Washington, DC - Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that an emergency exists in the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands and ordered Federal assistance to supplement the response efforts of the territory due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Irma beginning on September 5, 2017, and continuing.

The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.  This action will help alleviate the hardship and suffering that the emergency may inflict on the local population, and provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property, and ensure public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all of the islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide, at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.  

Brock Long, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named William L. Vogel as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.