Fema

JOPLIN, MO - The federal government has denied the city of Joplin an extension on an upcoming tornado cleanup deadline. City and state leaders requested an extension of the Federal Emergency Management's Expedited Debris Removal Program.  FEMA only allows 75 days for removal of debris from areas wiped out by a natural disaster.  That deadline expires Sunday. The program foots 90% of the costs of removal through the first 75 days, 75 percent after that. The deadly EF5 tornado killed 160 and damaged or destroyed 8,000 homes and business May 22.         

JOPLIN, Mo. -- FEMA has extended the deadline for disaster aid for victims of the Joplin tornado. They can now apply until July 29th, and that includes storm victims in Lawrence County in the Wentworth area. Small businesses can apply for government loans thru FEMA as well.

JOPLIN, Mo. - More than a week after a deadly tornado tore through Joplin, the search for survivors remains alive. The number of 'unaccounted for' 8-days after the tornado is down to 29.  The death toll remains at 139. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says its first option for housing the thousands of displaced is to find them existing rental housing.  The search will include a 55-mile radius because housing is limited in Joplin.  FEMA...

Joplin -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is giving $40-million to the city of Joplin to help rebuild following the May 22 tornado. Half of the money will be used to clean up the wreckage from Joplin High School and cover the National Guard's response costs; the other half of the funds will go to rebuild Saint John's Hospital that was in the path of the EF-5 twister. One-hundred sixty-one people were killed in the disaster.

JOPLIN, Mo --  With nearly eight thousand homes damaged or destroyed, there is a big need for temporary housing. Karen Miller is one of the lucky ones. She is staying with a friend as she rides out this latest storm of picking up the pieces. Her home is gone. "I'm going to be fine. We are going to be fine. It's going to take awhile," said Miller. FEMA has 60 mobile homes on the way to Joplin. Officials are quick to point out these mobile homes are not like the trailers used in Hurricane Katrina.

JOPLIN, Mo. -- As of Sunday (June 5),  8,100 households in Jasper County have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  FEMA has approved $10,110,222.63 for Jasper County applicants.  Also, 410 households in Newton County have registered with the FEMA hotline. FEMA  has be approved $396,552.16 for Newton County applicants. Statewide, 12,262 households in Missouri have registered with FEMA this spring because of severe weather.  More than $18,942,168.19 has been approved for all Missouri applicants.

JOPLIN, Mo. -- As of Wednesday, here are the number of people who have registered for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency because of the devastating tornado on May 22: 7,313 Jasper County households -- FEMA has approved $8,757,216.95 for Jasper County applicants  342 N ewton County households -- FEMA  has be approved $365,151.00 for Newton County applicants Statewide, 11,217 households in Missouri have registered with FEMA since May 9 because of federal disaster declarations for severe weather damage.

Those affected by flooding here in the Ozarks are now getting help from the feds. FEMA has opened a Disaster Recovery Center at the old Hollister Train Station.  It'll be open again Sunday, May 22, but only Monday thru Saturdays after that. The new FEMA center is in light of Taney and Stone County being declared federal disasters areas. Anyone affected can speak with FEMA reps about their situation, and register for assistance. "We are really here to serve anyone who has been affected by the storms, the tornadoes, or the floods," Clare Eckert of FEMA said.  "That includes homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes, large and small, non profit organizations, any of the areas affected by this weather event.

JOPLIN, MO-- The controversy continues over diverting FEMA money from Joplin to help those affected by Hurricane Irene. A rising number of disasters, coupled with federal budget shortfalls, has left FEMA coming up short. The agency said it will have to postpone fulfilling new aid requests for tornado-stricken Joplin to free up money for the Irene victims.       Southwest Missouri Congressman Billy Long said he is not too worried yet. "Money delayed is not money denied.  I feel very confident that the money will be there.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Mental Health is getting extra help in assisting storm victims in the Show-Me State.  FEMA awarded the department $1.5 million to go towards counseling victims of the tornado in Joplin and heavy flooding in the central part of the state. The counselors will be available on toll-free numbers, each one serving one of the 25 designated disaster counties.  A list of numbers can be found HERE .  

