Kiss My Ass Irene

It was Cuomo what issued the order to shut down the MTA, not Bloomy.

With less than $1 billion currently available for federal disaster assistance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is temporarily suspending payments to rebuild roads, schools and other structures destroyed during spring tornadoes in Joplin, Mo. and southern states in order to pay for damage caused by Hurricane Irene.

FEMA will still pay people eligible for individual storm assistance and some states recouping emergency response costs from previous disasters. But the agency said it will place restrictions on paying for older longer-term public rebuilding and mitigation projects in order to ensure the solvency of the federal disaster relief fund, which pays for emergency management costs and public rebuilding projects.

The decision affects the spring tornadoes and disasters dating back several years and “prioritizes the immediate, urgent needs of survivors and states when preparing for or responding to a disaster,” said FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen.

The federal government similarly suspended some disaster payments in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2010, according to FEMA.

Overnight, President Obama signed federal emergency declarations for the District of Columbia and Delaware, opening a stream of funding to pay for emergency response efforts there. Ten states, the District and Puerto Rico have applied for federal emergency assistance since last week.

Also late Saturday, Obama declared a major disaster in Puerto Rico, a move that makes money available to individuals affected by Irene’s destruction.

The White House is expected to declare similar disasters in other states as soon as today, further sapping money from the relief fund, which currently has about $900 million, below the $1 billion officials prefer to keep on hand.

The shortfall means the Obama administration will soon request supplemental funding from Congress, likely causing another fight over federal spending as a new “supercommittee” prepares to identify trillions of dollars in government spending cuts.

Already House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has said that any new money for FEMA will be offset by spending cuts elsewhere

How will FEMA pay for Hurricane Irene?

Transit chief Jay Walder said the decisions made "were right." As to complaints that the city's response to Irene was merely a storm of hype, Bloomberg said the bottom line was better safe that sorry.
"They should look in the mirror. They are alive today," Bloomberg said

that has done so much damage to America.....

Quote:

that has done so much damage to America.....

Poor little America, so hard done by.

Sure, the Fire Department has been rescuing dozens of people from homes flooded with five feet of water, but now that Irene is starting to veer away from the NYC region as a Tropical Storm, it's not too early for everyone to weigh in on whether the city's decision to evacuate residents in low-lying areas as well as the state's decision to shut down the MTA were overreaction (heck, people have been debating that since Friday). What do you think:

Vermont State Police report heavy rain, flash floods and stranded motorists in the southeastern part of the state. Motorists are advised to stay off the roads. Thousands are without power. At least one person has been swept down a river and is presumed drowned.

[Update 5:25 p.m.] The latest information from the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center indicates conditions in northern Vermont are expected to worsen or stay the same until midnight, when the remnants of Hurricane Irene largely will have passed.


"Widespread, serious flooding has been ongoing across many areas of southern Vermont," the weather service's South Burlington office said in an advisory. "Additional flash flooding is expected," including for northwestern Vermont.
Burlington Free Press