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As Hurricane Florence Approaches, Document Shows Trump Admin Funneled Nearly $10 Million From FEMA to ICE
12 September 2018
Politics
An army helicopter delivers FEMA supplies to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria last year. Mario Tama / Getty Images
As Hurricane Florence threatens the East Coast, a newly released document shows that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) transferred almost $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show reported Tuesday night.
<p style="">The document was released by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who said he believed the transfer of $9,755,303 occurred this summer.</p><p style="">"$10 million dollars comes out of FEMA when we're facing hurricane season, knowing what happened last year, and then look what we've had since?" Merkley told Maddow, referring to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hawaii-hurricane-lane-flooding-2599467495.html" target="_self">Hurricane Lane's</a> near miss with Hawaii, a tropical storm that hit Mississippi, and the oncoming Hurricane Florence.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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</p><p style="">The money was earmarked for more detention beds and for ICE's "transportation and removal program," Maddow said.<br></p><p style="">DHS confirmed that the transfers were made, but said they did not come from any of FEMA's "disaster response and recovery efforts," Maddow reported. </p><p style="">Homeland Security Press Secretary Tyler Houlton tweeted on Wednesday that the FEMA money did not come from disaster relief, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/11/politics/fema-ice-hurricane-funding/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. </p><p style="">"The money in question—transferred to ICE from FEMA's routine operating expenses—could not have been used for hurricane response due to appropriation limitations. DHS/FEMA stand fiscally and operationally ready to support current and future response and recovery needs," Houlton said.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
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</p><p style="">However, Maddow and Merkley noted that the document does appear to show money coming out of "response and recovery."<br></p><p style="">Merkley told Maddow he came across the documents as part of his work opposing the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Trump</a> administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S. border as part of a drive to criminally detain everyone caught crossing the border illegally. </p><p style="">The FEMA money is part of a broader transfer of $201.88 million to ICE from other DHS agencies.</p><p style="">"Without the transfers and reprogramming identified in this notification, ICE will not be able to fulfill its adult detention requirements in FY 2018. Insufficient funding could require ICE to release any new book-ins and illegal border violators. ICE will not be able to deport those who have violated immigration laws," the document said.</p><p style="">Some scholars <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-refugees-trump-2580057839.html" target="_self">have linked</a> the increased presence of entire Central American families at the southern border to pressures related to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, which President Donald Trump famously denies is a problem. </p><p style="">Climate change is also making <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricanes</a> like Florence both larger and slower moving, which allows them to do more damage, especially in terms of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/09/11/646313648/climate-change-drives-bigger-wetter-storms-storms-like-florence" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>. </p><p style="">The document release also comes weeks after the official <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-maria" target="_self">Hurricane Maria</a> death toll <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/official-hurricane-maria-death-toll-raised-2599913746.html" target="_self">was raised</a> from 64 to nearly 3,000. </p><p style=""><a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> continues to insist his administration responded well to the storm that devastated Puerto Rico. </p><p style="">"I think Puerto Rico was incredibly successful. Puerto Rico was actually our toughest one of all because it's an island. You can't truck things onto it. Everything is by boat," Trump told reporters Tuesday as he discussed preparations for Hurricane Florence, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/12/politics/donald-trump-hurricane-florence-puerto-rico/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p>
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Coastal watches/warnings and forecast cone for Tropical Storm Gordon. The hurricane warning is in red. National Hurricane Center
Tropical Storm Gordon is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane along the north-central Gulf Coast this Tuesday evening, forecasts say.
The storm will bring heavy rainfall across a broad swath of the southern U.S. over the next few days, which could trigger "life-threatening" flash flooding, the National Weather Service said.
<p>The governors of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have each declared a state of emergency ahead of Gordon's expected landfall.</p><p>Gordon could be the first hurricane to threaten the continental U.S. this year. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-lane">Hurricane Lane</a>, which was downgraded to a tropical storm, battered Hawaii with torrential rains last month. </p><p>Gordon is expected to produce as much as 8 inches of rain over the western Florida Panhandle, southwest Alabama, southern and central Mississippi, southeastern and northeastern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, with isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches through late Thursday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT2+shtml/041438.shtml" target="_blank">warned</a>.<br></p><p>The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide could cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline, NHC noted. The region between Dauphin Island, Alabama to Shell Beach, Louisiana could see water levels 3 to 5 feet above ground.<br></p><p>
"Water is going to be a big part of the story," NHC director Ken Graham said in a Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NWSNHC/videos/2277441408938538/" target="_blank">video</a> early Tuesday.<br>
</p><p>The Federal Emergency Management Agency also <a href="https://twitter.com/fema/status/1037030768948797440" target="_blank">advised</a> on Tuesday that "Gordon will affect more than just coastal areas; many locations inland will see heavy rainfall."</p><p>Gordon first took form as a tropical storm as it passed over the Florida Keys early Monday.<br></p><p>By the time it makes landfall on the Gulf Coast, Gordon will likely be near Category 1 hurricane strength, <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/florida-us-gulf-coast-on-alert-for-budding-tropical-depression/70005956" target="_blank">AccuWeather</a> reported. Category 1 hurricanes have maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph. </p><p><span></span>"Fast movement and wind shear should limit the intensity of Gordon, but the storm will be monitored closely as the water is quite warm," explained AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
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Although Hawaii avoided a direct hit by Hurricane Lane, which weakened to a tropical storm over the weekend, areas of the Big Island were inundated with waist-deep water and flash flooding.
