Healdton schools use bulletproof storm shelters to keep students safe

Intellihub editor’s note: I can see it now — here comes all the future contracts for storm shelters, metal detectors, etc.

HEALDTON, Okla. — Dozens of copycat-type threats have been investigated in Oklahoma in the wake of the mass shooting that killed 17 people at a Parkland, Florida, high school earlier this month.

One of those investigations happened at Healdton, a small Oklahoma town with a population of almost 3,000. The town’s school district, however, has a bold way to keep children safe — bulletproof storm shelters inside the schools.

“You think those things are never, ever gonna happen in your school, but, unfortunately, they do,” said Melissa Hudson, mother and president of the district’s parent-teacher organization. “Some are caused by weather, and some are caused by man.”

That’s why Healdton Public Schools leaders decided to install seven bulletproof storm shelters inside the elementary school and two larger ones in the middle school. Officials are working to get shelters for the high school.

Via KOCO News 5

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Featured Image: Healdton High School (Screenshot via Google Street View)

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FEMA Contract Called for 30 Million Meals for Puerto Ricans. 50,000 Were Delivered.

(INCLUDES NOTE AND LINKS FROM OATH KEEPERS)

By Patricia Mazzei and Agustin Armendariz  Feb. 6, 2018

The mission for the Federal Emergency Management Agency was clear: Hurricane Maria had torn through Puerto Rico, and hungry people needed food. Thirty million meals needed to be delivered as soon as possible.

For this huge task, FEMA tapped Tiffany Brown, an Atlanta entrepreneur with no experience in large-scale disaster relief and at least five canceled government contracts in her past. FEMA awarded her $156 million for the job, and Ms. Brown, who is the sole owner and employee of her company, Tribute Contracting LLC, set out to find some help.

Ms. Brown, who is adept at navigating the federal contracting system, hired a wedding caterer in Atlanta with a staff of 11 to freeze-dry wild mushrooms and rice, chicken and rice, and vegetable soup. She found a nonprofit in Texas that had shipped food aid overseas and domestically, including to a Houston food bank after Hurricane Harvey.

By the time 18.5 million meals were due, Tribute had delivered only 50,000. And FEMA inspectors discovered a problem: The food had been packaged separately from the pouches used to heat them. FEMA’s solicitation required “self-heating meals.”

“Do not ship another meal. Your contract is terminated,” Carolyn Ward, the FEMA contracting officer who handled Tribute’s agreement, wrote to Ms. Brown in an email dated Oct. 19 that Ms. Brown provided to The New York Times. “This is a logistical nightmare.”

Four months after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, a picture is emerging of the contracts awarded in the earliest days of the crisis. And examples like the Tribute contract are causing lawmakers to raise questions about FEMA’s handling of the disaster and whether the agency was adequately prepared to respond.

On Tuesday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, which has been investigating the contract, asked Representative Trey Gowdy, the committee chairman, to subpoena FEMA for all documents relating to the agreement. Lawmakers fear the agency is not lining up potential contractors in advance of natural disasters, leading it to scramble to award multimillion-dollar agreements in the middle of a crisis.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a bipartisan congressional investigation found that a failure to secure advance contracts led to chaos and potential for waste and fraud. Democrats asserted that FEMA was similarly inept preparing for this storm.

“It appears that the Trump Administration’s response to the hurricanes in Puerto Rico in 2017 suffered from the same flaws as the Bush Administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005,” wrote Representatives Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland and Stacey E. Plaskett, the nonvoting delegate from the United States Virgin Islands.

A box of food from the Federal Emergency Management Agency distributed to residents of San Isidro.
CreditErika P. Rodriguez for The New York Times

Amanda Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Mr. Gowdy, said FEMA has given the Oversight Committee regular briefings since lawmakers asked for them in October, and at no point had Democrats mentioned the Tribute contract. Sending a subpoena to an agency cooperating with Congress “is premature,” Ms. Gonzalez said in a statement.

In November, The Associated Press found that after Hurricane Maria, FEMA awarded more than $30 million in contracts for emergency tarps and plastic sheeting to a company that never delivered the needed supplies.

FEMA insists no Puerto Ricans missed a meal as a result of the failed agreement with Tribute. FEMA relied on other suppliers that provided “ample” food and water for distribution, said William Booher, an agency spokesman.

But there is little doubt that in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans struggled with access to food. The storm shut down ports on an island that imports about 85 percent of its food supply. Farms were flattened. Supermarkets lost electricity and could not find diesel to run their generators. The stores that opened using generator power could not offer much from their understocked shelves.

Puerto Ricans depended heavily on emergency aid dispatched by FEMA. The Department of Homeland Security has doled out more than $1 billion in contracts related to Hurricane Maria, which made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20.

Read more at the NY Times
PHOTO: Residents of San Isidro, P.R., waited for food and water in October. Credit Erika P. Rodriguez for The New York Times


NOTE AND LINKS FROM OATH KEEPERS:

Oath Keepers volunteers were very effective at delivering food, water, and other supplies to hurricane victims who needed help. They came from as far away as Montana, Arizona, Mississippi, and Florida. The photo of the red truck below was taken in Texas, but the owner drove it from Florida. Our Oath Keepers volunteers also participated in rescues, security, opening blocked roads, downed tree removal, loading and unloading trucks, medical checkups, etc. Oath Keepers did all of this after the disastrous 2017 hurricanes in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

Oath Keepers Disaster Relief mission in  Conroe, Texas

Hurricane Irma in Florida, buying food and other supplies for those in need.

