Department of Homeland Security Coordinating Federal Response to Millions of Isabel Victims as Secretary Ridge Visits Hurricane-Ravaged Maryland

Release Date: 09/23/03 00:00:00

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 23, 2003

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is coordinating a massive Federal response in the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel in four states and the District of Columbia. Millions of Isabel victims from North Carolina through Virginia, Washington D.C., Maryland and Delaware are discarding damaged belongings, cleaning up residences and businesses and getting the resources they need to recover from this massive storm.

The Department's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has deployed several thousand emergency personnel to manage the response, and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has moved more than three million pounds of ice and nearly three million liters of bottled water to the four-state area. Those supplies, along with tents cots, blankets, portable toilets, generators, plastic sheeting and roofing that FEMA stocked at four mobilization centers days before Isabel's landfall, are meeting the critical needs of people affected by Isabel.

The U.S. Coast Guard, also part of Homeland Security, is supporting FEMA and state and local agencies with aircraft, boats and personnel flying missions in support of recovery efforts. Coast Guard assessment teams have identified at least 800 aids-to-navigation markers damaged or missing and have begun to replace critical and damaged markers. The Cape Hatteras Coast Guard team is working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to ensure pivotal ferry landings are properly marked.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Under Secretary Michael Brown today joined Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich on a tour of Maryland's flooding and wind damage from Hurricane Isabel. They also used the visit to meet with and thank hundreds of emergency workers and volunteers who have responded to assist Isabel's victims.

President Bush has signed federal disaster declarations for North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia making them eligible to receive a full range of federal disaster assistance. Federal aid to victims can include temporary housing for disaster victims forced from their homes, grants and low interest loans for home and business repairs, unemployment assistance and crisis counseling. State governments and local jurisdictions may also qualify for public assistance to cover public building and infrastructure damages.

Under Secretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response Michael Brown urged caution when evacuees return to storm damaged residences. "Follow the advice of local authorities as they work to restore services and stay alert. While the immediate danger is past, there are still downed power lines and other dangers that threaten public safety," he said.

Homeland Security officials continue to monitor 15 sector-specific Information Sharing and Analysis Centers, including the most vulnerable critical infrastructures such as electricity, telecommunications, water and transportation. Officials are supporting efforts by the private sector to resume critical power and water services in all the impacted areas.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service is supplying food to disaster relief organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army for mass feeding or household distribution. Disaster organizations request food assistance through state agencies that run USDA's nutrition assistance programs.

This page was last reviewed/modified on 09/23/03 00:00:00.