you can register by visiting disasterassistance.gov through the fema app and calling 1800-621-fema. 1-800-621-3362. and now that the sun is up and we're continuing to do our assessments, we'll add more counties for individual assistance. the next few days will be difficult and like i said, we have the right teams in place who are ready to help those who need us most. fema and our partners across the federal, state, and local levels remain repaired to help the community in their greatest time of need. thank you. >> one more thing >> red cross is there and steps up and continues to step up. i want to thank them as well. >> describe your relationship and conversation with governor desantis. >> it's totally irrelevant but i'll answer it. he was fine and he complimented me and thanked me for the response and he was extremely happy with what's going on. this is not about with politics. this is about saving people's lives, homes and businesses. that's what this is about and i talked to him four, five times already. it's not a matter of my disagreements with him on other items. >> do you hold

you can register by visiting disasterassistance.gov through our fema app or by calling 1-800-621-fema-800-621-3362. and now that the sun is up and we are continuing to do our assessments, we will add more counties for individual assistance. the next few days, they are going to be difficult. we have some very complex problems to solve. but like i said, we have the right teams in place who are ready to help those who need us most. and regardless of how bad it is, i commit to everyone here today that fema and our partners across the federal, state, and local levels remain ready and prepared to help these communities in their greatest time of need. thank you. >> let me add one more thing. we didn't mention the red cross. the red cross is there. and they're always there. they stepped up and they continue to step up, so i want to thank them as well. thank you. >> mr. president, how would you describe your relationship and your conversation with governor desantis? >> it's totally irrelevant, but i'll answer it. okay? in fact, very fine. he complimented me. he thanked me for the immediate res

they've requested support from fema and then we fema was able to provide the army corps of engineers and they were on the ground after kevin called them i think at three in the morning. they were on the ground from jacksonville to southwest florida in theafternoon . they've been working to assess that information. wehave florida national guard personnel standing by to help the army corps if they needed . but at the end of the day that is something that will be very very critical to be able to get that back and it may require more of a rebuild. maybe it will require some more short-term remediation. they're going through that but that's clearly a top priority and we're thankful fema and the army corps are therehelping out . we have obviously there are a lot of folks in affected areas that evacuated. some did shelter in place. as of last night we've contacted over 20,000 floridians that filled out a shelter in place survey on floridadisaster.org. and over 10,000 have responded and all 10,000 said they were safe and they sent a first alert last night and are expecting more responses thi

fema is the one that takes charge. host: when it comes to money, how much does fema have to's end on these events on the broadside? guest: it can be billions of dollars per event. in 2017, when we saw three major hurricanes in a row, congress had to keep appropriating more emergency funds. tens of billions of dollars they had to appropriate. generally, there is a reserve fund that they can tap into when they need it but occasionally, congress gives them more money when it is really serious. host: you brought up puerto rico, in light of hurricane maria, their power grid and flooding and the like, what did we learn this time around with hurricane fiona with what happened to the island in the response of fema to that? guest: fema officials have said they were much better positioned this time in part because they had people there already that were working on the response. it is been five years since that happened but they are still just starting to rebuild right now. the advantage that they had, people could pivot to this

they've requested support from fema and then we, fema was able to provide the army corps of engineers and they were on the ground after kevin called them i think at like 3:00 in the morning, and they were on the ground in southwest florida until yesterday in the afternoon and they've been work to go assess that situation and we also have florida national guard to help the army corps of engineers if they need it and that will be something to be very, very critical to be able to get that back and it may require more of a rebuild. maybe it will require more short-term remediation and that's clearly a top priority and we're thankful that fema pan the army corps are there helping out. we have, obviously, there is a lot of folks in affected areas that evacuated. some did shelter in place as of last night. we've contacted over 20,000 floridians that filled out a shelter in place survey on florida disaster.org and over 10,000 have responded and all 10,000 say they were safe and sent the first alert last night and are expecting more responses this morning. cell phone connectivity, sometimes it

