CLICK HERE: Trump talks preparation for Hurricane Dorian
FEMA has mobilized on the island territory Puerto Rico ahead of
category 4 Hurricane Dorian.
Pending Hurricane Dorian making landfall in Puerto Rico on Friday, Pres. Donald Trump cancelled his trip to Poland and will send Vice Pres. Pence instead.
"We are all working very, very hard for Hurricane Dorian," he said while his administration is poised to provide assistance to prevent a repeat of the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria on the island territory two years ago.
At the same time he has been criticized for tweeting about rescue aid Puerto Rico.
At an event announcing the Space Command in the White House Rose Garden Thursday Trump said, "To ensure that all resources of the federal government are focused on the arriving storm, I have decided to send our Vice President, Mike Pence, to Poland this weekend, in my place. It's something very important for me to be here. The storm looks like it could be a very, very big one indeed. And Mike will be going."
He said continuing, "I've just spoken to President Duda of Poland, and expressed to him my warmest wishes and the wishes of the American people. Our highest priority is the safety and security of the people in the path of the hurricane. And I will be rescheduling my trip to Poland in the near future."
The president approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico earlier in the week. The island is still recovering from Hurricane Maria from two years ago and many of its residents headed to Florida for safety and may still be in a path of destruction.
President Donald J. Trump Approves Puerto Rico Emergency Declaration
Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that an emergency exists in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and ordered Federal assistance to supplement commonwealth and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Tropical Storm Dorian beginning on August 26, 2019, and continuing.
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all 78 municipalities in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.
Pete Gaynor, Acting Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named James N. Russo as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all 78 municipalities in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.
Pete Gaynor, Acting Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named James N. Russo as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.
