Debby response and recovery efforts led by FEMA
FEMA's Colt Hagmaier speaks on how the agency is assisting with Debby response and recovery efforts, including food and shelter, as the storm slowly tracks across the Southeast U.S.
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00:00Colt, your team at FEMA is leading the response and recovery for Debbie.
00:04And what are some of the ways FEMA is accomplishing that mission?
00:08We have many FEMA employees and representatives from across the federal government
00:12all working in support of the states in the southeast that have requested our assistance.
00:16So we have been there from before the storm.
00:19We are right there alongside our state and local partners
00:22assessing what's needed and providing commodities and personnel and expertise.
00:27We have over a million meals ready to go, over 1.5 million liters of water,
00:31and over 700 responders in the southeast really in position for whatever's needed.
00:37All right, I'm going to ask you then for some more numbers.
00:38You just gave us some with all the supplies.
00:40But how many states have emergency declarations
00:43and have asked President Biden for federal assistance so far?
00:48So right now, the president has authorized emergency declarations for Florida,
00:52South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina.
00:55And what that assistance does is it provides reimbursement to states
00:59for emergency protective measures, things like supporting evacuations, supporting shelters.
01:04We are still there alongside the states, though, and we'll be doing damage assessments.
01:08And if additional assistance is warranted,
01:11we'll recommend that to the president upon the state's request.
01:14And the president will decide what additional assistance is needed.
01:17And we'll get the word out with our state and local partners when that becomes available.
01:21Right now, though, it's so important that people don't get relaxed,
01:24that they don't take this storm for granted, because as you just mentioned,
01:28it's going to dangerously linger.
01:30It's meandering off the coast.
01:31It very well may come back ashore.
01:33We're still looking at a lot of rainfall, not just in the southeast,
01:36but all along the mid-Atlantic and the northeast.
01:38So now's the time to be preparing, whether you're in the southeast or up along the coast.
01:43Take your preparedness seriously.
01:45Know where a safe spot is if you have to evacuate.
01:48And listen to state and local officials.