedness. i thought you'd want to know that. >> very good, thank you. other? yes. thank you for sharing that. i just wanted to record that it's the 22nd anniversary of [inaudible] the neighbored emergency response team is always a great option for people to consider investing about 1 hours of their time. it's a wonderful program and on october 14 there will be a large-scale drill at fisherman's who i have about 8:00 until 9:00 and on the 16th, there will be drilts t

. >>> 4:48, virginia governor bob mcdonald is asking fema for help once again. this time it is for louisa county schools. thompson elementary and louisa county high had to close. until the schools are fixed engineers say the repairs are going to cost $31 million. earlier this month, fema denied federal aid for people in louisa county whose homes were damaged. >>> in the coming months construction projects will close at key street and major parking lots in january construction on wood mont and bethesda avenues will shut down two lots that provide about 300-metered parking spaces. it can cause cervical cancer. now for the first time ever scientists are linking the human pappiloma virus to other diseases. >> reporter: two years ago doctors told michelle opel that she was infected with the human pappiloma virus that can cause cervical cancer. >> nobody wants to find out they are close to having cancer. >> reporter: now a link is found between hpv and cardiovascular disease. researchers found an association even with women who did not have other risk factors, such as

fema has done them harm.hem harm. >> american citizens should not be treated this way. especially those who are playing by the rules and really don't have any other recourse. that's why, madam president, i'm putting a hold on all the treasury nominees, we need to get this resolved. >> put a hold on all treasury nominees until they leave that couple alone. >> isn't this a bigger issue that fema made a mistake? this is what people are so fed up in our country, at least one of the little reasons they're fed up is waste and no accountability. so isn't the responsibility really on the government organization to not make the mistake in the first place? >> fema just gave a statement. they roughly say this. they say they're working on it. and suggest anyone who feels they have received one of these letters in error, to contact fema. so see how that goes. all right, is 11 minutes after the hour. >> this bizarre story coming out of ohio yesterday. the hunt for the wild and dangerous animals finally over. all of the ani

we learned that the mayor plans to submit paperwork tomorrow tio o fema to get funds to fix the cathedral and other buildings around the district of columbia. before he made the announcements, he towards the building and called its eye opening. regarding government buildings that got damage, there will last for about $7 million. he will also ask for money for repairs at the national cathedral, at least $6 million. he got to see the engineer is scaling the building, the same group of people who scaled the washington monument a few weeks ago looking for damage. according to the people at the cathedral, they told the mayor that although they plan on opening november 12, if they say it will take many years to be completely rebuilt. the mayor did say that there's no plan right now for the city to give any money to the cathedral for the repairs but he says that they plan to work together with the cathedral for the proposal to asked fema for more money. this news conference is still going on behind us. we will have a full report tonight on abc 7 news at 5:00. reporting live in northwest washingt

virginia senator jim webb wants answers from fema's administrator.pplications for federal aid was rejected. >>> cell phones getting a clean bill of health from danish researchers. it is the biggest ever to look at telephones and cancer. they found no link between them. people using cell phones or about 10 years had pretty much the same cancer rate as people who did not. the usa government came to the same conclusion. >>> now look at traffic and weather every ten minutes. >> one thing that's been on my mind all week is howard's homecoming. i'm happy the weather will stay dry. >> barry fall-like, a good football weather. >> well done, adam caskey. >> -- very fall-like. you will want long sleeves. >> sounds beautiful. >> i have photographs to share then we will talk temperatures. it's going to be agreeable and very fall-like for the most part. susan sent me this shot from frederick county near the lake. leaves turning vibrant yellow in the center of your screen. thanks for sending that. and look to this garden in capitol hill. that is a thriving garden.

. >>> virginia governor says he will file an appeal this week about fema's decision not to give federal aide to victims. homes and businesses were damaged in that earthquake back in august. the appeal will include more details and new information about that damage. governor mcdonald said he hopes that will do the trick. >> i just thought the first time there was ample evidence that we presented to be able to get relief for these hurting people in louisa and the surrounding areas and all the congressional delegations on board. i think the president's heart is there and i have to get them to show me the money. >> mcdonald asked for federal aid to help out schools damaged in the quake. two of those schools are closed indefinitely. fema has yet to make a decision on that request. >> still to come, enjoy the nice weather while you can. some big changes headed our way. topper tells us when. but first, texas governor continues to slide in the polls, but the republican presidential candidate just unveiled a new tax plan he is hoping can reverse the trend. we'll tell you all about it up next. >>

