FEMA Announces New Disaster Shelter System

Craig Fugate, the new director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have announced a new system that will help disaster victims locate temporary housing. The announcement came just days before the start of hurricane season on June 1.

In an article in the Los Angeles Times, William E. Gibson says the announcement came as Fugate and Napolitano briefed governors and emergency management officials via video teleconference.

According to Gibson, the new shelter system will form a “nationwide database of thousands of places to go in an emergency. It includes a variety of housing, including trailers. FEMA also is developing a security communications system to allow officials to communicate with many states and jurisdictions at the same time,” he writes.

During the teleconference, Fugate also stressed that the public needs to help prepare for these storms by creating family evacuation plans.

“We are only going to be as successful as the public is prepared,” Fugate said. “There are a lot of folks who are going to need very specific help that should not have to compete with the rest of us.”

Gibson says Fugate and Napolitano also toured federal facilities in Miami last week to assess the area’s emergency preparedness.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-hurricane20-2009may20,0,4925727.story