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The city fire department received an Assistance to Firefighters Grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for $206,300.  The grant is to further develop the department's fitness program, as well as providing training to support officer development and certification. This grant is a competitive grant.  Peers from across the country rate and select those grants that meet national priorities and will have the greatest impact on local communities.  The grant requires a 20 percent local match, which will come from the Fire Department's normal operating budget.

HOLLISTER, Mo  --  Hollister High School is building the first of two Federal Emergency Management Agency safe rooms.  They will be the first two in Taney County The original plan was just for a cafeteria and gymnasium but, after the tornado in Joplin in 2011, the district decided instead to apply for grants to build two FEMA safe rooms.  That delayed construction on the building that the district was in the process of adding since 2009.  Now...

NIXA, Mo  -  Local leaders in Education and Emergency services are seeing first hand what to do during a disaster. People from Nixa Public Schools, The city of Nixa and Christian County officials are attending FEMA training in Maryland this week. They got there Sunday afternoon and won't be coming home until Friday. They're there making sure that the school's, the county's, and the community's emergency plans, all roll into one and that they're using the same terminology, the same procedures, and taking the same approach to solving problems during an emergency.

NIXA, Mo. -- As students get ready to head back to classes, a few districts in the Ozarks are already preparing for severe weather, trying to use a lesson from the tornado in Joplin last year.  The Nixa School District received more than $2 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for two shelters, and construction is well underway. “Our children are our most precious commodity.  Anything we can do to keep them safe is the upmost important thing that we do. Having a facility that we can put our kids in and know that we will be safe, I think it gives us peace of mind for all of us here,” said April Hawkins, principal of Inman Intermediate School.

BRANSON, Mo. -- The city of Branson might get a community storm shelter. City leaders met Thursday afternoon to talk about the possibility of getting a shelter through a FEMA grant. If approved, the shelter would likely be built at the Branson RecPlex. It would house more than 12 hundred people and withstand winds of more than 250 miles per hour.  The shelter would be big enough to accommodate people from a baseball tournament and people within a five minute walking radius.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Springfield Fire Department will receive a federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant for nearly $1 million.  This grant will be used to purchase mobile and portable radios for all fire departments in Greene County. This program is a competitive grant process through the U.S. Department of Homeland Securityand the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which requires a 20-percent local match.  Springfield Fire Department will receive $217,606.  Of this amount, $174,950 is from the grant and $43,521 is the match.  The matching funds are from the city's level property tax. Over the next several years, the current radio system infrastructure will migrate to the next generation technology to use digital technology and to comply with a new standard.  The new radios will let the fire departments operate on the new system.

Houston, Mo  -  A Texas County Hospital is applying lessons learned in the Joplin tornado.  St. John's Hospital in Joplin took a direct hit from the May, 22 twister.  The destruction prompted Texas County Memorial Hospital to change it's strategy to keep patients safe. The hospital qualified for a FEMA grant to pay some of the cost of building a tornado safe room.  Patients, staff and anyone nearby will soon be able to seek shelter to safely ride out the storm. "It doesn't matter if there's an F-5 out there, if I've got patients in the hospital, I've got to take care of them," says Texas County Memorial Hospital physician Schaun Flaim.

Joplin -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is giving $40-million to the city of Joplin to help rebuild following the May 22 tornado. Half of the money will be used to clean up the wreckage from Joplin High School and cover the National Guard's response costs; the other half of the funds will go to rebuild Saint John's Hospital that was in the path of the EF-5 twister. One-hundred sixty-one people were killed in the disaster.

JOPLIN, Mo. - It's been four and a half months since an EF-5 tornado devestated the city of Joplin, killing 162 people. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been working to help people with everything from cleanup to bringing in temporary housing to help people recover and rebuild. This week, FEMA opened the third mobile home park near the Joplin airport trying to meet the housing demand that still exists. "All of a sudden I heard this noise and it was horrible," said FEMA mobile home resident Billie Lee Hunt.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo -- School was out when the Joplin tornado hit and graduation just ended. Had classes been in session, the loss of life and destruction would've been mind-boggling. The school had no shelter on campus. The Joplin School District was approached about constructing a safe room before the storm. They decided not to pursue it. However, other school districts in the Ozarks are moving forward with safe rooms, and a lot more are hoping to build them in the future. "Since the tornado in May. Our phone has been ringing nonstop.