FEMA official details federal response strategy after 2 major hurricanes

For a closer look at the federal response to Hurricanes Milton and Helene, Geoff Bennett spoke with Keith Turi, acting associate administrator for response and recovery at FEMA.

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Geoff Bennett: For a closer look at the response to Hurricane Milton and Helene, were joined now by Keith Turi, acting associate administrator for response and recovery at FEMA.

Thanks for being with us.

So Milton is now the second major hurricane to make landfall over the past two weeks. What’s needed most on the ground right now?

Keith Turi, FEMA Response and Recovery Acting Director: Well, right now, we’re still in a life safety mode.

As you know, the storm did pass through overnight, and most of the weather has cleared, but there’s still a range of hazards that are that are out there. We have got downed power lines, floodwaters that are still rising in some of the rivers, and, of course, issues like power outages, things like that.

So we’re focused primarily on keeping people safe. Local officials, state officials are out doing assessments making sure the roads are clear, making sure it’s safe to be in the neighborhoods. They’re going to let people know when they can come back. But that’s really the — the key thing right now is making sure that everyone follows those directions and stays safe here for the next couple days before we get into recovery mode.

Geoff Bennett: A question about FEMA’s capacity because, according to The New York Times, as of Monday, just 9 percent of FEMA personnel were available to respond to Hurricane Milton. Is that affecting the relief that you’re able to provide to folks on the ground?

Keith Turi: No, we have the resources that we need. That — we have a primary cadre of folks that do disaster response. But we also have Many other layers of resources we can bring in.

We have other parts of our work force that have ability to surge disaster response. We have other federal agencies that we can bring in and Many other partners that we bring together. So we have the resources we need both from a financial standpoint and from a personnel standpoint to handle the responses that we have ongoing right now.

Geoff Bennett: As you well know, parts of the Southeast are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene, especially folks who live in the mountainous part of Western North Carolina.

What is FEMA doing to get resources to help those folks recover and rebuild?

Keith Turi: Yes, we have been working with the state of North Carolina since before the storm made impact, prepositioning resources, bringing teams in.

Our team has been working 24/7 on the ground with the officials in North Carolina and the local officials to provide a range of types of support. We have disaster assistance available for folks to register for to get financial assistance, to get access to hotel rooms. We’re working with them to bring in commodities to points of distribution and be able to move that forward to people that need access, be it brought to them.

We’re doing things like helping bring in comfort stations, where there’s showers, and other places that people can do laundry as they need to. So a whole range of activities are ongoing. While we’re also focused on doing the bringing back — supporting bringing back the water, the power, helping repair roads.

So a lot of work still to be done there, but FEMA is there working hard with all of our partners to support those people impacted as they move through this response.

Geoff Bennett: We have covered on this program this past week the problems caused by the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation surrounding the federal response. How has that complicated the work that FEMA is doing right now?

Keith Turi: It definitely makes it more difficult.

At the end of the day, we are here to help people. The men and women of FEMA have dedicated their careers to being able to support people when they need us. And we want them to come to us and be able to register for assistance and get help.

And if information is being shared that either they’re not going to get that help or that FEMA is confiscating supplies, that just creates a dynamic and environment that is not conducive to those recovery efforts and to everybody getting what they need.

These people have been through a lot. Some have lost loved ones. They have lost their homes. It’s not helpful when they are being provided information that isn’t accurate. We have a rumor response page on our Web site where you can get the real information about what FEMA does and doesn’t do.

And we’re going to keep pushing forward and not be deterred to make sure we help people as best as we can.

Geoff Bennett: For those Americans who may have found themselves in the storm’s path, how do they get in touch with FEMA to get the resources they might need?

Keith Turi: Yes, so you can register on disasterassistance.gov.

You can go to the FEMA app. You can call 1-800-621-3362. And that’s ways you can register for assistance. That’ll start the process of FEMA being able to help identify what your needs are and refer you to others, if need be, or also provide you direct financial assistance.

Geoff Bennett: FEMA’s Keith Turi, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

Keith Turi: Thank you.