Oath Keepers and friends deliver food, water, and wellness checks in Puerto Rico

Critical food and medical supplies for Puerto Ricans tied up by FEMA?

 

 

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NY Democrat Stole Hurricane Funds And Tried To Cover It UP

Another day, another corruption scandal involving a Democrat.  New York Assemblywoman Pamela Harris, who claims to be an advocate for the poor, was charged with stealing Hurricane Sandy relief funds and trying to cover it up.

According to NBC NY, Pamela Harris, a former New York City correction officer, was named in an 11-count indictment charging her with cheating the two storm relief agencies out of thousands of dollars before and after she was elected to the State Assembly in 2017. The indictment also accuses the Coney Island Democrat of stealing from New York City Council coffers while running a nonprofit and lying about her schemes during bankruptcy proceedings in 2013.

As part of the scheme, prosecutors and FBI agents said she claimed the storm forced her out of her home by Sandy and into a rental on Staten Island, only to pocket $24,800 in housing payments from FEMA while living in her Brooklyn home, from 2012 to 2014. She also lied on a NYC Build it Back assistance application about living at the first-floor Staten Island apartment and submitted a forged lease and rental receipts, according to the indictment. -NBC NY

“Ms. Harris has been an invaluable community organizer and a well-regarded legislator. Especially given that background, we are disappointed that Ms. Harris was indicted,” her attorneys Joel Cohen and Jerry Goldfeder said in a statement.  Meaning that since Harris is a politician, she should be above the laws she forces on the rest of us.  Democrats always think they are “more equal” than everyone else.  The attornies added that she has pleaded not guilty and that the indictment does not relate to her conduct in office.

“Both before and during her tenure as a public servant, as alleged, Assemblywoman Pamela Harris went to great lengths to defraud local and federal agencies out of thousands of dollars,” said William Sweeney, the FBI’s assistant director-in-charge. “In fact, at a time when many residents in her district were dealing with the horrific aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Harris was busy brewing a storm of her own, one that resulted in her receiving significant payouts by the very federal agency charged with helping those truly in need.”

So, in reality, Harris stole already stolen money. Since FEMA is funded by the taxpayer, and taxes by their very definition are, indeed, theft, she’s proven herself to be one of the very reasons many demand a much smaller government.

Harris is also accused of stealing more than $30,000 from New York City council between 2013 and 2015 while serving as the executive director of Coney Island Generation Gap, a nonprofit also known as CIGG that aimed at mentoring low and moderate-income children interested in media arts. According to the indictment, Harris funneled money given to the nonprofit meant to rent a studio space to her own personal bank accounts. And in 2015, she withdrew $22,800 directly from CIGG’s bank account and deposited into her personal checking account. Then, authorities said, she used the money to buy plane and cruise tickets for her and her spouse, pay her mortgage and make online purchases at Kohl’s and Victoria’s Secret.

According to the indictment, when Harris found out she was being investigated, she asked witnesses in the alleged schemes to lie for her.

PUERTO RICO IS STILL STRUGGLING

By Faye Higbee – Oct. 26, 2017 – Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children

The humanitarian crisis continues in Puerto Rico- is there something nefarious standing in the way of actual help? Shipments of aid have been blocked from reaching the west side of the island, and inexpensive flights into Puerto Rico have been difficult to find. There are literally tons of supplies sitting in hangars, being dumped in “bins” or dumpsters, and flights being blocked from going to the west side of the island where Hurricane Maria did the most damage.

FEMA “Co-opting” privately gathered supplies

We spoke to Bill Simmons from Oath Keepers, who told us that their donated supplies were sitting in an airplane hangar and not being disseminated- even re-packaged and re-labeled by FEMA. Thousands upon thousands of medical supplies that were donated by Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia are still sitting in a warehouse because they can’t get a flight. Likewise there are tons of supplies waiting in Florida as well. And that’s not counting the ones waiting in Puerto Rico for dissemination.

Bill told us that they had to have people on the ground with the supplies or they would be gone, taken by FEMA. That sentiment was also expressed by at least two other disaster relief workers.

Preparing to head out to areas that need supplies

Speaking with Hospital staff on medical needs

Giving out specially prepared care packages to locals

 

FEMA

In the event that people just don’t know the “rules,” we reached out to FEMA and asked what the rules are for packaging donations, how they disseminate donations, etc.  We were re-directed to their press person’s email the first time. The response we received a few days later was this:

 

You can make up your own minds about that response.

Mishandling of supplies by unknown person(s)

In the video below, perfectly good food and supplies were found in a garbage dump truck, and exposed to rats and rain in Patilla, Puerto Rico. Spoiled food. And that’s just the tip of this extremely huge iceberg. Who did this? Currently, that’s a mystery.

“We got tipped about the mishandling of some of the supplies in a distribution center in Patilla, and we were able to corroborate what we didn’t want to see. In a garbage dump truck we found pallets full of meals ready to be distributed at one time but now all spoiled. They were left under the rain in the open air under the sun subject to rodents and animals.” Luis Rivera Marin, Puerto Rico Secretary of State.

“It was a negligent and for me criminal” insists Puerto Rico’s @LuisRiveraMarin who says he found hurricane donations exposed to rain & rats pic.twitter.com/YElRFv2KXN

— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) October 17, 2017

One of the disaster relief workers told us that the US Military has been helping and even preventing some of the supplies from being taken by what the people believed were FEMA workers. One airplane hangar full of pallets of water was about to be “co-opted,”  when the owner of the pallets realized that he had been re-directed to the wrong hangar. As he found the correct one, three USAF  servicemen came with him and prevented the FEMA workers from loading them up and taking them to an undisclosed location.

