Federal Emergency Management Agency

Tens of thousands of homeowners in Southern California are being forced to buy costly flood insurance because new maps issued by a federal agency say they live in a high-risk flood area. The federal government has informed property owners in more than 150 cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties about the new requirement. Most live near rivers and creeks, below dams or in low- lying areas that are at greater risk of flooding than previously believed, according to maps developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Southland cities have tallied damage of more than $30 million from the Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 windstorms but appear likely to fall short of qualifying for federal disaster assistance. Pasadena City Manager Michael Beck said last week that the costs will probably not exceed the $50.3 million needed for a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster declaration. "It remains unlikely that we would reach the federal threshold," he said. Pasadena officials met last week with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank)

Los Angeles County officials have begun an effort to protect their employees' rights during federal inquiries into whether the county Department of Health Services improperly sought disaster funds after the Northridge earthquake, according to memos obtained by The Times on Tuesday. One of the memos, by Principal Deputy County Counsel Karen A. Lichtenberg, pointedly tells workers in all county departments: "You may refuse to participate in an interview. If you choose to participate in an interview, you can terminate the interview at any time.

For the second time this year, the federal government lurched toward a possible shutdown as the Republican-controlled House passed a government funding bill that included a poison pill the Democratic-controlled Senate vowed to reject. The measure, which narrowly passed early Friday by a vote of 219 to 203, is needed to temporarily fund the government once the new fiscal year begins next week. It also includes $3.65 billion to replenish the coffers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is expected to run out of money by Monday after a succession of tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and wildfires.

Lorri L. Jean, a regional official of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been named the new executive director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center. Jean succeeds Torie Osborn, who is leaving at the end of next month after four years at the helm of the center, the largest gay and lesbian services agency in the nation.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials agreed Friday to spend as much as $50 million to rebuild low-cost housing destroyed by the earthquake last October and to assist people who were displaced. The agreement stemmed from a class-action lawsuit filed against FEMA last month by legal aid groups representing some of the poorest victims of the earthquake in Alameda, San Francisco and Santa Cruz counties. U.S. District Judge Eugene Lynch tentatively approved the settlement Friday.

Almost two months after Northern California's deadly 7.1-magnitude earthquake, more than 600 people in this small farming community are still living in tents in a city park, sleeping on cots in Red Cross shelters or spending nights in cars or on lawns behind their condemned houses. Many of those who became homeless after the quake are still waiting for federal relief officials to open temporary mobile home parks.

CalArts officials accepted a $21.1-million check from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday, saying it means the financial survival of the highly renowned arts college. The 60-acre campus was rocked by the Northridge earthquake as it began the first week of its spring semester. Classes resumed two weeks later--in 16 locations improvised as satellite classrooms.

President Clinton has announced that he will nominate James Witt, the top Arkansas disaster relief official, to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

R. David Paulison promised "to make America proud" of FEMA as he was sworn in as chief of the agency that bore the brunt of the blame for the government's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina. Paulison, acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency since September, was confirmed by the Senate on May 26.

Los Angeles County improperly billed the federal government about $2.3 million in cost overruns for repairs on roads damaged by the severe winter storms of 2005, according to a federal audit made public this week. The overbilling included about $1 million for a road embankment repair project that already had been rejected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the audit by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, which completed the audit for FEMA.

Hundreds of South Los Angeles homeowners will no longer be required to buy costly flood insurance after a federal agency decided that it had mistakenly put them in a high-hazard zone. After reviewing new topographic data, the Federal Emergency Management Agency removed 876 parcels in the Parks Mesa Heights neighborhood, according to a Dec. 28 letter from FEMA to the Los Angeles Department of Public Works. FEMA added the homes to existing flood-hazard zones when it updated maps in June 2008.

Tens of thousands of homeowners in Southern California are being forced to buy costly flood insurance because new maps issued by a federal agency say they live in a high-risk flood area. The federal government has informed property owners in more than 150 cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties about the new requirement. Most live near rivers and creeks, below dams or in low- lying areas that are at greater risk of flooding than previously believed, according to maps developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Belinda Jenkins was picking up her diabetes medication Tuesday afternoon, and worrying about being away from the trailer she has lived in since Hurricane Katrina trashed her house. Jenkins, a disabled 53-year-old, is afraid the Federal Emergency Management Agency is scheming to take the flimsy box away. So she keeps a handwritten note taped to the door, asking officials to at least call her cellphone so she can come back and get her stuff. "Thank you," the note reads. "Have a bless day."

Three years after disgracing itself with a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency acknowledged Monday, as it mobilized against the force of Gustav, that it had learned some lessons. Nearly 2 million Gulf Coast residents were evacuated to shelters by plane, train and bus hours before Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana. Helicopters sat on the fringes to start search-and-rescue efforts as soon as the skies cleared. Crates of food, water and blankets were at the ready -- all in stark contrast to the too-little-too-late response to Katrina that left thousands stranded, about 1,800 dead and 90,000 square miles devastated.

Don't expect to get free ice anymore from the federal government after a hurricane, the chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday. That was the first major announcement from FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison during his visit to the National Hurricane Conference here. And when the leader said he intended to resign soon, it quickly created a media stir.

The agency that coordinates federal disaster assistance is nearly out of money, officials said. "Unless the supplemental appropriation is provided to FEMA in the next few days, the federal government will be unable to provide essential assistance in presidentially declared disasters or emergencies," Julius W. Becton Jr., Federal Emergency Management Agency director, said in a letter to congressmen who oversee his agency.

Damage inspectors are visiting Los Angeles residents who have applied for federal housing assistance, special grants or Small Business Administration loans. Inspections are required to verify claims and avoid duplication of benefits. The authorized inspectors have laminated photo identification badges from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday that it would accelerate efforts to get victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita out of government-supplied trailers after tests showed that the temporary residences contain unhealthy levels of toxic formaldehyde. Tests in a statistically sampled selection of 519 trailers showed that formaldehyde levels averaged five times higher than levels in new housing, and in some cases much higher than that.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has hired a new director of public affairs to replace the official who was in charge during a fake news conference in October. Jonathan Thompson, most recently a deputy assistant secretary of Defense for public affairs, strategy and operations, will be FEMA's new director of external affairs. The former director was Pat Philbin. On Oct.