The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday said he expected federal personnel to be in Texas for “years,” calling the tropical storm that has wreaked havoc on East Texas a “landmark” event.
“FEMA’s going to be there for years,” FEMA Administrator Brock Long said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“This disaster’s going to be a landmark event,” he said. “While we’re focused on the response right now and helping Texas respond, we’re already pushing forward recovery housing teams, we’re already pushing forward forces to be on the ground to implement national flood insurance program polices as well and doing the inspections that we need.”
“So we’re setting up and gearing up for the next couple years,” he said.
He said FEMA is “vastly different” than it was during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, saying he has the power he needs to mobilize forces and coordinate different personnel in a unified effort to respond to Tropical Storm Harvey, which made landfall in Texas Friday as a Category 4 hurricane.
“This event is nothing like Katrina,” Mr. Long said. “This is completely different. Every storm impacts different jurisdictions differently. Every Category 4 storm is different.”
“This is a storm that the United States has not seen yet,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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