We will continue to follow this situation in Part II, as well as numerous reports of blocking supplies from getting to the needed areas. Absolutely, there are people being helped daily on the island by groups on the ground.  There simply appears to be some giant sized holes in the process.

From: Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children

 

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FEMA Is Failing America After These Massive Hurricanes — and I Know Why

(ANTIMEDIA Op-ed) Recently, I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about groups like the Cajun Navy, which rescued hundreds of people during Hurricane Harvey. The organization formed spontaneously in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and is stimulating a new and much-needed conversation. When you compare the voluntary provision of important public services by the “Cajun Navies” of the world to those provided by government agencies like FEMA, it’s hard to deny how much better the voluntary organizations perform.

Based on many of the discussions I’ve been having about recent events, it is obvious that many people realize something important is almost “hiding in plain sight.” ‘We the People’ already provide each other with most of the services we rely on, but this fact often goes unnoticed. Whether it’s the production and supply of food, clothes, electrical power, houses, systems and modes of transportation, medical treatments, or most modern forms of communication — all public services on which we depend — We the People are responsible for most of them.

And yet almost half of the country’s resources go to the government.

Common sense says we should send more resources to those who can do the best work with them. Yet when it comes to the public services, that common sense seems lacking.

Whenever we simply increase the amount we are sending to a government program or agency to deliver a public service, we are skipping the critical step of identifying the best way of doing something before we do it – or doing more of it.

In almost every other area of life, when we want to improve outcomes, we look at methods of delivery. If we did this for the services the public relies on, we would all do better.

The provision of public services by the government has some unique and fundamental flaws. For example, the guaranteed supply of potentially unlimited revenue (through taxation) reduces the accountability of those who spend it, creating an imbalance between inputs and outcomes. This contributes to ever-increasing waste and inefficiency over time. FEMA had a $13.9 billion budget in 2016 yet was expected to run out of money even before superstorm Irma hit Florida as this year’s hurricane season was just beginning. And that’s after $6.7 billion was allocated to disaster relief in the 2017 budget.  In contrast, volunteer organizations have been performing many of the same functions of FEMA even more effectively without taking any tax dollars from the public to do so. Amazingly, the Cajun Navy does its life-saving work without taxpayer funds.

The fact that the Cajun Navy arrived on the scene quicker than FEMA and saved more lives on a shoestring budget begs a profoundly important question: How much more good could be done by the “Cajun Navies” of the world if they had even a small fraction of the resources the “FEMAs” have?

The Cajun Navy is just another example of Americans coming together and putting their differences aside to help each other in times of need. It’s truly a beautiful thing to witness. As Charlie Chaplin famously said in the film The Great Dictator, “We all want to help one another; human beings are like that.”

The good news is that we are already spending more than enough to do the good we would like to see done – if only a small fraction of those resources were redirected to those who do better with them so they could give those most in need the best possible assistance.

A model for this has already been implemented with excellent results.

In Arizona, residents are able to redirect some of their tax dollars to organizations that do better in supporting the causes they believe in. Arizona’s “charitable tax credit” allows each taxpayer to redirect up to $400 (recently doubled from $200) of their individual state income tax liability to a nonprofit in their local area that serves the poor more effectively than does the government. Taxpayers receive a dollar-for-dollar credit for donations, so if they have a tax bill of $1,000 from the state of Arizona but have sent $400 to their favorite local charities, they only owe the state $600.

Whether we are responding to catastrophic events such as hurricanes or the basic, everyday needs of our communities, doesn’t it make the most sense to ensure those who do the most good have the resources they need to do even more good? If we do, the sky will be the limit for the “Cajun Navies” out there in both number and effectiveness.  Given the uncertain environment we live in, why would we want to do anything less than put ourselves in the best possible position to meet tomorrow’s needs or to deal with the next emergency — whatever it may be?

There are countless examples of harm done by the wasting of resources by those who have no real incentive to deploy them carefully. How about New York City spending $2 million on a bathroom, the GSA spending more than $800,000 at a conference in Vegas, and the Pentagon fudging its own accounts by $6.5 trillion? The list goes on and on.

Recognizing all of this, the We Do Better project is about finding organizations that do better in each community, ensuring that those who need help know where and how to get it, and empowering communities to send their resources where they will do the most good.

In Arizona, where the charitable credit was implemented, local charities in several communities formed tax credit coalitions to publicize the credit, making it easier for donors to give and for beneficiaries to find them. This increased cooperation among charities has had the wonderful side effect of making them more effective in helping people who were facing multiple challenges at once (such as food insecurity, homelessness, and addiction), hugely improving human outcomes and the strength of the community’s social safety net.

Doing the most good means being morally committed to better human outcomes rather than ideologically committed to a particular method of achieving them.  Let us start measuring our compassion not by our good intentions, the efforts we make, or even the money we spend – but by the good we do for each other.

As Margaret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

We already do better. We can do more of that.

Op-ed / Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

This article was submitted by Jason Casella of We Do Better, a voluntary aid organization.

 

Puerto Rico’s Power Grid Failure Is Causing A Public Health Crisis Of Epic Proportions

Dr. Trivino must use sunlight to examine x-rays since electricity is sporadic in Puerto Rico.

 

One month after the devastating Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on the island of Puerto Rico, the territory is still facing a public health crisis.  And it’s a crisis of epic proportions.

