Houston, Galveston County Receive FEMA Grants To Prep For Coordinated Terror Attacks

HOUSTON, TX — The possibility of a complex terrorist attack has prompted the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to award $35.9 million in federal grants.

FEMA announced the funding awards to 29 U.S. cities, counties and law enforcement agencies in a press release on July 13.

According to the official statement, the awards were made through the Fiscal Year 2016 Program to Prepare Communities for Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks.

Five Texas entities were among the 29 recipients including the City of Houston, which will receive $1.7 million, while the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission was awarded $1,076,336 in grant funding.

Others in Texas included Galveston County which will receive $976,896, the City of Dallas was awarded $925,000, and the Texas Department of Public Safety was awarded $659,556.

FY 2016 CCTA Program funding is awarded to the following recipients:

• Arlington County Government (Va.): $1,244,890
• City of Aurora (Ill.): $1,373,809
• City of Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications (Ill.): $699,502
• City of Los Angeles Mayor's Office of Public Safety (Calif.): $1,223,225
• City of Miami (Fla.): $723,260
• City of Phoenix (Ariz.): $1,565,000
• City of Winston-Salem (N.C.): $1,868,050
• Durham County (N.C.): $931,500
• East-West Gateway Council of Governments (Ill./Mo.): $1,474,716
• Franklin County (Ohio) : $829,725
• Hawaii Department of Defense (Hawaii): $492,800
• Illinois Emergency Management Agency (Ill.): $1,214,024
• Indiana Department of Homeland Security (Ind.): $2,024,833
• King County (Wash.): $1,516,723
• Knox County (Tenn.): $536,250
• Maryland Emergency Management Agency (Md.): $2,098,575
• Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (D.C./Va.): $595,098
• Mid-America Regional Council (Mo.): $2,251,502
• New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (N.Y.): $1,379,048
• San Bernardino County (Calif.): $1,334,751
• South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (S.C.): $1,530,020
• Unified Fire Authority of Greater Salt Lake (Utah): $1,043,800
• Virginia Department of Emergency Management (Va.): $2,001,568
• Wisconsin Emergency Management (Wis.): $589,810

FEMA officials said the rise in coordinated terrorist attacks, such as those perpetrated in London, England; Boston, Massachusetts; Nairobi, Kenya; San Bernardino, California; Paris, France; and Brussels, Belgium; highlight an emerging terrorism threat worldwide.

“Attacks we have seen around the world have shown us the importance of continuing to build strong, resilient, and prepared communities,” FEMA Administrator Brock Long said in a statement. “These grants will serve as a catalyst to support communities across the country to enhance resilience and continue to build capacity at the local level.”

FEMA officials said the recipients will receive funding specifically to develop and implement effective, sustainable, and regional approaches for enhancing preparedness for complex coordinated terrorist attacks, which include the following components: developing and/or updating plans, training to implement plans and procedures, and conducting exercises to validate capabilities.

In a statement from the City of Houston office of Public Safety and Homeland Security, Director Dennis Storemski said the city will use the grant to conduct a gap analysis of current processes, establish a program to improve these gaps, develop training programs, and conduct regional exercises.

“We’re happy that DHS has continued to recognize the risk to Houston and other major urban areas for acts of terrorism,” Storemski said in a statement, “as the nature of the nature of these acts of terrorism changes, we need to develop best practices, and ensure that all of our public safety personnel are ready to respond in a coordinated way.”

Storemski said Houston’s application distinguished because of the city's innovative and flexible approach to training emergency responders through the use of web-based technology.

Through this initiative, Houston will continue to strengthen its capacity for building and sustaining capabilities as it relates to these types of incidents.

The grant is expected to be fully awarded to the City in the fall of 2017.

Image: Shutterstock

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