At the end of each week, we post a "What We’re Watching" blog as we look ahead to the weekend and recap events from the week. We encourage you to share it with your friends and family, and have a safe weekend.

Assistance available for Mississippi storms and tornadoes

On Wednesday, President Obama made federal assistance available to individuals and families affected by the Feb. 10 Mississippi storms, tornadoes, and flooding in Forrest and Lamar counties.  This assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster. 

Individuals and business owners who sustained losses in Forrest and Lamar counties can register for assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362).  Disaster assistance applicants, who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.  (Additional damage assessments are ongoing, so keep an eye on the Mississippi disaster page for any updates.)

Taxes and disaster assistance

Tax season is upon us, so I wanted to address the impact federal disaster assistance has on taxes.  If you received FEMA assistance in the last year, it is not considered taxable income.  I’ll say it again: those who received FEMA assistance will not pay additional federal taxes or lose Social Security or other government benefits.  For more information, check out the IRS website, which has specific sections for those who received disaster assistance in 2012.

Photos of the week

CAPTION: Holgate, N.J., Feb. 6, 2013 -- While these homes may look bad, they received little hurricane damage to the actual living spaces due to their elevation above base flood elevation prior to the storm. Check out this publication for more details about protecting your home from flood damage.

CAPTION: Beach Haven, N.J., Feb. 6, 2013 -- Signs of recovery in the form of new construction, elevated to the new standards, are seen in Beach Haven and elsewhere in Long Beach Island.

Videos of the week

It’s been over 100 days since Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast, but response and recovery efforts are still going at full speed.  Here’s a look at some of the key points to recovery in New Jersey, where over 58,000 applicants have been approved for federal disaster assistance, resulting in over $358 million going to impacted individuals and families.

The TODAY Show’s Al Roker has been in some of the most powerful storms Mother Nature can produce, so he knows the importance of getting prepared before severe weather.  He recently teamed up with FEMA’s Ready campaign and the Ad Council to show just how unpredictable the weather can be:

If you’re interested in learning more about how the video was made, here’s a behind the scenes look.  And as the video said, check out Ready.gov for information on getting your home, family, or business prepared for any emergency.

Mark your calendars; Promote severe weather safety

For those emergency managers and community leaders among us, I’d like to remind you that National Severe Weather Awareness Week is March 3-9.  FEMA and our partners will be spreading the word about how people can get prepared for the severe weather threats in their community.  I encourage you to check out Ready.gov/severe-weather and click on the “Talk about Severe Weather” tab.  You’ll find a toolkit to help you share severe weather preparedness with your audience, wherever they are. 

Have a safe weekend!

At the end of each week, we post a "What We’re Watching" blog as we look ahead to the weekend and recap events from the week. We encourage you to share it with your friends and family, and have a safe weekend.

FEMA Think Tank Conference Call

Join Deputy Administrator Rich Serino as he hosts the next FEMA Think Tank Conference Call Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 12:00 p.m. EST. Over one year ago, Deputy Administrator Serino created the FEMA Think Tank to bring together people across all sectors of emergency management to discuss real-life solutions and ideas to present and future emerging challenges within the emergency management field. This month’s call will focus on innovative solutions in emergency management and is open to everyone.

Here’s the call-in information:

Call-in Number: 888-324-6998

Passcode: ThinkTank

Captioning: http://fedrcc.us//Enter.aspx?EventID=2090240&CustomerID=321

Twitter: #femathinktank

We hope that you can join us for this month’s call. Even if you can’t join the call, you can follow and participate in the conversation on Twitter. We’ll be live tweeting from the event from our @FEMAlive account.

Great ShakeOut

On Thursday, Feb. 7 at 10:15 a.m. CST, millions of people will stop what they’re doing and "Drop. Cover. Hold on." Join over 2 million people across the U.S. who plan to participate in the largest earthquake drill in the U.S.

Taking part in the ShakeOut is a great first step towards knowing what to do in the event of an earthquake. It’s not too late to register your family, business, or school. After the ShakeOut, visit Ready.gov/earthquakes for more information on preparing your home, workplace or school for an earthquake.

We hope you will join us for these events.