we still are waiting on that money from fema. and perhaps they might have a little better experience than we had here in southwest louisiana. >> now, senator marco rubio of florida says fema's coordination in florida with this hurricane is "the best it's ever been." and we are still waiting on a response from the federal agency. they did get back to me saying they are working on a response but are extremely busy with, of course, hurricane ian. gillian. >> gillian: aishah hasnie joining us from capitol hill this afternoon, john. >> john: as we look at a live picture of the coast still battered by waves and winds, we are expecting in the next few minutes for governor desantis to take to the podium in the shot you saw, the empty room where the fellow was ducking in front of the camera, to give us an update. he is going to be in punta gorda, in charlotte county, one of the hardest hit areas. this picture of st. augustine, florida on the left as ian exits the florida peninsula and moves on towards its next ground 0, if you will, which

we can do this by visiting disasterassistance.gov using fema app, or dialing 1-800-621-fema. that's 1-800-621-3362. to start your registration process, to get the assistance and the services that you need. tribes of florida are all eligible for emergency protective measures as well. including search and rescue efforts. before i turn it over to my partners, on the stage, i want to remind everyone that this storm is not over yet. as ken graham has said. and just because the skies are clear does not mean it's safe. water can be electrified, there can be other hazards in there. please stay safe and continue to listen to local officials. whether it's south carolina, florida, georgia, puerto rico, alaska, we'll be there to support those impacted by disasters. we have the resources, we have the resolve and we remain ready to lean forward to continue to help those in florida and elsewhere to jump-start their recovery. thank you and with that i'll turn it over to daniel who will provide our spanish language update. daniel: thank you so much. [speaking foreign language] [speaking forei

visit disaster assistance.gov using the fema app or dial 18621 fema. start your registration process get the assistance and service you need. in addition, all 67 counties and 50 tribes, indians of florida & tribe of florida, they are eligible for emergency protective measures as well including search and rescue efforts. before i turn it over to my partners i want to remind everyone the storm is not over yet. just because skies are clear does not mean it's safe. water can be electrified, but in the other hazards, stay safe and continue to listen to local officials whether it south carolina, florida, georgia puerto rico, alaska, we will be there to support those impacted by disasters. we have the resources, the result and we remain ready to lean forward to continue to help those in florida and elsewhere jumpstart the recovery. thank you and i'll turn it over to daniel the spanish update. >> thank you so much. [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish] [speaking in sp

and fema has a great leader.s at fema, she was on one of these teams that day delaware ploy. she knows what he's doing. >> now the president is opening his remarks. >> folk, i'm here at fema headquarters to thank the homeland security secretary, the coast guard, the army corp. of engineers and the fema administrator who has become the vip these days. of fema, the entire workforce. and on many other federal agencies working together here. there are always going to be above and beyond the running toward danger and save lives. these guys run toward it. that is really matters. they are helping survivors in desperate need. that's what we're doing as we focus on delivering help to the people directly impacted by hurricane ian. i'm going to use this. it made landfall yesterday and it's still moving across the state today. this could be the deadliest hurricane in florida's history. the numbers are still unclear, but we're hearing early reports of what maybe substantial loss of life. i should note i have spoken with the g

people can start expecting that fema relief? governor desantis: so i'll let the administrator speak. at that point, the individuals will come and get assistance. administrator criswell: there have been 13 counties cleared for individual assistance. they should register now for assistance. they can do that by going to the disasterassistance.gov. they can call 1-800-621-3362 or use our fema app. as i've been out here today with the governor and we have teams over the state to look at the damages in other counties, we'll add more counties for assistance. as soon as that happens, they can register for assistance. some of the funding can go into their account sometimes right away for needs. and then we'll have inspectors to look at the damage. fema does not replace insurance. insurance is your first line that you need to go to. and then our funding can help jump-start the rest of that recovery process. we're capped statutorily for how much money we can give per repair but we have the same amount of money we can do for personal proper

