US Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp met with Vice President Mike Pence at the White House on Monday to discuss the status of and to report on the territory’s preparations for the current hurricane season.
Mapp thanked the vice president and the Trump administration for its support in assisting the US Virgin Islands recover from the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The governor also requested White House support in addressing the bureaucratic hurdles the territory has faced in order to accelerate the recovery process.
Mapp discussed with the vice president ways in which the administration could facilitate a faster and stronger recovery in the territory. He raised the need to waive certain rules on the FEMA Sheltering and Temporary Emergency Power (STEP) program and allow FEMA to fund permanent roofing on approximately 4,000 storm damaged homes in the Territory.
With significant damages to schools and other traditional hurricane shelters, as well as thousands of homes in need of repair, the governor urged the vice president to allow the use of FEMA funding to replace blue tarps and install permanent roofs to building code standards over the next few months. The permanent roof program is estimated to cost tens of thousands of dollars per home, with the total project cost estimated to exceed $250 million.
