Even in backup role, federal government supports Ida victims

WASHINGTON – Response to disasters specified arsenic Hurricane Ida falls chiefly to authorities and section officials, but the national authorities is playing an important enactment relation — making disposable millions of dollars successful assistance and coordinating with section officials and backstage alleviation groups for everything from meals to generators and search-and-rescue efforts.

The Biden medication has pledged an all-of-government effect to Ida, led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and coordinated by White House elder advisor Cedric Richmond, a erstwhile Louisiana congressman and adjacent state of President Joe Biden.

“Whatever you need, spell to Cedric,'' Biden told Gulf Coast governors and section officials astatine a virtual gathering Monday. "He’ll get to me, and we’ll get you what you need, if we can.''

The radical of Louisiana and Mississippi are resilient, Biden added, "but it’s successful moments similar these wherever we tin surely spot the powerfulness of authorities to respond to the needs of the people, if the government’s prepared and if they respond.”

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More than 3,600 FEMA employees were deployed to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, officials said, on with 5,200 National Guard personnel.

Applying a acquisition learned aft erstwhile storms, including Hurricane Katrina successful 2005 and Superstorm Sandy successful 2012, supplies were enactment successful spot successful the Gulf Coast adjacent earlier the tempest made landfall connected Sunday. More than 200 generators, arsenic good 3.5 cardinal meals, 2.5 cardinal liters of h2o and 139,000 tarps were sent to the Gulf, with millions much meals and h2o connected order.

Hundreds of ambulances and aerial ambulances and 17 search-and-rescue teams person besides been activated, on with a 250-bed national aesculapian structure successful Alexandria, Louisiana.

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The U.S. Coast Guard has 27 rotary oregon fixed-wing aircraft, and the Department of Defense has 60 high-water vehicles and 14 rotary helping craft prepositioned to assistance with rescue efforts.

Federal and authorities agencies stay focused connected powerfulness restoration efforts aft astir 2 cardinal radical mislaid electricity. Tap h2o and gasoline besides are successful abbreviated proviso adjacent arsenic temperatures reached 90 degrees Tuesday successful New Orleans.

“This is going to beryllium a agelong haul,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told Biden.

Restoring powerfulness tin beryllium tricky. In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and knocked retired the powerfulness grid, and the territory has inactive not afloat recovered. Last September, erstwhile President Donald Trump released $13 cardinal to the territory to assistance rebuild the electrical grid and repair schools aft fierce disapproval the assistance was overdue.

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Aware of the wide disapproval of Trump's Maria effect — and erstwhile President George W. Bush's effect to Katrina — the Biden medication has issued regular updates connected national actions, including exigency waivers issued by the Environmental Protection Agency to summation gasoline supplies, and a Transportation Department waiver that makes it easier for motortruck drivers to determination captious freight to areas damaged by Ida.

The waivers volition let truckers to haul successful indispensable items specified arsenic food, water, substance and inferior poles, arsenic good arsenic transformers and generators to assistance enactment exigency alleviation efforts.

The Energy Department said it is coordinating with the region's powerfulness company, Entergy, and different partners to enactment efforts to reconstruct electricity.

Offshore lipid rigs, nether the supervision of the Interior Department, were moved retired of the storm’s projected path, and astir 95% of existent lipid accumulation successful the Gulf of Mexico has been unopen in.

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FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell was successful Baton Rouge Tuesday, wherever she surveyed harm by chopper with Edwards and different officials. FEMA teams equipped with iPads were acceptable to spell house-to-house successful hard-hit neighborhoods to registry radical connected the spot for idiosyncratic aid, Criswell said.

"To the radical of Louisiana, we are with you and we enactment you. Help is connected the way,'' Criswell tweeted.

“So far, truthful good,'' erstwhile FEMA head Craig Fugate said Tuesday of the national response.

Fugate, who led FEMA during the Obama administration, said overmuch of the recognition goes to governors, peculiarly Edwards, whom helium described arsenic ”battle-hardened by crisis.″ Louisiana has endured respective hurricanes, floods and different disasters successful caller years, on with COVID-19, which has ravaged the state.

“Governors are the existent leaders successful an emergency,″ Fugate said.

The levees, floodwalls and floodgates that support New Orleans held up against Ida’s fury, their strongest trial since the national authorities spent $14.5 cardinal to upgrade a strategy that catastrophically failed erstwhile Katrina struck 16 years ago.

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“They passed,'' Fugate said of the levees, "for this storm.''

In Louisiana, there's ever different tempest coming.

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Associated Press writers Melinda Deslatte successful Baton Rouge, La., and Colleen Long successful Washington contributed to this story.

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