host: one is the actions of fema.an you remind viewers the role fema has at this point as we have hurricanes bearing down on the united states. guest: what fema is doing now is pre-positioning supplies, getting people and materials ready. they are bracing in florida and alabama so they can deploy quickly. that includes things like dry foods, water, generators, things like that. they have thousands and thousands of reservist to deploy and are activated anytime there is an emergency situation and they help people on the ground. they give them good, shelter, water, power individually, help people through the long-term recovery with financial assistance and flood insurance and things like that. in the immediate term, they focus on the acute needs and make sure they are fed and have shelter. host: how much coordination do they have with state and local governments and how much of a role do they take when they take the lead in these events? guest: they have relationships and emergency responders that the state and local lev

odie over 87 or people of already registered with fema. if you are going to make a claim take a picture but if you've had flooding take a picture of the floodlight on your house. make sure your document the damage. our chief financial officer is going to be doing insurance villages on these disaster recovery sites. it does not need to go into get fema assistance you can do it online if you have questions and go in you can have people from different insurance carriers, jimmy is also going to help people have an ifp flood policies be able to file those claims and get those claims paid as soon as possible. we expect that will be done without much delay from the insurance carriers. we are happy a lot of businesses have committed to provider first responders with sustenance. colors, forever smoke house, anna maria oyster bar texas test we think many, many more want to, and also offer assistance. for those were coming in its first responders or linemen, buggies is giving away meals and soft drinks if you stop in their daytona location you will b

they've requested support from fema and then we fema was able to provide the army corps of engineers and they were on the ground after kevin called them at 3:00 in the morning yesterday. they were on the ground from jacksonville in the afternoon. they've been working to assessing that situation. we also have florida national guard personnel standing by to help the army corp if they need it. that will be something very critical to be able to get that back. it may require more of a rebuild. maybe it will require some more short term remediation. they are going through that. that's clearly a top priority. we're thankful that fema and the army corps are there helping out. we have -- there is a lot of folks in affected areas that evacuated. some did shelter in place. as of last night, we've contacted over 20,000 floridians that filled out a shelter in place survey on florida disaster.org. over 10,000 have responded and all 10,000 said they were safe and the state sent the first alert late last night and expect more responses this morning. cell phone activity is sparse. it's easier to get

we have a new fema now. we have new leadership in fema.e are going to hold it accountable, we are going to do the oversight. we are going to be on fema like a hawk to make sure there is delivery. actual performance. not just rhetoric but robust action. let me just close by saying the share of the federal government provides has to be one 100%. but more than the dollars, out of a fema fund we need a real commitment to provide better tax treatment, the full snap program, medicare, all the government programs have to treat puerto rico equally. because in the long run, investing in puerto rico is investing in america and americans. and that must be a recognition that the people of the united states except proudly, the people of puerto rico have talent, energy, gifts that they bring to america. this investment is in the american tradition of national interest. thank you all for being here. [applause] lookse] well, let me take off wk center blumenthal ended. you heard from three new yorkers to start the program. this is not about new york. and i

finally, fema and our partners are here. we are ready. we are focused on meeting the needs of those we are charged to serve. we need the help of everyone at home to be as prepared as they can be. i am confident we have the right team in place as we work this emergency sponsor hurricane ian, together we have the capability to meet with other threats come our way. >> a couple of questions. rakeen: -- >> thank you, you briefly mention puerto rico and customers without power in puerto rico. you authorized a new $600 million, i believe for equipment for rebuilding the power grid there. 10 billion approved back in 2020, was the status of the status of efforts to try to rebuild what rico's -- puerto rico's power grid. has any that taken place? >> i was there three weeks ago checking on the recovery from hurricane marina, what i saw when i was there was one cohesive team between the common health of puerto rico and the power restoration. when we were there last week checking on the impacts from hurricane fiona, what i saw there is that they were

