Millions across East Coast brace for ‘Superstorm’ Sandy, while transit systems close and supplies fly off shelves

Tags

Cape Hatteras, FEMA, Frankenstorm, historic storm, Huricane Sandy, hurricane, MA, NC, NYC, three storms, U. S. East Coast, Virginia, Washington, weather, winds 75-270 mph

[FoxNews.com]

Associated Press

Published October 28, 2012

October Surprise? Is Sandy a ‘perfect storm’?

As Hurricane Sandy stayed on track to barrel the East Coast, states of emergency were declared from North Carolina to Connecticut, with residents being evacuated, schools and transit systems shut and food and supplies flying off store shelves in a sure sign people were preparing for the worst.

Sandy was at Category 1 strength, packing 75 mph winds, about 270 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and moving northeast at 14 mph as of 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was about 575 miles south of New York City.

The Hurricane is on path to meet a winter storm and a cold front, plus high tides from a full moon, and experts said the rare hybrid storm that results could cause havoc through 800 miles from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.

Officials raised the storm-related death toll across the Caribbean to 65, with 51 of those coming in Haiti, which was pelted by three days of constant rains that ended only on Friday.

Senate Passes Stopgap Spending Bill to Avert Shutdown

Tags

AP, AVERTED SHUTDOWN, Chad Pergram, Dems, FEMA, final hour decision, GOP, House Leader Boehner, hurricane victims, Senate passes stopgap, SML Dingy Harry, spending bill, victims of natural disasters

[FoxNews.com]

Published September 26, 2011

AP – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill Sept. 23 to discuss his fight with Republican lawmakers over whether funding for victims of natural disasters should be paid for by cuts to other government programs.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Monday night to send a temporary spending bill to the House to avoid a government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans appeared to have reached a final-hour resolution to an impasse over disaster aid.

The vote in the Senate was 79 to 12 to fund the government through Nov. 18, giving the two sides more time to haggle over long-term spending levels. The Senate also approved an even shorter-term spending bill — funding the government into next week — by a voice vote to give the House time to reconvene and approve the followup legislation.

House Kills Stopgap Spending Bill Over Disaster Relief Dispute

Tags

$3.7 Billion, 2012 Budget Year, 230-195 defeat, Democrats, Disaster Relief Dispute, FEMA, GOP, House, kills stopgamp, Obama, partisan, politics, spending bill

[HotAir.com]

Associated Press 

Published September 21, 2011

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks to the National Automobile Dealers Association meeting in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011.

In a rebuke to GOP leaders, the House on Wednesday rejected a measure providing $3.7 billion for disaster relief as part of a bill to keep the government running through mid-November.

The surprise 230-195 defeat came at the hands of Democrats and tea party Republicans.

Democrats were opposed because the measure contains $1.5 billion in cuts to a government loan program to help car companies build fuel-efficient vehicles. For their part, many GOP conservatives felt the underlying bill permits spending at too high a rate.

Reid and Cantor on Collision Course; Government Shutdown Near?

Tags

$6.9 billion, agricultural disaster assistance, Army Corps of Engineers, collision course, CR, Eric Cantor, federal disastor relief, FEMA, government shutdown near, Harry Reid, Senator Mitch McConnell

[FoxNews.com]

by Trish Turner | September 20, 2011

It’s a little early to be talking about a government shutdown possibility, but at the moment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Republican leaders in the House appear to be on a collision course over how to fund disaster relief, one that could shutter the federal government in the next two weeks if a compromise is not found. And none appears to be in the works.

The current stopgap funding bill, called a Continuing Resolution (CR), expires at midnight on September 30, but lawmakers are scheduled to be out next week in observance of Rosh Hashanah, thereby speeding up the legislative clock. Congressional leaders know they have to use the CR, considered a must-pass bill, as a vehicle for disaster relief, as it is the least likely to be blocked.

Even more pressing, FEMA says it will run out of money by September 26, if Congress does not at least approve a chunk of emergency funds as soon as possible.

