patrickcsheehan's MyC-SPAN

Federal and state emergency management officials testified before a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on hurricane preparedness and response efforts. They discussed lessons learned from the 2017 hurricane season, pre-disaster mitigation investments, the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, and improving disaster response efforts in Puerto Rico. Speakers included the FEMA Response and Recovery Associate Administrator Jeffrey Byard and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Contingency Operations Director Charles Alexander.

FEMA Administrator Brock Long testified before the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee on the most recent disaster relief funding request. The White House asked Congress to approve $44 billion in additional disaster aid to help areas impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Administrator Long provided the committee with an update on the recovery efforts in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. He said FEMA is in the midst of the longest activation in its history and the nation needs to figure out how to become more resilient to natural disasters.