Former County Commissioner Peter Altman sought to help dozens of coastal homeowners in 2003 when the Federal Emergency Management Agency said they may have illegally expanded their homes in flood zones. ...more

November 24, 2007

Reversing a decision that some found bureaucratically absurd, the Federal Emergency Management Agency granted $99,766 Wednesday to an aquarium that saved taxpayers a bundle by catching replacements for the fish it lost to Hurricane Katrina. ...more

November 22, 2007

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has updated Hillsborough County's flood maps, outlining areas where federal flood insurance will be required. ...more

November 20, 2007

Saving people in a national disaster isn't a matter of days, Florida's emergency chief Craig Fugate told a group of military officers in Tampa on Friday. It's a matter of hours. ...more

November 17, 2007

In what some see as another bureaucratic absurdity after Hurricane Katrina, FEMA is refusing to pick up the cost of restocking New Orleans' aquarium because of how the new fish were obtained: straight from the sea. ...more

November 14, 2007

The aging earthen dike around Lake Okeechobee - the only barrier between the second-largest freshwater body in the contiguous United States and thousands of residents - presents an "urgent and compelling" need for repairs, stated a report released Friday. ...more

November 4, 2007

For Perry and Sandra Delong, rebuilding their life after their home burned to the ground last week is going to be a test like no other. ...more

October 28, 2007

The homeland security chief on Saturday tore into his employees for staging a phony news conference at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. ...more

October 28, 2007

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's No. 2 official apologized Friday for leading a staged news conference Tuesday in which FEMA employees posed as reporters while real reporters listened on a telephone conference line and were barred from asking questions. ...more

October 27, 2007

If you need to flee from a giant firestorm that threatens to turn your world to ashes, Ronald Garza allowed between bites of an ice cream bar Tuesday, 'this is probably the best place to be.' ...more

October 24, 2007