Latest news with #emergencymanagement
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
As disasters loom, emergency managers say they aren't counting on FEMA
Preparation for the unknown was always in Alan Harris's job description as emergency manager for Seminole County, Florida, where thousands of homes suffered flood damage during Hurricane Ian in 2022. But as hurricane season begins this year, there is a fresh layer of uncertainty to contend with. The Trump administration has declared a desire to reshape a federal disaster response system widely considered to be too complicated and winding, and has already taken steps to upend it.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Hurricane season 2025: Know your evacuation zone and when it's time to evacuate
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30 with the peak of the season on Sept. 10. The most activity happens between mid-August and mid-October, according to the National Hurricane Center. An overheated Atlantic Ocean and a rising La Niña have forecasters predicting a highly active hurricane season, one that could rival one of the busiest years on record. The key to getting through storm season is being prepared. That's why The Palm Beach Post has compiled tips, lists, contact numbers, graphics and maps that should help you prepare for a storm, and, if need be, get through it fine. 🌀 2025 Hurricane Season Guide: Storm preparedness tips, supply list, evacuation zones If a major storm threatens, it could take days to evacuate some areas, especially if the storm is forecast to run parallel along the east or west coast of the Peninsula, hitting several major cities. That means perhaps millions of evacuees could flood highways, causing major backups throughout the state. Authorities work closely with the National Hurricane Center when deciding evacuations, but some storms are hard to forecast. Four days before landfall, Hurricane Andrew was an ill-defined, weak storm far out at sea. Emergency managers don't want motorists stalled in bumper-to-bumper traffic as the hurricane comes ashore. You should not stay home if you live in an evacuation area. Should I go to a hurricane shelter? What to know to make your decision To hone in on a specific area of the county to see what evacuation zone you are in, go here. Palm Beach County has an evacuation zone look-up tool. Here's how to access it. Palm Beach County is asking people who need the special needs shelter to fill out an online application: Make sure your home is as reinforced as possible. Consider the house's condition and whether your family is healthy enough. Make arrangements far in advance. Check again as the storm approaches to make sure your hosts aren't on vacation or renovating. Take some things that you'd take to an emergency shelter. No place in Florida is safe from a storm. It could envelop much of the state or march up the coast and turn toward your destination. In 1995, Erin threatened Miami, and thousands fled to Orlando, where Erin struck. Decide your destination and get a hotel room before you go. Rooms fill quickly. Flying may not be an option. Airports will close well in advance of the storm. Trains will fill quickly and will stop running once conditions deteriorate. Check your car. Fill tank, check tires, fluids and brakes. Get a current map of backup routes. Leave early. If roads are already jammed, go back home or to a shelter. If the storm is 24 hours from landfall or closer, it's too late to try to leave town. Tell someone where you are going. Leave a phone number. Florida's Turnpike: Monitor for the latest details. More evacuation route information: Call 850-414-4100 Call 511: The Florida Department of Transportation offers its free 511 service for travel information and roadway conditions, including road and bridge closures, toll suspensions and major evacuation routes. For more, go to This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: When to evacuate: 2025 hurricane evacuation zones in Palm Beach County
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Years after it was pitched, Canada is still waiting for a national disaster agency
Smoke filled skies from out of control wildfires in Norway House, Man., Tuesday, June 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski OTTAWA — In 2023, as Canada suffered through its worst-ever wildfire season, the federal government was looking at creating a national disaster response agency. Two years later, the country is again facing another summer of wildfires. There is still no sign of such an agency, though governments are tapping the private sector to help with evacuations. Ali Asgary, a York University professor of disaster and emergency management, said the work to establish a national agency is 'unfortunately … not going as fast as our crises are going.' Public Safety Canada indicated in a media statement the government is still working on it. 'We continue to work closely with Canada's firefighters, as well as municipal, provincial and territorial government officials, to find solutions consistent with our country's unique character to enhance our ability to keep Canadian communities safe,' the statement said. 