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Florida Democrat demands new FEMA funding: “Sounding the alarm for months”

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Florida Democrat demands new FEMA funding: “Sounding the alarm for months”


In the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastating impact on Florida, U.S. Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz has revisited his call for immediate action to bolster Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) resources.

“As the only former emergency management director in Congress, I have been sounding the alarm for months that this would be a problem if we just left for recess without properly funding FEMA during the height of hurricane season,” Moskowitz, representative from Florida, said in a recent release.

Moskowitz, who served as Florida’s director of emergency management from 2019 to 2021 and later as Broward County commissioner before his election to Congress, brings a unique perspective to the ongoing debate over disaster funding. He further emphasized his readiness to act: “I stand ready to return to Washington to immediately ensure FEMA has the resources to help the communities devastated by Hurricane Helene.”

Jared Moskowitz, U.S. Democratic representative of Florida, speaks during a news conference on unidentified aerial phenomena transparency, on Capitol Hill November 30, 2023, in Washington, D.C. After Hurricane Helene ravaged his state and the Southeast,…


Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Thursday night, pummeling Florida’s Big Bend region with winds of up to 140 mph and delivering catastrophic flooding and storm surge. The storm’s impact extends beyond Florida, affecting multiple states.

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The timing of Helene’s landfall has thrown the issue of FEMA funding into sharp relief. Just one day before the hurricane struck, the House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution to extend FEMA funding through December 20. But the agency still grapples with a multibillion-dollar deficit, even after implementing new spending restrictions last month.

Moskowitz praised President Joe Biden’s immediate response to the crisis, stating, “Thank you to President Biden for sending all available resources to the impacted states.” He was also quick to criticize Congress over its failure to act sooner. “Congress should have been proactive on this issue,” Moskowitz said, highlighting the ongoing debate over disaster preparedness and funding allocation.

The congressman’s statement reflects a growing frustration with the political gridlock that often surrounds disaster relief efforts. “Congress must show that it can still deliver for the American people in their hour of greatest need,” Moskowitz added.

During his tenure as Florida’s emergency management director, Moskowitz oversaw the state’s response to various crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm that devastated portions of his state in 2018.

Notable among the dissenting voices over disaster relief funding is U.S. Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, who voted against the recent stopgap measure to fund the government and provide additional disaster assistance. Gaetz’s vote, cast just a day before Hurricane Helene made landfall in his home state, has drawn criticism and raised questions about the priorities of lawmakers in disaster-prone regions.

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This wasn’t the first time Gaetz has voted against a continuing resolution that included disaster relief funding. In 2022, just days after Hurricane Ian ravaged Florida, the GOP lawmaker was among several Republicans to vote against a stopgap measure that would continue funding the government and provide billions of dollars in extra disaster assistance.

Despite his most recent vote, Gaetz promised Floridians that they would still have support for Helene damage, according to a report by ABC 3.

Newsweek contacted Moskowitz and Gaetz’s office via email on Monday for comment.

Moskowitz’s statement concluded with a final call to action: “So, let’s get back to work and pass a bipartisan, long-term solution with no poison pills or politicking involved.”

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How to Watch: Louisville Cardinals at Florida State Seminoles

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How to Watch: Louisville Cardinals at Florida State Seminoles


LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A week removed from falling to Kentucky in the Battle of the Bluegrass, the Louisville men’s basketball program is back in action, traveling to Florida State for their first road game in ACC play.

While the Cardinals might have lost to their most hated rival in their last time out, they certainly gave the Wildcats a run for their money. Despite having only eight healthy scholarship players, Louisville kept within striking distance of Kentucky for the majority of the game before ultimately falling 93-85 in Rupp Arena.

As for the Seminoles, year 23 under head coach Leonard Hamilton is off to a solid start. While FSU is currently six games over .500 and heading into their matchup with Louisville on a two-game win streak, they’re 0-3 against teams ranked in KenPom’s top-100, including an 84-74 overtime loss at NC State.

This will be the 54th all-time meeting between Louisville and Florida State, with the Cardinals owning a 35-18 advantage. UofL won 101-92 back on Feb. 3, 2024 in the last matchup, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Seminoles.

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(Photo of Terrence Edwards Jr.: Jordan Prather – Imagn Images)

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More South Florida school zones will be getting speed cameras – how it's been going

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More South Florida school zones will be getting speed cameras – how it's been going


If you don’t look carefully, you could easily miss the cameras set up outside schools. They, however, are watching you, and if you’re going at least 10 miles over the speed limit, you will receive a $100 surprise in the mail. 

“If you don’t want to get one of those violations just stay within the speed limit, very simple,” said Village of Pinecrest Police Chief Jason Cohen. 