On Friday, former Puerto Rican Governor Alejandro García Padilla tweeted a photo from inside a hospital, in which scrubbed-up doctors leaned over an operating table performing surgery lit only by a flashlight. According to Slate, the image quickly made the rounds on the internet; it currently has almost 9,000 retweets and many speculate that that’s probably because the blurry picture feels like it’s worth a good deal more than 1,000 words.  It illuminates just a small sliver of the public health crisis Puerto Rico is currently facing.

This is what POTUS calls a 10! Surgery performed with cellphones as flashlights in Puerto Rico today. pic.twitter.com/5pnK5dkkE6

— Alejandro (@agarciapadilla) October 21, 2017

Millions of residents still don’t have access to electricity or proper health care, and bacteria in the water have exposed many people to disease. And calls for help have gone unanswered besides the few willing to travel to the devastated island privately. Senator  Martin Heinrich (D-NM) along with a handful of other lawmakers are calling on the federal government to continue to provide aid to the post-apocalyptic ravaged territory. 

“Even before Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit the U.S. territories, the islands’ health care system was suffering from the ongoing economic crisis. The islands are grappling with physician shortages, Medicaid programs facing an impending funding cliff, and widespread disparities in Federal health programs—and that was before hurricane season,” the lawmakers stated in a letter. “We are grateful for the public health emergency declaration in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but more can and should be done to help Americans impacted by these disasters.”

The senators stressed that much of the islands’ power and communication networks are out and, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), it will take months before power is fully restored. Hospitals have been forced to prioritize patients, ration services, and forgo elective surgeries.  The power grid’s failure has caused more problems than many anticipated, like the stall of relief efforts.  Without electricity, communications are non-existent too.

Some 33 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, only 23 percent of residents have electricity, according to Status.pr, which provides daily updates on basic services on the island. While there are still other problems as well, such as gas stations being slow to reopen, and roads getting badly damaged, the power grid’s utter annihilation in the category 4 winds is not just a temporary inconvenience. The different ways that the lack of electricity can set off a cascade of other crises is becoming increasingly clear.

A giant government-owned hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, arrived in Puerto Rico weeks ago to help out, but many people don’t know about the ship. Without electricity, most cell phone towers are down.  But even if communications were working, residents can’t get to the port, as many of the island’s roads are impassable and most are without gasoline to power a car. The ship has extensive space and equipment for trauma care and a large staff, but CNN reported that as of last Tuesday, only 33 of 250 beds were full.

The looming crisis seems to be getting worse, not better, and Puerto Rico is experiencing a medical crisis of epic proportions.

FBI finds FEMA supplies in Trash Container

OATH KEEPERS:
ORDERS WE WILL NOT OBEY

Click here to read full length version.

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.


2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people
.

3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.


4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.


5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.


6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.


7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.


8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control."


9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.


10. We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

Click here to read full length version.

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Critical food and medical supplies for Puerto Ricans tied up by FEMA?

Mike Kerr of Hear the Watchmen interviews Billy Simmons, Oath Keepers Board Member. They discuss the difficulties in getting donated disaster relief supplies to the volunteers who are ready and willing to deliver those supplies to Puerto Rican families in need.

Oath Keepers, including Founder Stewart Rhodes, have been on the ground in Puerto Rico since Oct. 2, to assist in the disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Maria. There are supplies, including food, medical, diapers, etc. in warehouses. There are many hungry Puerto Ricans, especially in remote areas, who are in desperate need. We have been ready to deliver food to them since we arrived. Oath Keepers Board Member Billy Simmons explains the difficulties involved in actually getting food to take to the hungry.

To volunteer: puertorico@oathkeepers.org

If you can, or know someone who can, donate cargo space on a plane for food/medical supplies, etc. direct to Aguadilla: puertorico@oathkeepers.org

Please donate to help us continue our disaster relief mission in Puerto Rico:   DONATE

FEMA Director Urges Americans to Develop “a true culture of preparedness” But No One Is Listening

This article was originally published by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper

It looks like preppers aren’t that crazy after all. FEMA’s new director, Brock Long, has repeatedly said that Americans do not have a “culture of preparedness,” something that is much-needed with the startling uptick in natural disasters. Long has only been the director of FEMA since June 20 of this year and already has had to deal with a historic number of disasters in this short period of time.

It appears that Mr. Long has a mindset of self-reliance based on a couple of recent statements he has made to the media, but the MSM doesn’t seem too interested in his ideas about fostering a culture of preparedness, despite the practicality and essential nature of his suggestions.

First, in an interview from Sept. 11 that I personally only heard about yesterday, Long spoke with journalists to discuss the response to Hurricane Irma. In the interview, he said some things that vindicate all of us who have spent time and money working toward being prepared.

“I really think that we have a long way to go to create a true culture of preparedness within our citizenry in America. No American, no citizen, no visitor to this country is immune to disaster. And we have a long way to go to get people to understand the hazards based on where they dwell, where they work, and how to be prepared financially, how to be prepared through insurance, how to have continuity of operations plans for their businesses, so that we can avoid the suffering, the strife, and the loss of life. It’s truly disappointing that people won’t heed the warnings.

Straight out of our favorite prepper handbooks, right?

Of course, the reporter quickly shifted from the actual useful information to start asking about climate change, because for some reason she felt that was far more essential than the practical advice Mr. Long was offering. You can watch the interview below.

Some of those numbers were shocking – FEMA is spending 200 million dollars a day in relief efforts and desperately-needed help has hardly even begun for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

In a more recent statement, Mr. Long re-emphasized the need to be prepared, and to start kids off young with this mindset.