Photo of the Week

Mitigation expert Bill McDonnell spoke at an informational meeting to help residents in Toms Rivers, N.J., affected by Hurricane Sandy. Survivors were able to learn about individual assistance, mitigation, flood insurance, and many other topics. 

For more photos, visit the FEMA Photo Library.

Video of the Week

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Debris Collection

More than 90 percent of the debris left in New York in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, has been collected in just 90 days by the Army Corps of Engineers. Much of it is being cleaned, repurposed and recycled.

In Case You Missed It…

• Earlier this week, President Obama signed the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013. In addition to providing assistance to individuals, families, and communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy, the act also included an amendment to the Stafford Act, giving Tribal nations the same status as states when requesting federal disaster assistance. Federally recognized tribal governments can now make a request directly to the President for an emergency or major disaster declaration to receive assistance, whereas in the past, Tribes had to make the request through a State.

Read more about this new legislation on our blog and visit our Tribal page.

• As winter storms and weather continue to impact many parts of the U.S., be sure you are prepared for winter weather. Visit Ready.gov/winter-weather for tips on what to do before, during and after winter weather.

Have a safe weekend!

On January 29, President Obama signed the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013. In addition to providing assistance to individuals, families, and communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy, the act also included a very important amendment that impacts tribal governments.

Here are the basics: the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act provides a legislative change to amend the Stafford Act (which is an act that outlines how the federal government provides assistance to communities impacted by disasters).  This amendment will provide federally recognized tribal governments the option to choose whether to make a request directly to the President for an emergency or major disaster declaration, or to receive assistance, as they do presently, through a declaration for a State.

What does that mean for emergency management, and why is it important for our nation?  Here are the key things to know:

• The Stafford Act now clearly reflects federally recognized tribal governments’ status as sovereign nations, giving them the same status as states when requesting federal disaster assistance. Prior to being amended, the Stafford Act mandated requests for an emergency or major disaster declaration by the President could only be made by the Governor of the affected state. As a result, federally recognized tribes were statutorily excluded from making a direct request for a Presidential declaration and were required to make a request through the state(s) in which they were geographically located. 
  
  The change to the Stafford Act is particularly important because some states could not readily work with federally recognized tribes under their state constitutions and laws.  This could create obstacles in the emergency response and recovery process.  Here’s a quick example.  To receive federal disaster assistance, the Governor must activate the state’s emergency plan and demonstrate that state and local capabilities in the affected areas are insufficient.  Depending on the tribe’s status and applicable state law, the Governor may not have independent authority to take such actions with respect to tribal lands.
  
  Now, federally recognized tribes have the same status as states, removing legal barriers from developing stronger relationships with the federal government, while allowing tribes to directly request federal assistance.
• The Stafford Act now allows consideration of all of a tribe’s affected land.   Disasters don’t respect borders – their effects can stretch across multiple counties and states, and the impacts can vary widely from community to community.  Prior to the amendment of the Stafford Act, the federal and state governments made it hard to meet the needs of impacted tribes, especially when tribal nations cross over one or more state lines.  Before the Stafford Act amendment, an affected tribal government would have to submit a request to the governor of each state within which the tribe’s lands are located to request an emergency or major disaster declaration.
  
  For example, both North Dakota and South Dakota experienced flooding during the spring of 2009.  This flooding affected lands under the civil-regulatory authority of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, but within the political boundaries of both North Dakota and South Dakota.  North Dakota received a declaration for both the state and for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal lands immediately after the incident, while South Dakota’s major disaster declaration came several months later because the statewide impact differed there.  This put FEMA in the untenable position of only providing assistance to one portion of the affected Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lands, though the incident affected all of the tribe’s lands in both North and South Dakota.
  
  Now, tribal governments have the option to choose whether to directly request federal disaster assistance for the impacts within their own borders, not the borders of their surrounding states.

I applaud the hard work and tireless support of the Administration, tribes and the organizations representing more than 300 tribes nationwide for this important amendment to the Stafford Act.  Effective emergency management requires a team – and I am proud we have taken an important step in recognizing the vital importance that tribal nations play as part of that team.

For more information on the work being done with our tribal partners and Indian Country, visit www.fema.gov/tribal.