FEMA

May 30, 2007 - State and local governments in storm-stricken areas of the Gulf Coast will no longer have to put up their own money in order to get federal rebuilding funds, thanks to the emergency war spending bill approved by Congress last week and signed into law by President Bush.

May 25, 2007 - Louisiana's largest state-led recovery initiative for hurricane victims -- the Road Home housing assistance program -- faces an estimated $3 billion shortfall, and federal officials yesterday told a Senate subcommittee that they have no plans to bail it out.

May 17, 2007 - With what's expected to be an unusually active hurricane season just weeks away, concern is mounting about serious problems still afflicting the nation's readiness and response systems almost two years after Hurricane Katrina.

April 27, 2007 - The Bush administration yesterday announced that it would extend temporary housing assistance to survivors of Hurricane Katrina for another 18 months, until March 1, 2009. The program, which had already been extended, was set to expire on Aug. 31. About 80,000 Gulf Coast residents are still living in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers.

December 16, 2006 - I spent yesterday meeting with community groups in Mississippi, including the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance and MS Worker's Center for Human Rights.

December 7, 2006 - In an appearance before the National Press Club in Washington, FEMA Director R. David Paulison spoke on his vision for a "New FEMA".

August 29, 2006 - One year ago today, Chris Kromm had asked me to guest blog for a week at Facing South while he was away on vacation. August 29th was my first day. I had several topics lined up to discuss, but the news of Katrina quickly took over. Here is a flashback to Facing South's day-by-day chronicle of the events as they unfolded... Mon. Aug. 29: Katrina and New Orleans Those of us who have lived in Southern coastal states are all too familiar with hurricanes, but we haven’t seen anything like Katrina in over a decade. The last Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the U.S.