I think that the last 35 days or so have been a gut check for Americans that we do not have a true culture of preparedness in this country. And we’ve got a lot of work to do.

Whether it’s in education and being ready, it’s not just saying, hey, have three days worth of supplies ready to go. It’s greater than that. It’s also people having the finances and the savings to be able to overcome simple emergencies.

We have to hit the reset button and create a true culture of preparedness starting at a very young age and filtering all the way up.

We in the preparedness community have been saying this for ages, Mr. Long, but thank you for attempting to put this front and center.

One thing that is different about Long’s approach is the practicality. Many government officials seem to forget about the financial end of emergencies. They can’t seem to wrap their brains around the fact that while they have 200 million dollars a day, most folks do not. This is why financial preparedness is of such massive importance. If you had to live away from home without access to a kitchen, the expenses would rack up pretty quickly. As well, think about how thinly those millions are spread.

FEMA is eventually going to run out of money.

As well, think about how thinly those millions are spread. One person I know who lost her rental home will receive $4000. That has to replace everything she owns: furniture, clothing, personal items, food, cleaning products…you get the idea…plus pay first and last month’s rent for a new apartment. People without flood insurance who lost their homes will be eligible for a maximum of only $21,000. But if their property wasn’t paid for, they’ll still owe the mortgage payments on a place that is uninhabitable.

Don’t forget that FEMA is also providing aid for those displaced by more than 2 million acres of wildfires throughout the Western US. (Although initially, they turned down requests for assistance, they reconsidered.)

When you look at the true cost of disasters on this scale, it’s hard to imagine that FEMA will have enough money should these emergencies continue, or even enough to cover our current tab.

There were reports that FEMA had run out of money shortly after Hurricane Harvey, but more appeared for Hurricane Irma.

One article blithely suggested that FEMA can never run out of money because Congress will just vote to give them more when addressing concerns that FEMA was down to its last billion dollars.

 But the U.S. Congress quickly put such worries to rest on Sept. 8, 2017, by hastily passing legislation that gave the DRF an infusion of cash.

“The emergency supplemental appropriation of $7.4 billion allows FEMA to continue to fully focus on the ongoing preparation, response, and recovery needs,” said an agency spokesperson via email.

While legislators may have cut it a bit close, there was little chance that FEMA actually would run out of cash. According to a Congressional Research Service analysis, Congress made 14 supplemental appropriations to the fund between 2004 and 2013, for a total of $89.6 billion. In one year alone — 2005, the year that Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other areas in the Gulf Coast — legislators bolstered the fund with three extra appropriations amounting to $43 billion. (source)

This, of course, naively assumes that there will always be more money to give to FEMA. Eventually, we’re going to run out.

Is this the reason for the slow response to Puerto Rico?

Personally, I keep wondering if a lack of money is the reason for our slow response to the desperate situation in Puerto Rico. Add to this the logistical problems, and you have a recipe for chaos.

Another thing to keep in mind about Puerto Rico is that this is one of the rare situations in which stockpile preparedness may not have done any good. While some folks like to say that Puerto Ricans shouldn’t be out of food within 6 days after the disaster, what they aren’t considering is the totality of the destruction.

photo credit

What food people may have had stored was destroyed when homes were turned into piles of rubble. Other food spoiled soon after the power for the entire island was taken out. If you look at these photos, you will understand why few people have food.

I imagine in such a situation, my own carefully preserved jars of food would have been smashed to bits and my freeze-dried food would have been soaked in flood waters. In most situations, your stockpile will see you through, but in a disaster of this magnitude, even the most well-prepared person could be left with nothing.

Maybe money is why the director is urging a culture of preparedness.

Perhaps this reality is why Mr. Long is so adamant that Americans need to get prepared to take care of themselves and that we need to raise our children to understand this too. That’s not the warm fuzzy thing that people who refuse to prepare want to hear, so the mainstream media gives his advice little attention.

A culture of preparedness is indeed the answer, and preppers have known this for a very long time.

Weather Channel Makes Shock Claim That Meteorologists Saw ‘A Face’ In A Satellite Image Of Hurricane Irma

A senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel is claiming that a satellite image of Hurricane Irma that comes from NASA’s earth science office “has an embedded face”. Some say that it kind of looks like a dinosaur, others believe that it looks like a pig, and yet others seem to think that it sort of resembles an elephant. Since most hurricanes have a clearly defined “eye”, all it really takes to make a “face” is to find a “mouth” on a satellite image somewhere. So I can understand what the guys over at the Weather Channel are saying, but it is not the type of claim that I would make. But needless to say, this photograph will probably be shared a few million times on Facebook. Here is an excerpt from the original Weather Channel article…

For the second year in a row, as a large hurricane threatened the United States, some swore they saw a face in satellite imagery of the storm.

The image above was posted early Saturday morning to Twitterby Stu Ostro, a senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel. As Hurricane Irma made landfall along the coast of northern Cuba, it appeared as if the satellite imagery of the storm had an embedded face.

You can argue whether the face better resembles a pig or an elephant, but it’s the second such face Ostro has spotted in a satellite image of a hurricane in as many years. Last October, as Hurricane Matthew’s eye moved away from Haiti, a very sinister face appeared in satellite imagery.

Storms such as this definitely seem to bring out the strangeness in people. Within hours of hurricane winds striking south Florida, people were already breaking into homes and looting stores. In fact, one local news stationcaptured footage of a “group of about 8-9 people” looting a retail store in broad daylight…

Local 10 cameras caught a group breaking into the Simon’s Sportswear on Sunrise Blvd. and Powerline Road.

