How do Obama and Romney differ on disaster relief?
Hurricane Sandy highlights how Obama and Romney respond to disasters
Obama campaigned four years ago on a promise to revamp the federal government’s disaster- response functions and has embraced changes long sought by state governors and professional emergency managers. Since becoming president, he has led the federal response to multiple natural disasters, including tornadoes, flooding and major hurricanes, learning from government stumbles during the presidency of George W. Bush — most notably in the case of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Obama’s posture has been to order federal agencies to aggressively prepare for and respond to major storms and other disasters. As governor of Massachusetts, Romney requested federal disaster assistance for storm cleanup, and he has toured storm-ravaged communities as a presidential candidate, but he has agreed with some who suggest that the Federal Emergency Management Agency could be dissolved as part of budget cuts.Simon Owens is an assistant managing editor at U.S. News & World Report. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. Email him at sowens@usnews.com
How to Get Financially Ready for a Hurricane
That’s why the National Endowment for Financial Education suggests putting together all of your important documents, along with cash and credit cards, so you can easily grab them and go if you need to quickly leave your home. Banks and ATMs can shut down during emergencies, so it’s a good idea to have cash on hand in advance. The nonprofit also recommends keeping your insurance company’s contact information handy in case you need to call them on the go and get information about reimbursements and coverage.
Now is also a good time to check up on just what your homeowners insurance or rental insurance covers. According to the MetLife Auto & Home Insurance Literacy Survey, many homeowners don’t know just what their policy covers and sometimes end up paying for repairs that would have been covered by their policies.
Image from NASA’s GOES-13 satellite on 25 Aug 2011, 10:02 AM EDT.
