Latest news with #disastermitigation
CNN
17-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
20 states sue FEMA for canceling grant program that guards against natural disasters
Twenty Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, challenging the elimination of a long-running grant program that helps communities guard against damage from natural disasters. The lawsuit contends that President Donald Trump's administration acted illegally when it announced in April that it was ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. FEMA canceled some projects already in the works and refused to approve new ones despite funding from Congress. 'In the wake of devastating flooding in Texas and other states, it's clear just how critical federal resources are in helping states prepare for and respond to natural disasters,' said Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell of Massachusetts, where the federal lawsuit was filed. 'By abruptly and unlawfully shutting down the BRIC program, this administration is abandoning states and local communities that rely on federal funding to protect their residents and, in the event of disaster, save lives.' FEMA did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment. It said in April that the program was 'wasteful and ineffective' and 'more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.' The program provides grants for a variety of disaster mitigation efforts, including levees to protect against floods, safe rooms to provide shelter from tornadoes, vegetation management to reduce damage from fires and seismic retrofitting to fortify buildings for earthquakes. During his first term, Trump signed a law shoring up funding for disaster risk reduction efforts. The program then got a $1 billion boost from an infrastructure law signed by former President Joe Biden. That law requires FEMA to make available at least $200 million annually for disaster mitigation grants for the 2022-2026 fiscal years, the lawsuit says. The suit claims the Trump administration violated the constitutional separation of powers because Congress had not authorized the program's demise. It also alleges the program's termination was illegal because the decision was made while FEMA was under the leadership of an acting administrator who had not met the requirements to be in charge of the agency. The lawsuit says communities in every state have benefited from federal disaster mitigation grants, which saved lives and spared homes, businesses, hospitals and schools from costly damage. Some communities have already been affected by the decision to end the program. Hillsborough, North Carolina, had been awarded nearly $7 million to relocate a wastewater pumping station out of a flood plain and make other water and sewer system improvements. But that hadn't happened yet when the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal damaged the pumping station and forced it offline last week. In rural Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, town officials had hoped to use more than $4 million from the BRIC program to improve stormwater drainage and safeguard a vulnerable electric system, thus protecting investments in a historic theater and other businesses. While the community largely supports Trump, assistant town manager Erin Burris said people were blindsided by the lost funding they had spent years pursuing. 'I've had downtown property owners saying, 'What do we do?'' Burris said. 'I've got engineering plans ready to go and I don't have the money to do it.'
The Independent
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump admin hit with lawsuit filed by 20 states
A coalition of 20 US states, predominantly led by Democrats, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to reinstate the multi-billion-dollar Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant programme. The lawsuit, lodged in Boston federal court, argues that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) unlawfully cancelled the BRIC programme in April, despite its prior congressional approval and funding. Established in 2018, the BRIC programme was designed to fund up to 75 per cent of infrastructure projects aimed at protecting communities from natural catastrophes, having allocated approximately $4.5 billion for nearly 2,000 projects over four years. The states contend that the Trump administration's termination of the programme violates core separation of powers principles and that the acting FEMA directors who cancelled it were not properly appointed. The legal action seeks a preliminary injunction to compel the programme's reinstatement, highlighting the critical need for federal funding for disaster mitigation, especially following recent deadly floods in Texas.
RNZ News
14-07-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes Indonesia
File photo Photo: An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 has struck off the coast of Indonesia's Tanimbar Islands region, but there are no tsunami warnings. The quake hit at a depth of 98 km, the country's geophysics agency said. The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) reported that the quake was of 6.8 magnitude and at a depth of 10 km. Tremors were felt in several small towns in eastern Indonesia, the agency said. There was no immediate reports of damage, said Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency. Indonesia straddles the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a highly seismically active zone which includes New Zealand, where different plates on the Earth's crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanic activity. - Reuters
Khaleej Times
18-06-2025
- Khaleej Times
Many flights cancelled after volcano eruption in Bali
Several flights to the Indonesian resort island of Bali were cancelled and the airport in Maumere in East Nusa Tenggara province was closed due to the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, officials said on Wednesday. Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, which is in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Tuesday, spewing ash 11 km (6.84 miles) high, forcing the country's volcanology agency to raise the alert level to the highest. It erupted again on Wednesday morning, belching a 1 km (0.62 mile) high ash cloud, the agency said in a statement. Several international flights from India, Singapore and Australia to Bali were cancelled due to the eruption, the Bali international airport website showed. The government closed the Fransiskus Xaverius Seda airport in Maumere from Wednesday until Thursday "to ensure the safety of the passengers," said the airport operator AirNav in its Instagram post. The eruption also forced local authorities to evacuate dozens of residents living in two villages near the volcano, Avi Hallan, an official at the local disaster mitigation agency told Reuters. "Streets in the two villages were filled with thick ash, gravel, and sand," she said, adding no casualties were reported. The volcano last erupted in May. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.
CNA
17-06-2025
- Climate
- CNA
Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki spews 11km-high ash cloud after eruption
JAKARTA: Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province erupted on Tuesday (Jun 17), spewing a towering ash cloud 11km high, the country's volcanology agency said. The agency also said it had raised the alert level of the volcano to the most dangerous, warning of potential lava flows if it rains heavily. Lewotobi Laki-laki's last eruption was in May, when authorities also raised the level to the most severe. Images shared by the agency on Tuesday showed an orange ash cloud in the shape of a mushroom engulfing a nearby village. It is not immediately clear if there have been flight disruptions. When Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted in March, airlines were forced to cancel and delay flights to Bali, including Australia's Jetstar and Qantas Airways. Indonesia's search and rescue agency, as well as its disaster mitigation agency, which oversees evacuation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