The group of about 8-9 people broke through the front window and were seen walking in and then walking out with stolen items.

The group then began looting a Footlocker and CashAmerica Pawn Store in the same area.

Both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma have caused absolutely catastrophic damage, and millions of lives have been completely turned upside down. For those of us that live in areas that were not affected by these storms, it can be difficult to grasp the extreme stress that people down in Texas and Florida have been experiencing.

I would like to share with you a letter that was sent to me by a reader named Carol. She said that I could share this with my readers, and my hope is that this will encourage you to pray for those that have been caught in the middle of these storms…

*****

Dear Michael,

I felt impressed to write to you this morning. The situation here in Florida is very, very tense. My husband and I live in Boynton Beach, FL, near West Palm Beach, on the southeast coast. My son lives in a condo close by.

When the storm appeared to be coming straight towards us, we had to quickly decide what was important to us, and literally threw everything in the back of our car that we ever expected to own again, as we left the east coast to go to his brother’s house in Tampa, FL on the west coast.

Now that we are in Tampa, the storm is , at least for now, coming straight for us here. My 21 year old son refused to come with us as he wants to stay behind and experience the “adventure”. I begged and pleaded, but he would not come.

As the path trajectory vascillates around, we have noticed how the track is going from one coast to the other, throwing everyone in the whole state into a panic. Except for the snowflakes of course, who also think this is no big deal.

Why I’m writing, Michael, is that strange things have been happening in the last couple of days. I am a Christian, and so are my friends. But I don’t hear God’s voice talking to me, or have prophetic dreams, or anything like that.

2 days ago, when I was in panic mode, driving around town trying to find gas, a CD in my car CD player popped out. I DID NOT TOUCH THE EJECT BUTTON. I was not even listening to the radio. I was focused on getting supplies .

I don’t even know what CD it was or when or how it got into my car, other than I was frantically packing stuff. I don’t even know the name of the CD or the musician. I tried to pushing it in , but it kept on jutting out , aggravating me as it was in the way. I finally just pushed the load button and it played.

And the song said:

I am the EYE in the SKY…I CAN READ YOUR MIND… I’M DEALING WITH FOOLS, BUT YOU WILL BE FINE.

At least those are the words that I heard. And the Holy Spirit came over me as I had to pull off the side of the road. It was God giving me a message. I broke down and cried.

Then that night I woke up in a sweat from a dream. I saw those 3 biblical guys, Mesach and ABendego , forgot the other name, in the middle of the fire , where they were protected. You know the story.

But the middle of the fire was the eye of the hurricane, which was 180 mph.

I think that God was saying that either myself or His people would be protected, even thought we are in the hurricane, like those biblical guys in the middle of the fire were protected.

The a girlfriend who lives in Melbourne, FL called me and said she was totally freaked out about something strange that just happened to her. She has one of those clear, plastic cutting boards on her counter. She came into the kitchen, had not touched the cutting board, nor was anything on it , and the board was sitting there completely shattered, into hundred of pieces.

She was totally freaked out and couldn’t understand how it happened. I then told her that very day I had the CD pop out of my CD player for no reason.

I don’t know what the cutting board means, but I told her that maybe it meant her house would be shattered, and she then went into full preparation mode. This is a girl that had nothing in her fridge, nor her cupboard, who doesn’t even have a battery operated radio, and lives alone.

Maybe it means that the whole state of Florida will be shattered like glass.

When the evacuation order was issued for Miami Beach, I knew it was time to decide whether to stay in our house, or go. We have 2 very large trees on either side of the house, plus it was built in 1960 and the roof could come off. We decided to go to Tampa, as the storm appeared to be going to the east coast at the time.

I had to leave by myself with our 2 dogs first, as my husband needed more time to put up our hurricane shutters. I drove across the state on one tank of gas, with no gas at the gas stations available. I had only slept 3 hours , was exhausted, and didn’t even have time to map out my route. I knew I had to stay off the main roads, which are literally bumper to bumper. So I got on a back road and simply headed west.

My phone GPS maps brought me way out in the country, with no houses, near cow pastures and railroad tracks, in the middle of Florida. There were no cars, and I did not know if I would end up on a dirt road that led nowhere, with no gas, in thunderstorms and heavy rain. The roads were starting to flood.

But the GPS brought me straight to my brother in law’s house with no traffic, after 6 hours of driving.

Now that we are here, it appears the storm is headed straight for Tampa, where we now are. I am exhausted. The panic from the sheer gravity of the situation, doesn’t allow me to sleep but 3 hours.

For years I have been prepping for the “economic collapse”, when the SHTF. I now believe that this is the moment I have been preparing for. I believe that God will bring people to their knees, if they aren’t already there, with this storm.

I am prepared to have no home to go back to, nor for my son to even be alive.

I should be panicked, but after 5 long days of frantically facing the realism of what was happening, and God talking to me through my CD player, I now feel ready for whatever happens.

Knowing what hurricane Andrew did, and this storm being much stronger than Andrew, I know that we will be on our own for days, weeks, maybe months. We will have to live on the food that we bought yesterday, as we had to leave our preps behind, live without electricity, no air conditioning in 90 degree heat, and possibly in a house with no roof or walls.

But I will be here, along with others, helping strangers, getting to know our neighbors. And hopefully sharing stories of God’s mercy. It is the time for Christians to no longer be silent, no longer worry about what others may think of what they say. God is showing his Mighty Hand through mother nature.

I believe he is showing Florida that there is no way to get out of His wrath, because as people think they are getting away from the storm, it turns and starts coming towards them. There is no safe place in Florida right now.

