Three Emergency Management Offices Are Being Repaired with FEMA Funds

FEMA allocated over $1 million for projects in Fajardo, Vieques and Maricao

Guaynabo, PUERTO RICO ― Over 45,000 residents of Fajardo, Vieques and Maricao will benefit from the repairs that will take place at their municipal offices for emergency management (OMME, for its Spanish acronym), thanks to an obligation of over $1 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“Emergency management offices are vital to save lives and property in emergency and disaster scenarios. As Joint Recovery Office for the agency, we are aware that responders must have optimal facilities to deploy support and resources during times of urgency and we are committed repair them,” said Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator José G. Baquero.

In Fajardo, the OMME is now in the final construction phase after an allocation of over $644,000. The office has a team of 27 employees, volunteers, paramedics and rescuers.

Like other OMMEs, their intervention during emergencies includes rescuing and transporting people to shelters, and collaborating with the Municipal Public Works Department in the removal of vegetative material and garbage collection. In addition, they carry out mitigation work such as cleaning up channels and streams. During the year they also offer other services to the community such as training and orientation talks on hurricane season preparedness.

Some of the repairs at this OMME include waterproofing the roof and replacing the emergency exit doors, acoustic ceiling tiles, a concrete retaining wall, the metal fence and air conditioners. Some of the office contents, such as projectors, cabinets and desks, will also be replaced.

“The reconstruction and all repairs are of utmost importance, since all warehouses, materials, equipment and emergency management personnel are located there, being this the office of assistance to citizens, specifically to help in disasters and emergencies,” said the Fajardo Municipal Recovery Programs director, Mabel Cosme Nieves.

On the other hand, the OMME in Maricao was established in the 1990s and has 12 employees, including paramedics and rescuers. This office received an allocation of nearly $15,000 to repair the roof, its drains and leaks, as well as to replace the steel antenna of the radio transmitter, a metal fence and some electrical connections.

According to its director, Luis Méndez Sanabria, the assistance services to citizens in these repaired facilities include food and water delivery, among others. “Having the OMME repaired is of utmost importance, since having the facilities in optimal conditions guarantees the safety of the employees and allows them to provide a better service, as the citizens deserve,” he added.

Another facility that received federal funds is the OMME at the island municipality of Vieques, which has 8 employees and 9 volunteers, including radio operators, rescuers, ambulance operators and a paramedic. With the nearly $400,000 in obligations, they will replace windows, doors, the air conditioning system, copper water pipes, light fixtures, metal roofs and the bathroom, among other work.

As for risk mitigation measures to prepare the facilities and make them more resistant to future disasters, the Fajardo and Vieques OMMEs have funds within their allocations for this purpose. 

The Fajardo office has over $418,000 to, among other things, install a roof insulation coating system to facilitate drainage, install an anchoring system for the air conditioning units and replace several doors with storm resistant ones. Similarly, the Vieques office was allocated over $6,500 to replace wooden doors with aluminum ones and to reinforce bathrooms, floors and ceilings to prevent future water damage.

For his part, the executive director of the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency (COR3), Manuel A. Laboy Rivera, said that “the Municipal Offices for Emergency Management play a vital role in the municipalities, as they lead the efforts to safeguard the lives of citizens during emergencies. These funds have allowed us to address the infrastructure needs of these centers in Fajardo, Vieques and Maricao, among others, for the benefit of the people. At COR3, we worked as a team with the municipalities and FEMA to promote these developments, for which funds were disbursed through the Working Capital Advance pilot program. Our team will continue to collaborate in this important process.”

To date, FEMA has obligated nearly $34 billion for more than 11,000 recovery projects in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane María. 

For more information about Puerto Rico’s recovery,  visit fema.gov/disaster/4339, fema.gov/disaster/4473 and recovery.pr. Follow us on our social media at Facebook.com/FEMAPuertoRico, Facebook.com/COR3pr and Twitter @COR3pr.

MUNICIPAL OFFICE FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, FAJARDO, PR

Guaynabo, PUERTO RICO (August 12, 2024) — Over 45,000 residents of Fajardo, Vieques and Maricao will benefit from the repairs that will take place at their municipal offices for emergency management (OMME, for its Spanish acronym), thanks to an obligation of over $1 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In Fajardo, the OMME is now in the final construction phase after an allocation of over $644,000. The office has a team of 27 employees, volunteers, paramedics and rescuers. Photo FEMA/Eliezer Hernández