'We will continue to explore all proposed options and work in collaboration with our partners to enhance our preparation.' In 2023, The Canadian Press reported that discussions on a new approach to natural disasters and other emergencies were well underway and included analysis of the merits of creating a Canadian version of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the United States. Better known as FEMA, the agency is responsible for preparing for, preventing, responding to and recovering from major incidents such as terrorist attacks and natural disasters. It runs a national response co-ordination centre which organizes federal support for major disasters and can deploy teams of doctors and nurses. The consequences of not having a federal agency are being seen in the stress that communities, provinces and emergency management agencies are feeling now, Asgary said. 'We are still in early June,' he noted, adding we still don't know what's going to happen with wildfires through July and August. He said the fire season has already 'overwhelmed us. Imagine when it is getting closer to bigger communities.' Saskatchewan and Manitoba have declared provincewide states of emergency — a move meant to make it easier for governments to co-ordinate resources and support. Most of Canada's current wildfires are burning in those two provinces, where more than 30,000 people have been evacuated. Smoke has drifted as far as Newfoundland and Labrador in the east and Texas in the south. At a press conference on Parliament Hill earlier this week, Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski said 'this wildfire season has started off more quickly and it's stronger, more intense than previous years.' Saskatchewan has seen 243 wildfires so far this fire season; in a typical year the province would see roughly 135. Canadian Armed Forces have been helping with evacuations in Manitoba, where fires have forced more than 17,000 residents out of their homes, mostly in the remote north. The private company Xpera has been involved in emergency response in Manitoba. The company's services include private investigations, helping businesses bring in replacement workers during strikes, and managing evacuations during crises. Robert Garland, the company's vice-president for emergency security management for Eastern Canada, told The Canadian Press the company helped to evacuate 226 people to Niagara Falls and could evacuate around 3,000 in total. Garland said the work was done though the company's contract with Emergency Management Ontario, which extended the contract to Manitoba's Emergency Management Organization. He said 'the offer came from Xpera, with a contract with the provincial and federal partners.' When asked who is paying for the evacuees' accommodations, Garland said that 'the funding comes from the provincial and federal partners. That's a contractual agreement between Indigenous communities and the federal government, Indigenous Services Canada, and in partnerships with obviously Indigenous communities.' Garland did not answer additional email questions about whether the company has a contract with the federal government. A spokesperson for Olszewski referred questions about a federal government contract to Indigenous Services Canada, which did not answer by deadline. Xpera has previously received millions of dollars through federal government contracts for services involving asylum seekers. Daniel Henstra, a professor at the University of Waterloo who researches climate change adaptation and emergency management, said the 'wildfires in Western Canada are huge already and developing so rapidly and the numbers of evacuees are just staggering.' The situation requires a 'massive logistical capacity that the government in Canada itself just doesn't have, and I would doubt that any provincial government would have it either,' he added. 'If in fact there is a contract with Xpera, it means that the scale of the evacuation is such that it's beyond the capacity of even… a behemoth like the Canadian Red Cross.' 'That's pretty significant.' Currently, the federal government only becomes involved in emergency response if a province asks it to step in. Olszewski told reporters that the government has deployed the Canadian Armed Forces to evacuate people in Manitoba and is ready to 'assist Saskatchewan and Alberta should they make formal requests for federal assistance.' While the military has immediate response units that are activated to respond to disasters, former chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre previously called on governments to lean less on the overstretched Armed Forces for disaster response. The military's main role in a disaster is to help local officials with logistics, planning and manpower. Asgary said a federal agency could take on various aspects of emergency management, including mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The agency could exploit economies of scale for expenses like training or buying emergency system software. Henstra said the federal government should focus on shoring up local response capacity. He noted the government already held a consultation on a pan-Canadian Civilian Response Capacity. He suggested a 'mix of volunteers and professionals who receive money and training from government' who would be 'ready within the community to respond to disasters.' People in those communities have valuable local knowledge and experience and need resources to be able to respond, he said. For instance, they might know that a winter without a lot of snow means a bad fire season is ahead, putting them in a position to take steps like levelling areas to create a fire break. 'But you can't have even the military fly in with a C-130 full of bulldozers. That's just ridiculous, right? You need to have this equipment and experienced operators on the ground.' Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press — With files from Sharif Hassan This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.