Sure, there will be the ones who say that these storms are due to “global warming”. Those are the FOOLS, as the song said to me.

I doubt there will be internet here for awhile, but if there is, and you want to know what’s going on , on the ground here, I’d be glad to inform you. I fully realize we may not make it out of this alive, but now feel calm, despite that fact.

I want to thank you Michael, for your moral support and hard work, in bringing the truth to the people with your terrific articles. You have worked tirelessly for years with your research and writing. And I fully expect you to win your political race. Godspeed.

I’ll talk to you on the other side, either the storm or in heaven. May God have mercy on us here in Florida.

PS…You can print what I said if you want..

Sincerely,

Carol

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Conspiracy Fact? Hurricane Harvey Survivors Taken To Wal-Mart FEMA Camps

We’ve all heard the saying, “it’s only a conspiracy theory until it’s proven a fact.”  And some in Texas think that survivors of Hurricane Harvey are being taken to Wal-Mart stores and held until they can be relocated to a more permanent location, aka, a FEMA camps.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is at the heart of many conspiracy theories, and one only needs to do a simple Google search to discover the fact in that statement. YouTube user Taj Longino posted a short video claiming that people are being rounded up for relocation to FEMA camps.

That was not the only video either, by far, of what some are continuing to allege as FEMA camp transportation. YouTuber 2LiterJay 21 has a more in depth video complete with his theories as to what is happening in Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Some of the videos and commenters on these videos are even accusing those who work for FEMA of stealing phones and computers so that communication with the outside is all but impossible. And unfortunately, because situations were so dire, most people were all too happy to do and go exactly where FEMA was demanding.

But FEMA put out their own statement, advising against listening to “rumors” about the agency.

To dispel some of the false rumors circulating on the internet and social media, FEMA created a dedicated website to address some of the most common themes. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Visit https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-harvey-rumor-control to get the most accurate information from trusted sources. –FEMA website

So that’s it then.  Trust FEMA because they said so? Perhaps you can. But some just aren’t ready to put their lives in the hands of the federal government.

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Author: Mac Slavo
Views: Read by 723 people
Date: September 12th, 2017
Website: www.SHTFplan.com

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Houston rescue workers: ‘Red Cross and FEMA were virtually nowhere to be seen during Harvey’

A U.S. Soldier with the 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, waits to load supplies that will be distributed the towns effected Hurricane Harvey in a in a reconnaissance mission to asses the damage and combat the affects of the hurricane at an American Red Cross Distribution Center in Sugar Land, Texas Sep. 3, 2017. The Department of Defense is conducting Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations in response to the effects of Hurricane Harvey. DSCA operations are part of the DOD"s response capability to assist civilian responders in saving lives, relieving human suffering and mitigating property damage in response to a catastrophic disaster. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Hubert D. Delany III)

HOUSTON, Tex. (INTELLIHUB) — Anna Khait, Brian Richmond, and other volunteer rescue workers helped to hand out emergency food and supply kits to hundreds of people who were displaced by Hurricane Harvey’s devastating winds and floodwaters offering the group an opportunity to traverse various parts of the city during their efforts where they claim that both the Red Cross and FEMA were virtually “nowhere to be seen.”

“Red Cross was nowhere to be seen,” Khait explained on a recent Leak Project videocast hosted by Rex Bear. “You didn’t see Red Cross out there [at all].”

Khait and Richmond told Bear that FEMA’s presence was lacking as well which begs the following question: Where in the hell is all of the disaster money going?

To put it all in perspective, the CEO of Red Cross Gale McGovern appeared on CBS News last week where she explained that 91% of the donations that the Red Cross receives goes to “Red Cross services.” What ever that means.

“Like I said, on average ninety-one percent goes to our services,” the CEO said. “I am very proud of the fact that we are good stewards of our donors’ dollars.”

But a little research shows that Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern’s base salary is $500,000. Does that sound like good stewardship to you? Not to mention that over $4 million yearly is paid out to members of the upper echelon of the organization. Again, does this sound like good stewardship?

So what else did Richmond and Khait encounter in Houston after Harvey hit?

Khait told Leak Project that during the crisis their group was “armed up the butt” and was prepared to deal with any situation in which they may have encountered but realized in retrospect just how dangerous and intense those few days really were.

Richmond said at one point they were in a strip mall with a heavy National Guard and State Police presence where they were asked if they would be willing to run private security.

“The police actually inquired with us to be a private citizen security team on the ground there,” he said. “Even with of that police and National Guard presence in that small strip mall they were still wanting more armed security and they were inquiring with me because we had small arms.”

On a good note, Richmond said that their team planned the “citizen” operation so well that in most cases people wouldn’t even have to exit their vehicle to be loaded up with food and other goods they needed.

©2017. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.

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Shepard Ambellas is an opinion journalist, analyst, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Intellihub News & Politics (Intellihub.com). Shepard is also known for producing Shade: The Motion Picture (2013) and appearing on Travel Channel’s America Declassified (2013). Shepard is a regular contributor to Infowars. Read more from Shep’s World. Follow Shep on Facebook and Twitter.

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As US Preps For “Catastrophe” from Strongest Atlantic Hurricane Recorded, FEMA Goes Broke

Miami, FL – The National Hurricane Center (NHC) Atlantic Ops, which provides analyses, forecasts, and warnings of tropical cyclones and disturbances over the Atlantic basin, is reporting that Hurricane Irma is now the most powerful hurricane in the Atlantic basin outside of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea in recorded NHC history.