you heard it from the fema administrator. this is going to be one of the biggest jobs they have ever had. some of the most complex problems they have ever had. one of the most, in her words, catastrophic events we have seen. i want to bring in carol lee at the white house for us. as you see with the array of people who are there, this is an all hands on deck situation for the white house as well as the state of florida. >> reporter: that's right. we have heard that from the white house in recent days. the president reiterating that in his remarks. he also said that he will be going to florida when conditions allow. also adding that he also intends to go to puerto rico when the timing is right. but his warnings were stark. he said that early reports suggest that this could be a significant loss of life. the fema director saying the nine counties that were listed in the major disaster declaration, that could grow. they are looking to add counties to that as the storm continues to progress. they assess damage on the ground. she

which is slightly different from fema.he next phase of that will be the disaster recovery centers that we will open in individual counties, we will team up with cfo's office to have insurance villages. we will team up with individuals like the department of economic opportunity to come in and help people with small business situations. we will team up with the department of highway and motor vehicles, and the other state agencies that are helping us out. there is a laundry list of human services, children's and families and so on. all of those will start to be set up over the next, probably week or so, it just depends on when we can get water restored to lee county and the impacted area and when we can get power restored to the impacted area, as those things happen we will move very quickly with recovery services, and i don't want to steal it from the governor but the governor will be dispatching me to an area, we will be down in the area for more than -- for 30 days or more to make sure that the recovery is being dealt wi

any minute now, the fema briefing on the hurricane. we will bring it to you as it happens. >>> the races to watch. which contests can be your guide to whether the republicans regain control of the house and take the senate? a lot more coming up with mark murray. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. the new subway series menu. the greatest sandwich roster ever assembled. for more on the new boss, here's patrick mahomes. incredible - meatballs, fresh mozzarella and pepperon- oh, the meatball's out! i thought he never fumbles. the new subway series. what's your pick? woman tc: my a1c stayed here, it needed to be here. doctor tc: ruby's a1c is down with rybelsus®. i thought he never fumbles. man tc: my a1c wasn't at goal, now i'm down with rybelsus®. son tc: mom's a1c is down with rybelsus®. song: a1c down with rybelsus® anncr vo: in a clinical study, once-daily rybelsus® significantly lowered a1c better than the leading branded pill. anncr vo: rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabet

fema and u.s.y court engineers and the epa are currently working with mississippi ema in the city of jackson to work with a long-term solution to improve the water infrastructure. that is emblematic of the communities nationwide like in flint michigan. horrified we have a massive infrastructure bill that we passed and for the life of me i do not understand how everyone supported that infrastructure bill and that's an important one —- realize how important it is. access to clean water is critical to the overall health. also like to express my concern hurricane fiona has caused catastrophic flooding and blackouts puerto rico is still recovering from irma and maria devastating five years ago. i lived in puerto rico as a prosecutor in the mid- nineties and i was struck how dilapidated the structures were then. for what i can see it has gotten worse and we need to help them as well. thank you to the chairman holding this hearing and facing the nation's critical infrastructure as we have seen in recent y

the miller part fire protection district is part of fema search and rescue team. the pact the ready to leave at a moment's notice. kron four's gayle ong has the details. >> here at a warehouse in menlo park, all types of equipment prepared for the aftermath of hurricane ian. have a either inflatables or >> what we call john boats or or hard bottom boats. so based upon the type of rescue mission that we're on, then we utilize those hurricane. ian made landfall in florida's coast on wednesday, sweeping away homes, leaving thousands of floridians trapped and knocked out power for about a quarter of utility customers. the menlo park fire protection district are members of the california task force. >> the team is funded by fema and response to disasters around the world. 3rd wildfires, whether tornadoes hurricane mental park fire marshal john johnson says the team is specifically trained for hurricane rescues. so far the task force has not yet been called up to help. we're always keeping a touch and being informed. >> through our resources back in washington, d.c., wi

joining me now is fema administrator deanne criswell. administrator criswell, thank you for joining us tonight. of course, i have to start with the situation in jackson, mississippi. right now, roughly 150,000 mostly black residents are headed into their second week without clean water after a crucial treatment plant failed last month. president biden has since issued an emergency declaration. and is meeting with civil rights leaders on friday. we talked about it with him extensively. certainly moving as firmly as he can. fema now authorized to coordinate relief efforts in the region. what is fema doing first and foremost to ease the suffering in jackson? i said seven days, but seven days with no clean water, what is the biggest danger facing jackson residents amid this water crisis? >> good evening, reverend sharpton, thank you very much for having me on to talk about this really important topic today. the president, as you mentioned, did authorize an emergency declaration. it really gives fema now the ability to do a few things. first

