FEMA to Transport Hurricane Maria Victims to Mainland
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FEMA to Transport Hurricane Maria Victims to Mainland U.S
FEMA is working with displaced residents in Puerto Rico to transport them to Florida and New York.
By Alexa Lardieri, Staff Writer |Nov. 9, 2017, at 10:16 a.m.
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FEMA to Transport Maria Victims to Mainland
Looking to ease an emergency housing crisis the Federal Emergency Management Agency will begin transporting victims of Hurricane Maria from Puerto Rico to the mainland U.S. under its Transitional Shelter Assistance program, CNN reported.
The agency will give priority to the 3,000 people living in emergency shelters.
Most hurricane survivors looking to temporarily relocate will be transported to New York and Florida, two states that Puerto RIco's governor, RIcardo Rosello, selected because of their large Puerto Rican populations. Tens of thousands of residents from Puerto Rico have already sought refuge in Florida after one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded slammed the island in September.
This the first time the agency is attempting an "air bridge" operation, airlifting victims from an overseas disaster area to the U.S. mainland, Mike Byrne, a federal coordinating officer for FEMA told CBS.
"A thousand miles adds a whole level of complexity to this," Byrne said.
In disaster situations, FEMA usually pays for displaced victims to stay in hotels until they can find long-term housing. However, hotels are at capacity in Puerto Rico, so FEMA will pay for flights from the U.S. territory and find temporary shelter for displaced residents.
However, Byrne says interest in the program is low because people don't want to leave the island even though recovery from the storm is slow and much of the island is without power.
"People really don't want to leave their homes. We want to give them every opportunity we can to be able to stay here, whether it's providing financial assistance or repairing their homes. So we are going to work hard on those things so people don't have to leave," Byrne told CBS.
FEMA says it will work with interested families to coordinate transportation to and from airports in Puerto Rico and the continental U.S., as well as ensure families are not split up once they reach the states, CBS reported.
According to FEMA, 45 days after the Category 5 hurricane made landfall, about 60 percent of the island, which is home to 3.4 million Americans, is still without power and about 20 percent is still without water.
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