Mountain View, located on the east side of the island, received a preliminary total of 51.53 inches of rain from Aug. 22-26—the third highest storm total rainfall from a tropical cyclone in the U.S. since 1950, according to the National Weather Service.
<p>
The highest total is the 60.58 inches of rain dumped on Nederland, Texas during
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-harvey">Hurricane Harvey</a> last year. The second highest—and the highest tropical cyclone storm total rainfall in Hawaii—is the 52.00 inches measured at Kanalohuluhulu Ranger Station during Hurricane Hiki in 1950.
</p><p>
Authorities rescued 39 people from floodwaters on Friday and Saturday, the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/bb890938b21144f0bbc68d19e455ad36/Hawaii-emerges-from-threat-as-storm-veers-away-from-islands" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> reported. No storm-related deaths have been reported.
</p><p>
<span></span>The heavy downpour triggered <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31ODUaC9uzQ" target="_blank">landslides</a>, caused a <a href="http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/38962760/heavy-rains-flooding-brought-by-lane-deals-serious-damage-to-maui-roads" target="_blank">road to collapse</a> in Haiku and rendered the neighborhood inaccessible, and even opened up sinkholes.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
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Lane also dropped 36.76 inches of rain on Hilo Airport, the wettest four-day period ever observed at Hilo, with records dating back to 1949. Hilo also saw 15.00 inches of rain on Aug. 24, the fifth wettest calendar day on record.
</p><p>
"It was almost biblical proportions," state senator Kai Kahele, who represents the town of Hilo, told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/storm-drifts-away-hawaii-after-almost-biblical-rains-n903961" target="_blank">NBC News</a>.
</p><p>
The National Weather Service lifted all remaining tropical storm warnings and watch advisories for the state on Sunday.
</p><p>
As Lane drifted away, <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_ep5+shtml/144017.shtml?gm_track" target="_blank">Tropical Storm Miriam</a> developed in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 2000 miles east of the Hawaiian islands. But "Miriam is not expected to threaten any landmass," <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/hawaii-to-face-localized-flooding-downpours-miriam-to-bypass-the-islands/70005884" target="_blank">said</a> AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.
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Hurricane Lane Could Be First to Directly Hit Hawaii’s Big Island in Recorded History
22 August 2018
Popular
A map showing the track of Hurricane Lane. Master0Garfield / Wikimedia
Update: Hurricane Lane is now a Category 5 storm.
Hurricane Lane could become the first hurricane to make landfall in the state of Hawaii since 1992, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
<p style="">The Category 4 storm, currently blowing 150 miles per hour at its peak, has a projected path that could either parallel or pass over all of the islands in the Hawaiian chain. </p><p style="">The <a href="http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/" target="_blank">Central Pacific Hurricane Center</a> in Honolulu posted hurricane watches for the eastern Hawaiian islands, including the Big Island and Maui, saying they could face tropical-storm-force winds and heavy rains by Wednesday or Thursday. </p><p style="">"This isn't Florida. The landscape and infrastructure are different. Take this one seriously," Federal Emergency Management Agency strategic planner Michael Lowry tweeted, according to The Washington Post.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
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</p><p style="">The Hurricane Center said it might extend watches to the western islands, including Oahu, later. If that happens, it could make for the first time a hurricane has made landfall in Honolulu since Hawaii became a state.<br></p><p style="">Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell urged residents to take the approaching storm seriously, despite the fact that Hurricane Hector bypassed the big island Aug. 8 after threatening it, as <a href="https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2018-08-06-threat-tropical-storm-hurricane-hector-hawaii" target="_blank">The Weather Channel reported at the time</a>.</p><p style="">"Some people might say, 'Another hurricane, it didn't hit us last time, we don't need to worry.' No, we got to plan for the worst and hope for the best," Caldwell said Monday, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-hurricane-watch-maui-category-4-lane-path-track-noaa-today-2018-08-21-live-updates/" target="_blank">CBS News</a>. </p><p style="">Hawaiian's seemed to be heeding his advice, as <a href="https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Hurricane-watch-issued-for-Hawaii-s-Big-Island-13171668.php" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported </a>Tuesday.</p><p style="">"People are getting ready, which is exactly what we want," Maui County spokesman Rod Antone told The Associated Press. "I know people are taking trips to Costco, buying ramen, rice, the usual. Toilet paper."<br></p><p style="">He also urged people to prepare emergency kits and withdraw cash from ATMs in case of a power outage.</p><p style="">Hawaiian Airlines has waived change fees for flights to or between the islands from Tuesday to Sunday.</p><p style="">Senior Honolulu forecaster Tom Birchard said that the islands could be hit with heavy rains, flash <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> and high surf even if the center of the storm does not hit the islands directly, CBS News reported. </p><p style="">The Big Island of Hawaii, the most likely to be first hit by Lane, has never been hit directly by a hurricane in recorded history, according to The Washington Post. </p><p style="">The two hurricanes to hit the state in recorded history, Dot in 1959 and Iniki in 1992, both hit Kauai, Senior Research Associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science Brian McNoldy tweeted, according to The Washington Post.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
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</p><p style="">The storm was moving west as of Tuesday, but is expected to turn north. The extent to which it does so will determine how directly it hits one or more Hawaiian islands.<br></p>
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