Just over $170,000 in federal emergency disaster aid has been obligated to American Samoa as a result of the severe storms, flooding and landslides which affected Tutuila between July 29 and Aug. 3 this year, according to the latest update of U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) records.

President Barack Obama in September declared that a flooding disaster occurred in American Samoa, following a request from Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga. However, FEMA denied the territory’s request for Individual Assistance funds, while approving only Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation funds.

FEMA last week submitted a report to the U.S. Congress providing a summary of declared disasters in FY 2014 for all states and territories. The report included a summary on American Samoa’s several storms, flooding and landslides, and states in part that the preliminary damage assessment of the disaster put the estimated total cost at $2.02 million.

Most of what is contained in the brief summary has been reported by Samoa News in previous editions.

FEMA online records show that as of yesterday, the agency has obligated a total of $171,900 in Public Assistance grants to American Samoa, with $104,774 for emergency work — which is work that must be performed to reduce or eliminate an immediate threat to life, protect public health and safety, and to protect improved property that is significantly threatened due to disasters or emergencies declared by the President.

Of the total obligated funds, just over $67,000 is for "permanent work” — which is work required to restore a damaged facility, through repair or restoration, to its pre-disaster design, function, and capacity in accordance with applicable codes and standards.

Some of the departments affected by the disaster are the Territorial Registrar’s office, the Department of Education, the E-Rate Office and the Department of Public Safety.

GAO REPORT

More than $200 million in federal emergency disaster funding was obligated to American Samoa for three natural disasters in the past decade, according to a breakdown in a U.S. Government Accountability Office report, sent to Congressional members.

The report by the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, probes administrative costs at FEMA between fiscal years 2004 and 2013 — in which the federal agency obligated $12.7 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) for administrative costs.

GAO called on FEMA to implement more oversight on administrative costs.

Of the 650 major disasters declared in the ten fiscal years— FYs 2004 to 2013 — for states and territories, three of them were for American Samoa, according to the GAO report, which also says that FEMA obligates funds from the DRF to help jurisdictions respond to and recover from declared disasters. FEMA classifies these funds into five categories: Public Assistance, Individual Assistance, Hazard Mitigation, Mission Assignments, and Administrative Costs.

The GAO report shows that about $248 million was obligated by FEMA for the three emergency disasters in American Samoa during those years with $64 million allocated for administrative costs.

The three disasters were not identified in the GAO report, but FEMA online records state that the disasters were: January 2004 Cyclone Heta; February 2005 Cyclone Olaf (in which Manu’a islands were mostly impacted); and September 2009 earthquake, tsunami and flooding.

For the three disasters, the GAO report data shows a total of $102 million obligated for Public Assistance; $66 million for Individual Assistance— which assists individuals and families; $9 million for ‘mission assignment’; and $7 million towards hazard mitigation.

For Heta, FEMA records show $12.19 million was obligated for Public Assistance with $10.61 million for “permanent work”; while a total of $25.92 million was approved for Individual Assistance, which includes $11.71 million for housing assistance.

For Olaf, a total of nearly $3 million was approved for Individual Assistance, which includes $1.15 million for housing assistance; and total Public Assistance obligated was $5.66 million, which included $4.62 million for ‘permanent work’.

For the devastating earthquake and tsunami which claimed the lives of 34 people in the territory, the approved amount for Individual Assistance was $22.78 million which included $18.25 million for housing assistance; while a total of $85.71 million was obligated for Public Assistance, which includes $51.07 million for permanent work and $33.30 million in Emergency work.

Two government officials say that these amounts in FEMA disaster aid do not include financial assistance provided by other federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Transportation for highway repairs and construction, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

There is no specific breakdown on projects funded with FEMA money, but it has been made public and reported by Samoa News over the years, that the largest tsunami project funded by FEMA is the American Samoa Power Authority’s new Satala Power Plant project, with $12 million allocated for construction and $36 million for generators, switch gear and auxiliaries.