E&E News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Trump, who called FEMA ‘slow,' is making people wait months for help
Public officials have started pleading with the Trump administration for help in recovering from deadly disasters as President Donald Trump triggers frustration in states struck by tornadoes, floods and storms by taking no action on requests for aid. Trump has left states, counties and tribes in limbo as he delays making decisions on formal requests for millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding. Some areas that are still reeling from extreme weather are unable to start cleanup. 'We're at a standstill and waiting on a declaration from FEMA,' said Royce McKee, emergency management director in Walthall County, Mississippi, which was hit by tornadoes in mid-March. Advertisement The county of 13,000 people can't afford to clean up acres of debris, McKee said, and is waiting for Trump to act on a disaster request that was submitted by Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, on April 1 after the tornadoes killed seven people, destroyed or damaged 671 homes, and caused $18.2 million in public damage. 'I'm disappointed, especially for the people that lost their houses,' McKee said. Trump himself assailed FEMA in January for being 'very slow.' The frustration over Trump's handling of disasters is the latest upheaval involving FEMA. Trump recently canceled two FEMA grant programs that gave states billions of dollars a year to pay for protective measures against disasters. The move drew protests from Republican and Democratic lawmakers. On May 8, Trump fired FEMA leader Cameron Hamilton and replaced him with David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who has no experience in emergency management. At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican, pleaded with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to push Trump to approve three disaster requests that Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, had sent to Trump beginning April 2. 'We are desperate for assistance in Missouri,' Hawley said as Noem pledged to help. Her department oversees FEMA. St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer, whose city was badly damaged by tornadoes earlier this week, told MSNBC: 'What we need right now is federal assistance. This is where FEMA and the federal government have got to come in and help communities. Our city can't shoulder this alone.' Trump has not acted on 17 disaster requests, a high number for this time of year, according to a FEMA daily report released Wednesday. On the same date eight years ago, during Trump's first presidency, only three disaster requests were awaiting presidential action, the FEMA report from May 21, 2017, shows. Eleven of the 17 pending disaster requests were sent to Trump more than a month ago. 'This looks to me like, until FEMA's role is clarified, then we're just going to sit on it,' said a former senior FEMA official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. Trump has indicated that he wants to shrink the agency, which distributes about $45 billion in disaster aid a year, helps with as many as 100 disasters at a time and, he said, 'has been a very big disappointment.' 'It's very bureaucratic and very slow,' Trump said in January during a visit to disaster-stricken western North Carolina. President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with homeowners affected by Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, North Carolina, in January. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP The Trump administration has made no announcements about how it is handling requests for disaster aid, leaving governors, local officials and individuals uncertain about what to expect. 'A disaster survivor that's waiting for relief — that's the hard part about this,' the former FEMA official said. In a statement to POLITICO's E&E News, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the administration wants state and local governments 'to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.' Trump handles disaster requests 'with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement — not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters,' Jackson said. 'Death and destruction' Despite the absence of an announced policy change, Trump's actions on a handful of disasters indicate that he is making it harder for states to receive FEMA aid for cleanup and rebuilding. There is no indication of partisan considerations in Trump's actions. Only three of the 17 pending disaster requests came from Democratic governors. Trump made national headlines in April when he denied a request by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican who was the White House press secretary during his first presidency. The denial of Sanders' request for aid to clean up debris and repair electric cooperatives after a tornado outbreak in mid-March exemplifies Trump's new direction. Sanders calculated that the tornadoes caused $11.6 million in public damage, which is more than enough to qualify for FEMA aid. Under long-standing FEMA policy, the agency sets a population-based damage threshold that states must exceed in order to get money for cleanup and rebuilding. In Arkansas, the threshold is slightly more than $5.8 million — and the state's damage was twice that amount. Sanders appealed the denial, but Trump again rejected her request for repair money, although he did agree to help 249 households pay for temporary housing and minor home repairs with FEMA aid. The federal funding will amount to about $1 million. Trump took the same action on aid requests from West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrissey, a Republican, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, after flooding struck their states in February and April, respectively. In both cases, Trump approved money for households and rejected their funding requests for public rebuilding. When Trump rejected Washington state's April request for aid to help rebuild public infrastructure following a November flood, Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, noted that the damage easily exceeded the threshold to qualify for federal money. 'There are very clear criteria to qualify for these emergency relief funds. Washington's application met all of them,' Ferguson said after Trump's denial. Communities 'have been waiting for months' for federal aid, 'and this decision will cause further delay.' On Tuesday, Beshear sent Trump a new disaster request after tornadoes killed 19 Kentucky residents and caused extensive property damage. Beshear is seeking an 'expedited major disaster' declaration, which presidents typically approve in a day or two. 'This tornado event is devastating. There's no other way to describe the death and destruction this has brought to the community,' Beshear said at a news briefing Tuesday. Although the request did not calculate the cost of the damage, Kentucky Division of Emergency Management Director Eric Gibson said Tuesday, 'We met a number that is clearly easy for anyone to see that this disaster needs some federal assistance.' Beshear said Trump called him Sunday after the outbreak and 'pledged to be there for the people of Kentucky.'