“Preparations should be rushed to completion in the hurricane warning area,” the NHC cautioned.

#Irma is the strongest #hurricane in the Atlantic basin outside of the Caribbean Sea & Gulf of Mexico in NHC records https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/P8ebbQJR4k

— NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) September 5, 2017

“Hurricane Irma is now expected to *exceed* the theoretical maximum intensity for a storm in its environment. Redefining the rules,” according to meteorologist Eric Holthaus.

Wow. Hurricane #Irma is now expected to *exceed* the theoretical maximum intensity for a storm in its environment. Redefining the rules. https://t.co/e4hPjQt159

— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) September 5, 2017

The Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, urged the U.S. territories 3.4 million residents to seek shelter prior to the monster storm hitting the island – which is expected as early as Tuesday night.

“This is something without precedent,” Rossello told a news conference, noting that he will ask U.S. President Donald Trump to declare a federal state of emergency even prior to the mega-storm making landfall in an effort allow for the immediate disbursement of U.S. emergency funds.

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Ironically, with Houston, Texas still underwater from Hurricane Harvey – and Irma predicted to directly hit Florida – the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is expected to run out of money by Friday, according to a Senate aide, putting pressure on Congress to provide more funding this week, according to Bloomberg.

According to a report by Bloomberg:

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, which pays for the agency’s disaster response and recovery activity, had just $1.01 billion on hand. And of that, just $541 million was “immediately available” for response and recovery efforts related to Hurricane Harvey, according to a spokeswoman for FEMA who asked not to be identified by name.

The $1.01 billion in the fund Tuesday morning is less than half of the $2.14 billion that was there at 9 a.m. last Thursday morning — a spend rate of $9.3 million every hour, or about $155,000 a minute.

The agency would be out of funds just as Irma, a category 5 hurricane, might start thrashing the coast of Florida.

“If it’s down to $1 billion or less, then I would say there’s a great concern,” said Elizabeth Zimmerman, who, until January, was FEMA’s associate administrator for the office of response and recovery. “Congress needs to take action very quickly.”

The Trump administration has already requested almost $8 billion in additional funding from Congress.

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As of now, FEMA has restricted spending to “immediate needs” — what it defines as “lifesaving, life-sustaining response efforts” — for Harvey and Irma.

Zimmerman said the agency must begin pulling money from other projects, but without an injection of funds, FEMA will likely not have the resources to deal with current and upcoming disasters.

“We’re not even at peak hurricane season,” Zimmerman noted.

Irma comes in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, which caused widespread damage on Aug. 25, including flooding and power outages, while taking out nearly a fifth of all U.S. oil refining capacity.

Bloomberg reports that Irma’s current path – a direct impact with Florida – has prompted the state to prepare for the “catastrophic” system.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, while appearing on “Good Morning America” today, cautioned people to be prepared but to only take necessities as they flee from the hurricane.

A number of areas in Florida have seen gas shortages as the #nogas hashtag began appearing on social media sites on Tuesday. Gas stations in Tampa have run out of gas, and long lines have formed in both the Orlando and Miami areas, according to ABC News.

“We don’t see any widespread shortages and we don’t believe that we’re going to have them right now,” Scott told “GMA.” “I’m asking everybody as you get prepared, three days of water per person, three days of food. Take enough but take only what you need, don’t take more.”

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Jose is following behind Irma on a similar path. Jose officially became a tropical storm on Tuesday before noon with winds of 40 mph and is expected to become a Category 2 hurricane by the end of the week. It could skirt the most northeastern Caribbean islands, but so far it is not projected to be a threat to Puerto Rico or the U.S.

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While Floridians made preparations for Hurricane Irma, as of Wednesday morning, the Category 5 storm’s eye was clocking sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts over 200 mph.

Weather models predict the mega-storm will move north of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands by this afternoon, unleashing strong winds and heavy rain but not directly hitting the islands — with Irma predicted to make a “direct impact” on mainland Florida and travel straight up the middle of the state, according to the NHC.

The latest computer models, which project possible routes for the hurricane, show Irma could potentially move further to the east and threaten the Carolinas and the East Coast of the United States.

Irma “is the kind of storm where you get thousands of lives lost,” said Chuck Watson, a Savannah, Georgia-based disaster modeler with Enki Research told Bloomberg. “This is not going to be the big slow-motion flood like Harvey — this is a real, honest-to-God hurricane.”

While too early to determine the exact path of Irma in Florida, damage modeling for a direct hit on Miami reaches into the $200 billion range, according to Watson. For reference, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina topped out at $160 billion.

Only three Category 5 hurricanes have hit the contiguous 48 U.S. states, Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Weather Underground in Boulder, Colorado told Bloomberg. The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 that devastated the Florida Keys, Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Andrew that cut across Florida in 1992. Andrew was originally classified as a Category 4 storm only to be upgraded years later after further analysis.

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“It is obviously a rare breed,” Henson said. “We are in rare territory.”

As Ron Paul noted during Hurricane Harvey, the United States is only one fiscal hurricane away from economic devastation.

Federal flood insurance was almost $25 billion in the red before Hurricane Harvey. Congress will no doubt appropriate funding to pay all flood insurance claims, thus increasing the national debt. This in turn will cause the Federal Reserve to print more money to monetize that debt, thus hastening the arrival of the fiscal hurricane that will devastate the US economy. 

As for who will come to the aid of the Americans hit hardest by the storm, Paul states the obvious.

The outpouring of private giving and volunteer relief efforts we have witnessed over the past week shows that the American people can effectively respond to natural disasters if the government would get out of their way.