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Take Action & Pledge this National Hurricane Preparedness Week

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Posted by: Lars Anderson, Director, Public Affairs

hurricane winds

This week, we’re kicking off National Hurricane Preparedness Week! After once more, we’ve teamed up with our partners at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to encourage all Americans to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season, which officially begins this Saturday, June 1 and lasts till November 30. Above all, hurricanes are potent forces of nature that not only cause damage to coastlines, but also hundreds of miles inland as effectively simply because of flooding.

The effect of Hurricane Sandy was felt in Puerto Rico, Florida and other components of the East Coast, and this video shows just how significantly harm Hurricane Sandy caused in the Northeast:

All week lengthy we’ll be posting hurricane security sources and information, encouraging every person to take two simple actions:

  • Pledge to prepare – It’s an simple step as you take action to prepare your home, family, and enterprise against hurricanes and other serious climate. By taking this pledge, you are taking the very first step in making sure you are ready for serious climate.
  • Share your pledge with someone you know – When you pledge, encourage other loved ones members, pals, and neighbors to take the pledge and prepare for hurricane season. We hope you join us in spreading the word this week and encouraging everybody you know to prepare. Possessing a program and becoming ready for can make a globe of difference throughout an emergency and serious weather.

And in case you missed it, you can also receive hurricane safety tips directly to your phone, by texting HURRICANE to 43362 (4FEMA).&nbsp And of course, standard message and information prices apply.

I hope you will join us in sharing hurricane safety this week!
FEMA Blog

What We’re Watching: five/17/13

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Posted by: Lars Anderson, Director, Public Affairs
 
At the end of each week, we post a “What We’re Watching” blog as we look ahead to the weekend and recap events from the week. We encourage you to share it with your friends and family, and have a safe weekend.

Severe weather forecast
For those of you in the Plains and the Midwest, the National Weather Service is forecasting potentially severe weather over the weekend and possibly into next week.  The storm system may bring large, damaging hail and strong winds, with tornadoes possible on Sunday and Monday.  Here’s a piece of the forecast from the National Weather Service: “It is important to note that due to the slow moving nature of this system, the areas affected through Monday may include locations that already had severe weather occur earlier in the period.”

If severe weather is possible in your area, remember to:

  • Closely follow your local forecast through the National Weather Service website, mobile site, or through local TV & radio reports
  • Listen to the direction of local officials.  If they advise people to find shelter because of an upcoming storm, do so immediately
  • Double check your family’s emergency kit to make sure you have supplies to sustain you and your family for at least 72 hours
  • Make sure your family knows what to do in case severe weather strikes – talk about where to take shelter at home, or how you can stay safe if you’re traveling

For more tips on staying safe before, during, and after severe weather, check out Ready.gov or FEMA’s mobile site.

Assistance to those affected by Illinois flooding & storms
Last week, President Obama declared a major disaster for 11 counties in Illinois, making federal assistance available to individuals and families impacted by the recent flooding and severe storms.  We’ve been working hard to encourage impacted residents to apply for assistance.

FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams are in neighborhoods damaged by the storms and floods, going door-to-door letting people know how to apply for assistance and answering any questions about the application process.  We’ve also opened several disaster recovery centers in impacted areas. These centers provide a place for people to talk face-to-face with staff from FEMA and our emergency response partners about the assistance that is available.

For the latest information on FEMA’s role in Illinois, check out the disaster-specific webpage. And if you’re on Twitter, check out our Region 5 Twitter account – it’s been posting great updates like:

A challenge for “hackers”
I’m talking about hackers who hack for good!  I am very excited that FEMA is one of the 19 government partners for the National Civic Day of Hacking, coming up June 1-2. The event will bring together citizens, software developers, entrepreneurs and government agencies across the nation to solve challenges relevant to America’s neighborhoods, cities, and the country.  To give you a scale of the event, there are 87 locations across the U.S. that will participate and work on over 37 data sets and resources.  FEMA’s U.S. Fire Administration submitted its own challenge for the event – use our wealth of fire incident data and build an online visualization tool that brings the data to life.

Check out the National Civic Day of Hacking website for more info and spread the word about our challenge!

Photos of the week
To round out the week, here’s one of my favorite recent photos from the FEMA photo library:

Bay Head, N.J., May 14, 2013 --A construction crew rebuilds one of several concrete walkways for beach access in Bay Head as part of the rebuilding and recovery process following Hurricane Sandy.
Bay Head, N.J., May 14, 2013 — A construction crew rebuilds one of several concrete walkways for beach access in Bay Head as part of the rebuilding and recovery process following Hurricane Sandy.