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
As L.A. rebuilds from the Palisades fire, residents ask: What's the plan?
Carol Parks, the chief of Los Angeles' Emergency Management Department, sat before a budget committee last year and painted a dire picture. Although tasked with responding to crises in the nation's most disaster-prone region, her department had received just a tiny fraction of the city's budget and was getting by with a staff of roughly 30. There was no staffer devoted full-time to disaster recovery, which meant that if an earthquake or major wildfire struck, the city would have to scramble. But the City Council and Mayor Karen Bass balked at devoting more money to the department. Seven months later, flames tore through Pacific Palisades and nearby communities, destroying more than 6,000 structures and displacing tens of thousands. Now, the Emergency Management Department is in charge of coordinating the monumental task of recovery — but with a budget smaller than what the city's Police Department uses in roughly two days. To supplement the bare-bones emergency management team, Bass turned to an Illinois-based disaster recovery firm, Hagerty Consulting, inking a yearlong contract for up to $10 million. She also brought a former EMD general manager, Jim Featherstone, back from retirement to serve as the de facto recovery chief. More than four months after the fire, Palisades residents and some of their elected officials are increasingly frustrated, asking: Who is in charge? What have they been doing? How is Hagerty spending its time? And what is the plan to restore the Palisades? As flames chewed through the Palisades on Jan. 7, EMD assigned a mid-level staffer to take on the recovery. Soon, Featherstone — a former firefighter who once served as interim LAFD chief — arrived at the emergency operations center. In public, Bass touted civic leader Steve Soboroff as the city's recovery czar, with a controversy over his salary taking center stage for a period. In practice, Featherstone — a self-described "operator" and "tactical person" — assumed the recovery director role, helping to choreograph a massive, multiagency response. Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Bass, disputed that characterization and said the two men had different roles. Featherstone's "role is largely internal to the City," while Soboroff, whose term ended last month, "worked externally with the community along with other engagement teams within the Mayor's Office," Seidl said in an email. While the city code puts EMD in charge of coordinating disaster recovery, it operates with fewer resources than similar departments in other large California cities. A 2022 audit found that L.A. spent $1.56 per resident on emergency management — far less than Long Beach at $2.26 and San Francisco at $7.59. With such a small team for a 469-square-mile city, EMD has struggled to staff its emergency operations center in crises, prepare for events like the 2028 Olympics and help residents recover from smaller-scale calamities like building fires, storms and mudslides. Parks told the City Council in a 2024 memo that her department "lacks the experience and dedicated staff to oversee long-term recovery projects." After recent emergencies, EMD handled recovery duties "on an ad hoc basis," yielding 'delays, postponements and possible denial of disaster relief funds," she wrote. To boost EMD, Bass in early February tapped Hagerty after hearing proposals from firms including AECOM and IEM. Her reasons for choosing Hagerty were unclear, although the firm had already signed a wildfire recovery contract with L.A. County's emergency management office and had long worked with the state Office of Emergency Services. It's not unusual for a state or local government to retain a recovery consultant after a disaster, even if it has a recovery arm of its own. Hagerty has routinely been hired to help with hurricane recovery, including managing billions of dollars in funding after Superstorm Sandy in New York in 2012. Because Bass hired Hagerty under her emergency authority, the city has also solicited bids for a longer-term recovery contract worth $30 million over three years, with Hagerty among the companies vying for it. Initially, Hagerty spent "a significant amount" of time compensating for the lack of a city recovery team, said Featherstone, who supervises Hagerty's work, at a budget hearing last month. Read more: Steve Soboroff bows out as L.A. fire recovery czar, with some parting shots By contrast, L.A. County had a dedicated recovery operation that consultants could plug into — and the muscle memory from recent disasters like the Woolsey fire. 'The structure had to be built out,' Featherstone told council members at the budget hearing. 