WASHINGTON -- FEMA is leaning forward with our federal, state, local and tribal partners to mobilize teams and supplies to support a state managed, locally executed response to impacts from Hurricane Delta. President Trump approved Emergency Declarations for Louisiana and Mississippi, earlier this week, authorizing FEMA to provide emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance for designated parishes and counties. Alabama’s request for an Emergency Declaration is under review.
Commodities
FEMA has a total of 278 generators available for areas in need and has provided 52 generators to the Army Corps of Engineers for their use and/or distribution. FEMA has pre-staged over 8 million meals and more than 7 million liters of bottled water near the expected areas of Hurricane Delta impacts. Additional staged commodities, including blankets, tarps, blue roof sheeting and cots, are available to each affected state, based on need and requests to FEMA. Transportation teams are standing by at staging locations to move commodities to distribution points per state requests.
Personnel Deployed
As of today, 520 FEMA responders have been deployed in support of Hurricane Delta, including Incident Management Assistance Teams. Mobile Emergency Operations Vehicles are standing by to provide emergency communication capabilities for federal resources, if needed. Six Urban Search and Rescue Teams and an Incident Support Team have also deployed to the area, with three additional teams on alert. Louisiana and Mississippi National Guards are activated and standby to assist, if needed, and two Disaster Medical Assistance Teams are on stand-by in Dallas.
Additional personnel from the federal government, including the Department of Defense, Department of Transportation, Health and Human Services, Department of Energy, DHS Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency and Army Corps of Engineers, have been mission assigned to provide support to impacted states and tribes, as needed.
Gulf Residents
Hurricane Delta will continue to bring impacts, including rain, wind and tornadoes, to areas of Louisiana today. Every storm is different, so even if you have experienced a hurricane, or have been under a hurricane warning this year it’s important to monitor your local news for updates and directions provided by your local officials and heed local evacuation orders. Use extreme caution when operating heavy machinery, generators, or removing debris. Never use generators indoors and keep them away from windows, doors and vents. For more information on generator safety, please visit the Ready.gov Power Outages page and Carbon Monoxide - Generator Safety Fact Sheet . If you have been evacuated, do not return until local officials tell you it is safe to do so.
Your state and local officials will have the most up-to-date information on evacuation orders and shelter locations. Residents in Louisiana should call 2-1-1 or text “LAShelter898211” for evacuation, sheltering and other resources for immediate needs.
Residents in Mississippi can visit the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency page msema.org for more information on shelters and evacuations. The American Red Cross is prepared to shelter and support families. For assistance, call 3-1-1 or visit the website. In Louisiana, six congregate shelters are open with a population of 933. Twelve non-congregate shelters are open with a population of 8,600 occupants, with five shelters on standby. In Mississippi, three congregate shelters are on standby.
If you have homeowners insurance, and if you received additional damages from Hurricane Delta, following Hurricane Laura, you must file an additional claim with your insurance company. Take photos of your damaged home and belongings and make a list of lost or damaged items.
Responding During COVID-19
While some aspects of program delivery may look different this year, our commitment to helping people before, during and after disaster remains our full focus, and we are ready to deliver on our mission.
FEMA will continue to work with our state, tribal and local partners as they plan for evacuating and sheltering operations in a COVID-19 environment. Finding shelter is critical in times of disaster. Shelter outside of the hazard area could include staying with family or friends, seeking a hotel room or staying in a mass shelter. FEMA, other federal agencies and the American Red Cross have modified policies and planning and have taken actions to ensure the federal government can respond to any disaster during our continued coronavirus response efforts.
In alignment with FEMA’s Pandemic Operational Guidance, FEMA is leveraging technology to deliver the agency’s programs at the highest level possible, while preserving our workforce and survivors. These methods include virtual damage assessments and inspections for FEMA Individual Assistance and Public Assistance programs, as well as National Flood Insurance Program claims.
In advance of hurricane and wildfire season, FEMA expanded the capacity of its National Response Coordination Center, response centers around the country and trained additional staff to be postured to respond to multiple on-going incidents.