>> we have heard from the fema director many times today talking about the effort that fema is involved in with state and local authorities to help them with these emergency services and there are teams on the ground working with local and state authorities to do what we can do to help them get some of these lifesaving capabilities back up where they need to be. we are certainly mindful that hospitals have been damaged here, many of them still obviously without power or at least partially without power. so there's a lot of work to be done. but as the administrator said earlier today, we are on the ground and working in lock step with state and local authorities, to do what we can to help get those capabilities where they need to be. >> john: john, notable occasions in past history with hurricanes where fema has fallen short, hurricane andrew comes to mind, hurricane katrina, both those times we are never going to let that happen again. can you assure the response from fema will be robust enough they will get what they need to recover from this? >> i can assure the people of georgia, flo

and enter fema's new risk rating 2.0, hoping to calculate insurance costs using each property's uniquelower values, lower risk properties, we're paying too much and i mean higher values, and higher risk properties, we're not paying enough. >> 2.0 also aims to warn people how their premium could jump down the road. >> we think that is incredibly important to continue to deal with climate change to pull back the vail and raise the visibility of the flood risk case. >> fema projects during the first year of new pricing, almost a quarter of existing plans will see premiums drop and fema is promising equity, the new plan doesn't account for how much money someone makes and low american income americans could be priced out of the market. >> for the department to give statutory authority to consider affordability. >> the florida insurance might be priced out of their market and they will just leave and my fear is they will lose their population. >> some like this couple say they hope to rebuild now armed with information they could have used much sooner. >> and important story there thanks to

when fema is ending. i don't know when the last day is, we can get back to you. but the way that we're budgeting fema revenues anticipating fema based on what we knew. now we're seeing fema reimbursement is not coming to the cities until months or even years after funds are expended. so any new funds that we put towards this are general funds first and later reimbursed by fema. on the end date, i'll need to get back to you on the latest date. in terms of the property, is there somebody on staff that wants to talk about. >> supervisor, i am not sure i understand your question. >> my question is in terms of this contract amount that you're asking for today is there an appropriate level of funding in it to cover any potential damages that the city may be libel for? >> so part thf contract is a contingency amount which is about 6 million dollars. having that said, it is, we're really right at the start of thinking about the demobilization with the witnesscome. we're bringing you an amendment through march 31

it's been a core needed effort between fema, our federal, state, and nonprofit partners. a little bit about some of that forward leaning auster that we put in lace search-and-rescue -- we know it will be a priority. we established a search-and-rescue coronation program that will be a miami and it includes -- the most search-and-rescue team, the coast guard, the department of defense, the department of the interior, and the state of florida. these teams will chlorinate search-and-rescue efforts by land, air, and sea. we pre-stage 120 8000 gallons of fuel for deployment and we have moved generation -- generators of all sizes and types to power up critical infrastructure after the storm passes. the army corps engine years has stage 300 personnel to conduct power and fuel assessments once the storm passes. and we have 3.7 million meals and liters of water better staged in alabama. we also have multiple volunteer organizations that are postured and prepared to support the operations as soon as it is safe to do so. the red cross, they have established 29 shelters right now for