damage to the building is estimated to be around $4 million, $3 million of which fema may pay for. >> many flooding victims around our area are still looking for some new homes. startingty, the fairfax shelter is holing a special bunny adoption event. the 15 rabbits ended up at the shelter after flooding overtook a fairfax home and filled their cages with water. you'll find guys like little brownie here ask gizmo. those who adopt will receive a cage, and a voucher to have the bunny spade or neutered. >> very cute, but i don't think so. but they are very cute. >> yes. >> take them out and walk this the in the morning, walk them before they go to bed at night. it would be a nice day to walk a bunny. >> yeah, a nice day to walk a bunny, a nice weekend to walk the bunny. that is something that we haven't seen around here in a long time. that wasn't happened around here since the end of july. so, boy, oh, boy, we really caught a break. 52 degrees right now. we've got a calm wind. other temperatures, 53 at cleveland park. marlin and greenville, you're congress in at 47. your day planner for

the new legislation will also provide an additional $2.65 billion in disaster relief to fema. fema has been stretched thin after several natural disasters including hurricane irene and tropical storm lee. >>> the republican presidential race remains focused on two men, mitt romney and rick perry. they will try to pick up donors who hoped new jersey governor chris christie would enter the race, but he decided he will not run. christie decided he is not ready and doesn't want to walk out on the promise he made to new jersey two years ago. but ray tomblin has won a special election in west virginia. people are upset he did not join other states in suing president obama for the health care plan. >>> 4:35 now. jury selection resumes in the trial of the man accused of trying to blow up a plane with a bomb in his underwear. umar mutallaw trib tried to bloa plane with a bomb in his underwear. he yelled at several things in court, including his belief that anwar al awlaki is still alive. >>> jurors could hear the voice of conrad murray just two days after michael jackson's death. it wa

. >> if i could address that quickly, fema required all jurisdictions that border water to conduct a new flood control ordinance and reassess floodplains. san francisco never was in a flood plain and now the city has adopted a flood plain ordinance. >> another would be on ceqa, from the standpoint of those buildings that are 50 years old or older, some categories by which by virtue of just their age automatically qualifies them to have this level of review? a 50-year-old industrial building that has no real category of merit -- >> any building 50 years or older is a potential historical resources. we have two shifts a dedicated with the preservation planner and they can make quick determinations as necessary. it is slightly subjective in that if they feel is necessary, they can require it, but just because the building is 50 years or older does not make it a historical resource. >> thank you very much for making this presentation and we look better to a half -- we look forward to a higher and better collaboration moving on. thank you. >> any public comment on item number five? >> goo

mayor gray will ask fema for a disaster declaration for the district and this is to help pay for damage from the earthquake. the mayor made the announcement yesterday at the national cathedral and is asking for $22 million, 15 million would go towards remarries -- repairs at the cathedral. >> the epicenter of the august 23rd quake was louisa county, virginia, and fema rejected virginia's request for disaster aid for people dealing with damage there. yesterday, senator jim webb sent a letter to fema administrator craig fugate asking why the request was rejected and what needs to happen to reverse that decision. >>> 6:35 right now and the redskins take on the panthers in carolina. >> i wonder what is going to happy, dave. >> are you intrigued by this? >> i am intrigued by the drama. >> you should be and this is what fans were clamoring for since training camp. they wanted john beck the whole way and i think they're getting their wish and hope what they wish for is what we're hoping for, which is good performance out of john beck. this is what they like about john beck. a couple of things.

about to help bring about a category that has really provided an opening for that definition, through fema and other categories, that will allow for our ability to really respond to this impending disaster. >> i will say a couple words about shelter and place. one of the biggest concerns that we all have is that after an earthquake, we could have a lot of folks that either displaced into temporary shelters or buildings are damaged and they go to longer-term interim housing. how are we going to deal with sheltering needs? and through fema and other federal sponsorships, the city, through the city administrator's office and other agencies, is working with spur to develop a shelter in place concept, which says that we're going to be trying to encourage people to stay as much as possible in their homes during the emergency and post-emergency time, so we can make the emergency plans and gain a neighborhood lovell of involvement and support. we realize that will require a commitment on the city's part to make up the difference of services that are not provided with an someone's home. so you may

the head of office disability and coordination and the head of fema were there addressing the conference and reflecting a real change in our current administration's emphasis on disaster preparedness for disaster preparedness for disabilities as a civil right.