FEMA announced that federal emergency aid has been made available to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to supplement Commonwealth and local response efforts to the emergency conditions in the area affected by earthquakes beginning on Dec. 28, 2019, and continuing.
The President’s action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures (Category B), limited to direct federal assistance under the Public Assistance program, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding. This assistance is for all 78 municipalities in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Alex Amparo has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal response operations in the affected area.