louis show roughly 78% of the flooded properties were outside of fema's flood zone. had no idea they were at risk for this kind of catastrophe. >> there are tens of millions of homeowners who don't realize their homes may be vulnerable to flooding, and very few people who aren't in a mapped fema flood zone bother to buy fema flood insurance, but that can be a mistake. >> the agency says it's actively working to create maps that reflect a more realistic flood risk in the age of climate change, but it doesn't have a timeline for when that will be complete. so how can you figure out your true flood risk? the first step is you can check out riskfactor.com. it allows you to enter your home address and determine your flood risk in the age of climate change. also, if you do have considerable risk, you want to consider getting a national fema flood policy, even if you're not in a fema flood zone, and lastly, that sensitive equipment appliances, if you're building a home, the furnace, they say it's best to place all of that on the upper level. kaitlan. >> that is critical inf

para facilitar esta preparaciÓn, fema tiene una importante herramienta de la preparaciÓn, fema tienerut♪ ♪day 2, i'm in love with your strut♪ ♪day 3, i'm in love with your strut♪ ♪guess what, i'm in love with your strut♪ ♪i like your strut,♪ ♪do you wanna go struttin' struttin'♪ ♪you like my strut♪ ♪do you wanna go struttin' struttin'♪ ♪you like my strut♪ ♪then let's go struttin' right now♪ ♪♪ ♪ andrea: vale siempre la pena proteger la vida y su patrimonio, ¿pero quÉ debe hacer para evitar un desastre? hablamos con experto de fema se responde en el mes de preparaciÓn nacional. gabriela: no es necesario que llegue el mes de septiembre para estar preparados en tema de incendios. en california constantemente los vemos prenderse, cada vez con mÁs frecuencia. esa no es la Única amenaza para lo que nos tenemos que preparar. haremos un enlace con el vocero de fema que nos va a ayudar en este mes de preparaciÓn. hay nuevas disposiciones de las que debemos estar listos y preparados. daniel: nos da gusto anunciar la asociaciÓn que tenemos. podemos llegar muchas mÁs personas con estos anuncios

but you know, the fema, the fema director is very good at her job. we have seen what she's been able to make happen over the last 19 months and so we have confidence that she will get to the bottom and be as helpful as she can be, as we can be on the ground more broadly. >> just these smaller, poorer communities tend to not be able to hire the staff, don't have the infrastructure to actually navigate through through this climate resilient system and get federal funding off this. years show this, you know, when you go back and look at reporting as well. so i wonder what actually kind of stick does the administration have since so much of the power is with the states that this funding actually gets to communities that need it. ms. jean-pierre: so, i spoke to this a little bit yesterday and i'll talk about it now, you know, we have put a real emphasis on making it easier for state and local governments to access the federal savings, because when we talk about the president's economic plan, we talk about lifting people from the bottom up and out, you kno

from what you know of what the governor and fema and the local emergency management agencies have in place here, what do you think the response to this storm will look like after it blows through? >> well, you are exactly right. the nation asks for a bigger, more robust fema after andrew, and after 2005, and after sandy impacted new york. but what we have learned from the different events is that this is the response in recovery mechanisms that have to go into place as a partnership between local, state and federal governments. so i always said and tried to explain this to the american public, the response phase is locally executed, state managed and federally supported and so, luckily where this storm is making landfall i do know that, and i do believe that lee county and charlotte county and sarasota have strong local emergency management capability in place and backed up by a strong and prepared state. kevin guthrie is an experienced management director and the local capacity to deal with ian is exceeded, they will ask for the support from the state, and then from the federal gove

fema has trucks in the area.re coming into the area to deal with the possible massive power outages that we're going to deal with. but he says despite the fact we haven't been directly hit, as you mentioned in about 100 years, they have gone through all the preparedness steps necessary to tackle this storm. here's what he told me directly. listen to this. >> we always pray for the best, pray for a turn in the storm, but we always prepare for the worst. we are prepared. folks need to respond to that evacuation order and get to a safe place. >> reporter: prepare for the best, but also expect the worst. the mayor saying that, again, even if you think you can stay and wait out the storm, they may not be able to get emergency people into a zone like this because they don't want people to be unsafe. so they are telling people, they are begging people to leave this area. leave the red zones that are under mandatory evacuation because it's going to get very dangerous very soon. >> steve patterson, thank you. you take car

