FEMA Administrator Brock Long Expects Body Count From Hurricane Michael To Continue To Rise Over The Next Few Days
Nick Givas | Media And Politics Reporter
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long said he expects the body count from Hurricane Michael to continue to rise over the next few days, on CNNs “New Day” Friday.
“I expect the fatality count to climb today and tomorrow as we get through the debris and Im very frustrated by that,” Long said. (RELATED: Mike Huckabee Says Hurricane Michael Is A Crisis But Will Bring Americans Closer Together)
“We seem to not learn this lesson in this country and you know, these guys behind us, they get to deal with the aftermath,” he added. “Theyre often the source of blame when everything goes wrong after disasters and its a vicious cycle. Bigger FEMAs not the answer. Building codes, resiliency, pre-disaster mitigation is the answer.”
Long also lamented how often people ignore warnings about deadly storms and said people have tragically lost their lives because they didnt exercise enough caution.
“We keep having to issue the warnings. Look I, like anybody, love the ocean. I love the mountains, but when you want to live in these areas hazards come with them,” Long said.
“The bottom line is when we ask people to evacuate and we clearly asked people to evacuate and the governor asked people and we even used the wireless emergency alert system to warn people that the ocean was going to rise and do this type of destruction — people still failed to heed the warnings and theyve lost their lives,” he continued.
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Long said he hopes the death toll doesnt rise “dramatically” but said theres a distinct possibility it will given how many people stayed behind.
He added:
Hopefully it doesnt rise dramatically, but it is a possibility from where we are, unfortunately. Today were going to be concentrating on people as well, so were moving our disaster assistance survivor teams into areas. Were going to concentrate on those stuck in shelters right now. The president proactively approved Governor [Rick] Scotts major disaster expedited request yesterday and so there are five counties that are eligible for individual assistance right now in Florida. That number will grow.
Long also said the state is relying on volunteers to help Floridians.
“Were going to move as fast as we can, as rapidly as we can to help people, but this is the type of event where its going to take neighbor helping neighbor,” he said.
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