'Folks were pulled out of their regular day-to-day functions … to start to build out a recovery capability.' That structure is a series of tactical teams focused on issues including infrastructure, economics, health and housing. Under each umbrella are multiple working groups composed of several city departments working with federal and regional agencies. Under the infrastructure team, for example, is a debris removal group, a utilities team and a group for hazards such as mudslides, according to a recording of a recovery meeting reviewed by The Times. The housing team, meanwhile, brings together the Department of Building and Safety and the city Planning Department to streamline the permitting process. Debris removal was one of the first orders of business — so that group was among the first to be organized and has been the "busiest," as one EMD staffer said in a recording of an internal March meeting. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the primary responsibility for clearing debris from lots, with most expected to be done by Memorial Day and the rest largely due to be finished this summer. The city, with Hagerty, helped explain the debris removal process to residents, including the decision to opt in to the Army Corps cleanup or do it on their own. With Hagerty's guidance, the Emergency Management Department also created a dashboard showing the progress of debris removal, with real-time maps tracking the status of each lot. Tracey Phillips, a Hagerty executive, told City Council members in March that her firm was organizing these tactical teams and holding weekly meetings so that 'we can develop a short-term and mid-term operational framework.' 'This is the first step to that: [determining] who the players are, getting them in the room, getting them trained up and developing that operational cadence,' Phillips explained. 'It's already happening — it's just not being reported and it's not kind of coalesced yet.' As of mid-March, Hagerty had about 22 employees working on Palisades fire recovery, billing the city at hourly rates ranging from $80 to nearly $400 per employee. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez is among those who say that some of the money used for Hagerty would have been better spent bolstering the Emergency Management Department's rank and file — as Parks had requested last year. 'I don't understand their purpose. I don't need another contractor,' Rodriguez said in an interview. 'What my city staff needs is staff to do the work.' Asked whether funding for Hagerty would be better spent on EMD, Seidl, the spokesperson for Bass, said most of the firm's work is reimbursable by the federal government, a point that Featherstone made at a March budget hearing. Featherstone also suggested that Hagerty's guidance could yield more funding in the long run because of the firm's expertise with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Hagerty and Featherstone declined interview requests from The Times. Joseph Riser, a spokesperson for EMD, provided written responses to questions. EMD was 'very pleased' with Hagerty for building out recovery teams 'where they did not previously exist,' Riser said, noting that the firm has improved coordination and provided "high-level briefings" to City Hall and department general managers, among other duties. Seidl emphasized that the mayor has taken steps to preserve EMD's budget, "even in difficult budget times like this year." He also touted steps the city has taken to hasten the recovery, like a one-stop permitting and rebuilding center, measures to allow for the re-issuance of permits for homes built in recent years, and restoring water and power in two months compared to the 18 months it took in Paradise after the 2018 Camp fire. "Despite one of the worst natural disasters in recent history, L.A.'s recovery effort is on track to be the fastest in modern California history," Seidl said. Some Palisades residents say that Hagerty and EMD — and ultimately, Bass and her team — have done a poor job of communicating what their plan is going forward. Citing the cornucopia of government agencies involved in the rebuild, City Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes the Palisades, said, "Sometimes it feels like there are so many people in charge that no one is in charge." Maryam Zar, who runs the Palisades Recovery Coalition, said that at times, 'we feel like we are doing this ourselves." Zar and her group have been among the most vocal advocates for a logistics plan governing how thousands of homes will be rebuilt in a community with narrow streets and already-snarled traffic. The group has circulated ideas that include a concrete plant in the Palisades, short-term housing