also, consider fema's national flood insurance program, even if you're not in a fema flood zone.t like appliances and the furnace on the upper level. rene marsh, cnn, washington. >> great advice, thank you, rene. a quick programming note, at 10:00 a.m., be sure to watch "fareed zakaria gps" special. he'll take an in depth look at america's mass shooting epidemic and share ideas from around the world on how it can be stopped. "global lessons on guns" starts today at 10:00 a.m. >>> up next, why the dea says young people need to be aware of a new type of fentanyl flooding the market. with 20 made-to-order griddle combos, there's a perfect plate for eveveryone. great value for all your favororites only from ihop. downwnload the app and earn free food with every order. i brought inin ensure max protein with 30 grams of proteinin. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. uhh... here, i'll take that! yay!!! ensure max protein, with 30 grams protein, 1 gram of sugar protein challenge for a chance to win big! ♪ ♪ (don't stop me) ♪ ♪ 'cause i'm having a good time ♪ ♪ having a

is that something in your time of service was related to fema?wer the last question first water treatment facilities and the other question from pakistan the way i would approach this and then we have to get away the whether the facility is safe and how much before a system fails? inches or feet? and we know how to triage for extreme rainfall events. we are seeing feet of water. in communities with record-setting flood events infrastructure built for the 100 year flood. and then the climate change how much water does it take before it ails? climate change is real and not for conversation we can see it happening in our communities every day. i also want to associate myself with the statements made by the ranking member. and having some kind of review of jackson mississippi was treated by both the state and federal agencies and the lack of funding. and the data will reflect what is and is not with a significant rule water system the holy grail is to talk about if they are too small because most people would say that is a no-brainer don't bring it u

fema is now authorized the coordinating relief efforts in the region. what is fema doing first and foremost to ease the suffering in jackson, or i said seven days, with no clean water. and what is the biggest danger facing jackson residents amid this water crisis? >> good evening, reverend sharpton, thanks so much for having me on to talk about this really important topic today. the president, as you mentioned, did authorize an emergency declaration, which really gives fema now the ability to do a few things. first and foremost, we're focused on the immediate needs we want to make sure we can continue to support the mississippi emergency management with their effort to deliver bottled water and we will continue to do that. we can also, through this declaration, provide temporary repairs to keep the water pressure up, first build it back up, but then keep the water pressure up, so individuals and residents in jackson, mississippi, can at least flush their toilets. the other thing that i think is really important about what fema can bring to the table now

particularly fema.ire a team effort and it's going to require close communications and coordination in the team. you're going to have to rebuild power grids, you're going to have to rebuild water and sewage systems, roadways. some communities have been completely devastated all the way down to the infrastructure and the infrastructure literally is going to have to be rebuilt. i hope it will be rebuilt more strongly. i hope it will be stronger than when it was hit. but it's going to be a massive rebuilding effort. it's going to take time and it's going to take patience. and i think that after you've been hit, one of the things that is in short supply is patience. but people are just going to have to be patient. >> well, certainly a very emotional time for folks and we can understand why their patience is waning because it's a difficult thing to get through. as you take a look at the destruction there, the catastrophe that was left behind from ian, have you ever seen anything like this? >> not on this sca

administrator of fema is in florida. she will give the president update of what she saw on the ground and she has spoken to him many times, multiple times this week. he will get an daily update on hurricane fiona and will have more to share if there are any other calls that he makes on the ground with officials as well. reporter: you said the other day that jackie walorski bill was here for a bill signing? karine: we don't put every bill signing on the schedule. this is a personal moment that the president was doing. like i mentioned in the briefing a couple of days ago, the president has been looking to hosting the late representative's family and other lawmakers to honor her legacy and naming a post office in her memory and was happening when we started the briefing. but this is and important moment for her and her family and i can give you a little bit who was in the meeting. it included the late representative's husband, mother, brother, staff and other members of congress, speaker pelosi, minority leader mccarthy an