Alex Jones LIVE: FEMA Stand Down in Texas

Tags

Alex Jones, FEMA, FEMA stand down, Gerald Celente, live, Paul Joseph Watson, POTUS, power grab, Texas, volunteeer firefighters, WH

Infowars News.com

September 6, 2011

Alex Jones will start tonight’s episode of Infowars Nightly News LIVE with breaking information on the fires spreading across central Texas and FEMA’s order to volunteer firefighters and local response units to leave the scene.

This treasonous stand down under President Obama echoes the actions of FEMA under President Bush during Hurricane Katrina, where the devastation of natural events is made dramatically worse by the federal government’s response. In both cases, an even-greater federal power grab is at stake.

Trends Forecaster Gerald Celente and PrisonPlanet.com writer Paul Joseph Watson also join Alex on the Nightly News program for September 6, 2011.

Login now at InfowarsNews.com or subscribe at PrisonPlanet.tv to watch this episode LIVE now at 7 PM Central.

RELATED: FEMA Forces Firefighters to Stand Down in Texas

Airlifts Take Food, Water to Vermont Towns Cut-Off by Irene Floods

Tags

Delaware tornado, east coast hurricanes, FEMA, Hurricane Irene, inland storm damage, inland storm worse than expected, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, storm surges, U. S. East Coast, weather

FoxNews.com

Associated Press 

Published August 30, 2011

AP – Aug. 29: Lindsey Jones makes her way down floodwater-damaged Rte. 4 in Woodstock, Vt.

MONTPELIER, Vt. –  National Guard helicopters began taking food and water Tuesday to Vermont towns cut off by flooding after the rainy remnants of Hurricane Irene took inland areas of New England and upstate New York by surprise.

Vermont Emergency Management spokesman Mark Bosma said the helicopters would bring relief to people in about a dozen towns where roads and bridges were washed out, including Cavendish, Hancock, Pittsfield, Stockbridge, Strafford and Stratton.

Category 3 Irene Prompts Evacuations in North Carolina

Tags

FEMA, Hurricane Irene, hurricanes, U. S. East Coast, weather

FoxNews.com

August 24, 2011

Evacuations began Wednesday on a tiny barrier island off North Carolina as Hurricane Irene, now a powerful Category 3 storm, barrels toward the East Coast, packing winds of 115 miles per hour and potentially wreaking havoc on areas stretching from the Mid-Atlantic region to New England.

Federal officials have warned Irene, which has grown considerably more powerful since Tuesday, could cause flooding, power outages or worse all along the East Coast as far north as Maine, even if it stays offshore. The projected path has gradually shifted to the east, though the storm is still expected to make landfall as a major hurricane in North Carolina sometime over the weekend. It is then expected to continue trudging northward.

Volunteers Across the South Tend to Storm-Ravaged Communities

Tags

2000 National Guard troops, Alabama, communities, FEMA, flooding, Poplar Spring Baptist Church, Pratt City, Ringgold GA, South Trend, storm-ravaged, tornado, Tuscaloosa, volunteers unite

FoxNews.com

Associated Press

Published April 30, 2011

April 30: Tuscaloosa residents gather in a parking lot where food, water, and supplies are being distributed to those in need in Tuscaloosa, Ala.. (AP)

PRATT CITY, Ala. –  Whether it’s refilling blood-pressure medicine or patrolling neighborhoods in a grocery-filled pickup truck, tornado victims in splintered Southern towns say volunteers are ensuring they’re well-fed and warm at night. At least a few, though, say they need more from the government: Help getting into their homes and cleaning up endless debris.

Gov. Robert Bentley had dispatched 2,000 National Guard troops around Alabama to help residents and keep the peace. Many blocked off roads or patrolled neighborhoods to keep away gawkers and looters. Others helped residents sift through their shattered homes.

In Ringgold, Ga., Poplar Springs Baptist Church had been transformed into an informal help center. Crews were dispatched from the church, some with chain saws to chop through the debris, others with bottled water and food. Inside the gymnasium, a barbecue buffet was feeding those without power.