FEMA chief on Florence: Biggest concern is "trying to get to the people who didn't evacuate"

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FEMA chief on Florence: Biggest concern is "trying to get to the people who didn't evacuate"

Jeff Pegues

 

6 hrs ago

"Zero to crazy in no time": Storm chaser describes Florence's wrath

 

Florence downgraded to tropical storm, at least 5 dead in North Carolina

 

00:22

02:01

FEMA chief says biggest concern is "trying to get to the people who didn't evacuate"

WASHINGTON — FEMA, the agency in charge of coordinating the federal response to Florence, was criticized last year for its handling of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. This year, it says it's ready for Florence.

As the storm lashed North and South Carolina Friday as a hurricane, FEMA officials warned of the storm's menacing rain. 

"What concerns me the most is trying to get to the people who didn't evacuate and that's incredibly hard to do, so we can't put our own people in danger," said administrator Brock Long, who spoke to CBS News right before he went to brief the president.

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Slide 1 of 69: Rescue workers from Township No. 7 Fire Department and volunteers from the Civilian Crisis Response Team help rescue a woman and her dog from their flooded home during Hurricane Florence Sept. 14 in James City. Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 1 storm and flooding from the heavy rain is forcing hundreds of people to call for emergency rescues in the area around New Bern, North Carolina, which sits at the confluence of the Nueces and Trent rivers.

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1/69 SLIDES © Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina Friday morning. More than 1 million people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia were told to flee their homes as the hurricane headed toward the coast.

(Pictured): Rescue workers from Township No. 7 Fire Department and volunteers from the Civilian Crisis Response Team help rescue a woman and her dog from their flooded home during Hurricane Florence Sept. 14 in James City, NC.

Slideshow by photo services

When asked what he planned on telling President Trump, Long said he was going to "let him know we're pre-positioned the best we can be."

They were pre-positioned with swift water and urban search and rescue teams in the storm zone and ready to step in when states called for help.

FEMA's James Joseph said even with all of its assets, there are limits to what it can do.

© Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Hurricane Florence - North Carolina

"What's concerning about this event is because of the continuous rain, no one can send crews out to start repairs until the storm has really passed. So we're talking several days of power outages where they've already begun," Joseph said.

Almost a year after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, there is a lot of pressure on FEMA to respond effectively to Florence. Long said FEMA is used to the blame game because disasters are frustrating and FEMA is always the end of the line.

FEMA chief on Hurricane Florence: "This is going to be a frustrating event"