for construction crews and one-way roads to ease congestion. Zar said that Hagerty has 'shown up to community meetings, and they have been so unable to deliver any kind of information.' In an interview, Park said that "for weeks and weeks now," she also has been asking Hagerty and city departments for "a logistics and operations plan" for moving people, vehicles and materials in and out of the Palisades. Park has visited Lahaina, Hawaii, which was devastated by a wildfire in 2023, and studied other communities rebuilding from fires. She said those areas had consultants who were "very, very engaged" with communities in identifying priorities and solving problems. She wants the city and Hagerty to push forward on a longer-term recovery plan that establishes criteria for fire-safe rebuilding and a timeline for restoring parks, schools, libraries and businesses. 'I know that those things can take significant time to develop. But this is Los Angeles, and this is the Pacific Palisades, and we are not waiting around," she said, adding that she and her constituents were "moving at warp speed." Riser, the EMD spokesperson, said that traffic and logistics were not handled in a "single, static, formal plan," but that problems were being addressed in coordination with city and state agencies. He also said EMD has brought in traffic experts to "structure this work more effectively." "Recovery is dynamic and complex and changes daily as debris is cleared, infrastructure is repaired, and reentry phases evolve," Riser said. Frustration with Hagerty boiled over at an April 10 meeting of the Palisades community council, where Hagerty representative Harrison Newton touted recovery as "a chance to become more resilient to the next disaster.' Residents could barely contain their fury, criticizing Newton for an abstract presentation that seemed divorced from their real needs around rebuilding, permitting and traffic control. Read more: As heavy as 100 Eiffel Towers: Monumental L.A. County fire debris removal could finish by June 'It feels extremely generic,' said Lee Ann Daly, who then turned her ire toward City Hall. 'You need to know that we have a trust issue with the people who are paying you. ... We have a trust issue, and it's huge.' Palisades resident Kimberly Bloom, whose home burned in the fire, pressed Newton to provide a 'concrete example' of Hagerty's work in a prior disaster 'that is not just another layer of bureaucracy, because that's what it feels like at the moment.' Newton referred residents to Hagerty's website and spoke of how his firm provides 'augmentation support,' prompting residents to interrupt and criticize his use of jargon. After some back and forth, Newton emphasized that he and his team were trying to accelerate the city's response to the issues raised by residents. Hagerty, he said, was "bringing more people to bear so they're less thinly stretched, and you're achieving work faster." So far, more than 1,500 parcels in the Palisades have received a final sign-off from L.A. County that they are cleared of debris, paving the way to begin rebuilding. As of this week, 54 construction permits for 40 addresses have been issued in the Palisades, said Seidl, who noted that hundreds of permit applications are now under review. The burden will increasingly shift onto city agencies like the Department of Building and Safety to serve thousands of homeowners and businesses seeking plan checks, permits, inspections and certificates of occupancy. The logistics of whole neighborhoods undertaking simultaneous construction projects on hillside streets, with only a few major arteries in and out, will test the recovery framework that EMD and Hagerty have been working to erect. In the coming weeks, Bass is expected to name a new chief recovery officer, and her team is "currently interviewing ... qualified candidates," Seidl said. Featherstone, who was initially hired on a 120-day appointment, is now serving as an assistant general manager at EMD, and Parks, the EMD chief, has asked for funding in the coming fiscal year's budget to keep him. Hagerty could be replaced by a different firm if it loses the competitive bidding process for the multi-year recovery contract. One of the many "deliverables" for that contract is developing a long-term recovery plan. That type of overarching plan governing the rebuilding — and direct communication about the plan — is what residents and local officials say they have been pleading for. "We have more debris clearing to do, but we are also breaking ground on new buildings," said Councilmember Park. "If we don't get those plans under control and in place, this is going to turn into 'The Hunger Games' very quickly." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