Pinecrest and South Miami were the first cities in South Florida to take advantage of a new state law allowing automated cameras to catch speeders in school zones. Since their systems went online in October, they’ve sent out about 7,400 citations in South Miami and about 5,800 in Pinecrest. 

“It’s too early to say from the data on the overall impact it’s going to have around the schools, but we believe it’s going to change peoples’ driving patterns, that they’re going to be cognizant that they’re near a school and they’re going to automatically slow down, that’s the goal,” Cohen said. 

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Diane Gilmore has been a security monitor for decades at Palmetto Senior High School. She said she sees speeders fly past the school all the time as students are trying to cross the street, and she’s glad the cameras have been installed. 

“I think they did a good idea because a lot of times, they be going across the street, these cars don’t respect us at all, they come fast and I say it ain’t careful, somebody gonna end up getting killed,” Gilmore said. 

Students spilling out of school seem to appreciate the cameras. 

“I think it’s good, ‘cause it controls the drivers so the drivers don’t speed and especially in a school zone,” said Nicholas Henriquez, a senior at Palmetto who drives to school. 

Not everyone agrees. Christian Gutierrez picks up a student regularly and he’s not impressed with the cameras’ impact. 

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“Even speedbumps, I feel like, stops speeding,” Gutierrez said. “More than the cameras, yeah, for sure.”

The school zone cameras operate only on school days, starting a half hour before school starts and ending a half hour after school ends, no matter what the speed limit is during those hours. The police departments make $39 for each citation issued. 

“But I think it’s important to highlight that the funds coming in have to be used for public safety,” Chief Cohen said. “Anything that can help make our city safer, especially around the children and the schools, we looked at it as a win.”

Soon, police departments in Miami Gardens, West Miami, Davie and Plantation will be starting up their own school zone camera systems. Miami-Dade Police have also installed cameras outside eleven schools with many more to follow. Cohen predicts almost all South Florida police departments will join the trend.

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South Florida’s beachfront buildings found to be sinking faster than expected

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South Florida’s beachfront buildings found to be sinking faster than expected


Schematic illustrating potential scenario to explain the observed subsidence pattern. Credit: Earth and Space Science (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2024EA003852

A team of mechanical, architectural and environmental engineers, geoscientists, and geoinformation specialists affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Germany has found that many of the tall, heavy buildings along the coast of South Florida are sinking into the ground much faster than was expected.

In their study published in the journal Earth and Space Science, the group compared satellite images over several years to learn more about ongoing subsidence along multiple beachfronts.

Prior research has shown that many factors can lead to subsidence, in which the altitude of a given parcel of land declines. Natural causes include water movement, earthquakes and gravity. Manmade causes include the heaviness of the built environment, including large buildings, and activities including fracking and landscaping.

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In this new study, the researchers noted that the many tall buildings along many parts of the coast in South Florida appeared to be extremely heavy. They wondered if adding so much weight might be causing the ground beneath them to sink.

To find out, the researchers obtained precise satellite imagery for several of the most popular beaches in South Florida and compared 35 buildings standing on them over time. Modern satellite imagery is so precise it can detect changes in altitude of just a few centimeters. The researchers found that every one of the buildings they measured was sinking, ranging from 2 to 8 cm over the years 2016 to 2023, and that most of them were sinking faster than expected.

South Florida's beachfront buildings found to be sinking faster than expected
Averaged 2016–Oct 2023 LOS velocity for Golden Beach and Sunny Isles Beach North, using Sentinel-1 sensors and SARvey package. Credit: Earth and Space Science (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2024EA003852

The research team also found that there were differences in subsidence between beach areas. The worst, for example, was occurring on Sunny Isles Beach; after that was Surfside, site of the collapse of a 12-story building back in 2021. Miami Beach, they noted, was experiencing the least amount of subsidence.

Because of the building collapse three years ago, the researchers took a closer look at Surfside to find out if subsidence may have been a contributing cause and found no evidence. Even if the building had been sinking, they note, it should not have led to structural damage unless it was sinking unevenly, with one part of the ground under the building sinking faster than another.

They suggest more work is required to determine if that is happening to any of the buildings in South Florida, and if so, to warn their owners.

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More information:
Farzaneh Aziz Zanjani et al, InSAR Observations of Construction‐Induced Coastal Subsidence on Miami’s Barrier Islands, Florida, Earth and Space Science (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2024EA003852

© 2024 Science X Network

Citation:
South Florida’s beachfront buildings found to be sinking faster than expected (2024, December 19)
retrieved 19 December 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-12-south-florida-beachfront-faster.html

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