let's bring in marcus coleman from fema. he's the director of the dhs center for faith based and neighborhood partnerships. thank you for being here, director coleman. what is the federal government to do? the storm is not over. it's traveling up as you can see from the forecasts bill karins showing that map, it's still moving and there's still a lot of standing water and still a lot of emerging damage. at this stage, what is the role of the federal government? >> good evening, and thank you for having me. so the role of the federal government is to continue to listen to our local leaders, our local officials, and the community to insure that we are prepositioning commodities and people to meet the immediate needs of the life-saving and life-sustaining mission and that's exactly what we're doing alongside our colleagues in florida, we're also working closely with communities in georgia, north carolina, south carolina, and all other states that are bracing for impacts from the remnants of hurricane ian. >> and we know that th

finally, fema and our partners are here. we are ready. we are focused on meeting the needs of those we are charged to serve. we need the help of everyone at home to be as prepared as they can be. i am confident we have the right team in place as we work this emergency sponsor hurricane ian, together we have the capability to meet with other threats come our way. >> a couple of questions. rakeen: -- >> thank you, you briefly mention puerto rico and customers without power in puerto rico. you authorized a new $600 million, i believe for equipment for rebuilding the power grid there. 10 billion approved back in 2020, was the status of the status of efforts to try to rebuild what rico's -- puerto rico's power grid. has any that taken place? >> i was there three weeks ago checking on the recovery from hurricane marina, what i saw when i was there was one cohesive team between the common health of puerto rico and the power restoration. when we were there last week checking on the impacts from hurricane fiona, what i saw there is that they were

how is fema getting ready for this?> thanks for having me to talk about fema's preparations along with our interagency partners. as we've all mentioned, a very serious storm. you can see behind me our national response kbcoordinatio center is stood up. we have staff in the emergency operations center with the state officials preparing. we are pre positioning equipment and supplies to be ready to move into the area as needed. most importantly, we're really trying to get the word out on evacuations and following directions from local officials. it's really important that those that are in evacuation areas take the time today. today is the day to make those preparations and move out of that area. storm surge obviously, as you just heard very dangerous, life-threatening and we need to take advantage of these hours now to make sure everyone is ready. >> absolutely. tampa's marry quoted earlier saying they're expecting, a, quote, devastating amount of water. one world bank study called tampa bay one of the ten-most at risk ar

reimbursement. >> reporter: applying for fema funds happens in seven phases.eclaring a disaster event, submitting for eligibility review, validating damages, assessing total fund amounts, disbursing funds and monitoring spending then closing out the projects, but holland says this process is not working. she says her district needs more than 400 million dollars to rebuild.>> is probably going to be years before we are back whole, and i don't know that it will ever look quite the same. >> reporter: in response, fema tells nbc in part, they have spent nearly $1.3 billion in public assistance funding in louisiana and the school board remains one of fema's top priorities with meetings scheduled every week day to discuss projects. >> we are in the process of filling out the application. >> reporter: as fema applications are just getting underway, immediate funding is expected from governor andy beshear's $213 million august relief package, $40 million of which will be going to kentucky's department of education. >> this community needs us to be together and work to

. >> fema administrator deian criswell says the agency has staged 3.7 million meals and about 3 million leerts of water before hurricane ian. it was a category 5 storm. administrator criswell was joined during the briefing by the director of the national weather service as well as other officials. this is about 30 minutes. admin. criswell: i'll begin by providing a little bit of an update on fema's mission and preparedness actions that individuals can make right now. first, hurricane ian and will continue to be a very dangerous and life-threatening storm. and this is going to be for the days ahead. floridians up and down the coast are already feeling the storm's painful impacts, and we have yet to experience landfall. however, i spoke with my leadership team this morning, and i can confidently say we have the right teams and we have the right resources in place and ready to meet the changes -- the needs of those that remember charged to serve. but as with any storm, the most important work starts at home. that means we need everyone to heed the warnings of their local officials before,