Have a safe weekend!
FEMA Blog

United States and Republic of Nigeria Sign Customs Mutual Help Agreement

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Washington- On behalf of the United States and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Winkowski and Nigeria Customs Service Comptroller Basic Abdullahi Dikko Inde signed a Customs Mutual Help Agreement (CMAA) right now, which marks a considerable milestone in collaboration among the two countries. (much more)
CBP.gov: National News Releases

CBP to Begin Rollout of Automated Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record

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Washington- U.S. Customs and Border Protection today announced that the automation of Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record is now effective which will streamline the admissions process for individuals lawfully visiting the United States. Form I-94 provides international visitors evidence they have been lawfully admitted to the U. (more)
CBP.gov: National News Releases

CBP and French Customs Officials Seize Controlled Substance

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Washington – U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Center for Excellence and Expertise (CEE) in New York City along with the French Fake Medicines Observatory intercepted a shipment, 400 tablets, of Carisoprodol, a Schedule IV controlled substance. “The collaborative efforts of CBP’s Pharmaceuticals, Overall health & Chemical compounds CEE and the French Customs Fake Medicines Observatory (FMO) demonstrates that international partnerships are a force multiplier in the battle to avert the importation of hazardous pharmaceutical items,” stated David J. (far more)
CBP.gov: National News Releases

Assisting Firefighters By means of Grants – FEMA’s Function For the duration of Wildfires

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Posted by: Lars Anderson, Director, Public Affairs, FEMA

Over the past few weeks firefighters from local, state, and federal agencies have been tirelessly operating to battle a number of large fires across the country. Most importantly, we want to recognize their sacrifice and determination to protect lives and house. Thousands of very first responders from all levels of government have come collectively to bravely fight the blazes on the front lines.

FEMA continues to coordinate closely with our state, nearby, and tribal partners as the fire fight continues. In ten instances considering that June 1, FEMA has made economic help offered to support the firefighting efforts for fires in Montana, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. This assistance is offered by way of Fire Management Help Grants (FMAGs).

FMAGs provide economic help so firefighters and 1st responders can concentrate all their efforts on decreasing the negative impacts of the fire. An FMAG authorization makes FEMA funding offered to pay 75 percent of the state’s eligible firefighting fees, beneath an authorized grant structure.

Products eligible for FMAGs can contain expenses for field camps equipment use, repair and replacement mobilization and demobilization activities and tools, supplies and supplies.

In case you are interested in the specifics, the program allows for the “mitigation, management, and control” of fires burning on publicly or privately owned forest or grasslands which threaten such destruction as would constitute a major disaster. FMAGs are provided via the President’s Disaster Relief Fund and produced accessible by FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to trigger a significant disaster.

A note on FMAGs: These grants do not provide assistance to individual property or business owners and do not cover other infrastructure harm triggered by the fire.

Other federal partners, such as the U.S. Forest Service and Division of Interior, are operating by way of the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) to provide the required assets such as fire engines, helicopters, air tankers and military support to assist suppress the fires. You can find a lot more about the federal government’s part at inciweb.org.

Due to summer season temperatures and dry conditions, the threat of wildfires will probably continue in the coming weeks and months. If you’re in an area that may possibly be impacted by wildfires, keep in mind these safety suggestions:

  • Generate a emergency kit and plan to ensure your home, family members, or enterprise is prepared for wildfires.
  • Listen to and stick to the guidance of state and regional officials. If authorities order an evacuation, leave immediately, adhere to evacuation routes announced by regional officials.
  • Produce an location of “defensible space” around your house. Clear things that will burn from around the property, which includes wood piles, lawn furnishings, barbecue grills, tarp coverings, and so on.
  • If you’re caught in the open in the course of a wildfire, the ideal temporary shelter is in a sparse fuel location. Clear fuel away from the area although the fire is approaching and then lie face down in the depression and cover your self. Remain down till following the fire passes.

For a lot more suggestions on staying protected before, throughout and after a wildfire, check out Prepared.gov/wildfires and our mobile website (m.fema.gov).

Published by the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety, Washington, D.C.

The Blog @ Homeland Safety

DHS Earns Third Consecutive “A” in Annual Little Business Scorecard

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Posted by:  Rafael Borras, Under Secretary for Management

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was recognized today with an “A” rating by the Small Business Scorecard for its success in contracting with small businesses.  This is the third year in a row DHS has received an “A” rating.
Each year, the Small Business Administration (SBA) releases its annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard, which rates federal agencies success in meeting their overall small business contracting goals.  SBA ratings are based on five categories—small businesses, women-owned businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, businesses in HUBZones (historically underutilized business zones) and small disadvantaged businesses. 
DHS’ success is due in no small part to the hard work and dedication of the team in our Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and the contracting professionals and small business advocates in every Component. 
DHS also is among the top four agencies in terms of total Federal contract dollars awarded to small businesses.  In fact, we exceeded the Federal government goals in four out of the five small business categories for both prime and subcontract procurements and spent more than $ 4 billion with small businesses.   
In virtually every segment of our homeland security community there are small businesses working to support the DHS mission and play a critical role in delivering efficient and innovative solutions to our long- and short-term acquisition needs.  We look forward to continuing our partnership with the small business community and remain committed to their participation in our efforts to secure the nation.
For more information about DHS’s small business programs, please visit:  http://www.dhs.gov/xopnbiz/smallbusiness/. 
Published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C.

The Blog @ Homeland Security

CBP Employee Honored at Annual Federal Awards Gala

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Washington – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Wolf Tombe was honored on March 20 at the 24th Annual Federal one hundred Awards Gala.”This important achievement is a result of the efforts and dedication exhibited by Mr. Tombe and his staff,” mentioned David V. (a lot more)
CBP.gov: National News Releases