BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — FEMA cuts funding for earthquake retrofitting in CA. These funds are responsible for retrofitting homes & buildings in case of natural disasters. If these funds aren't reinstated, lives could be lost.
- The Kern Valley Hospital is one of the facilities in need of the funding. They have applied twice, trying to get their building up to code.
- All hospitals in California need to be retrofitted by 2030. If not they may be subjected to close the facility.
- California is projected to lose a average of 9.6 billion dollars a year due to earthquake damage.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
California is known for its earthquakes, and California Senator Adam Schiff is advocating to get FEMA funds reinstated. I'm Eric J. Dockery your neighborhood reporter. These funds will help California residents in case of a natural disaster. Without the funds thousands of residents could be at risk of losing everything.
Kern Valley Hospital along with other medical facilities have been affected by FEMA due to its taking away 33 million dollars in critical funds for California retrofitting. This will affect residents whose homes or businesses need to be retrofitted in case of an earthquake, leaving them at risk of losing everything.
Adam Schiff United States Senator said "This is funding that Californians would use to harden their homes and buildings against earthquakes. What we've seen in a number of earthquakes in California like the Northridge earthquake. A lot of these soft sided apartment buildings particularly those that have carports. If they don't have reinforced structures then those carports collapse and the apartments above them collapse and lot of people get killed."
Facilities like the Kern Valley Hospital have applied twice for FEMA funding so they will be able to get their building up to code. Both times, they were approved but never received the funds.
Tim McGlew CEO of the Kern Valley Health District said "The cost cutting that had been going on at the White House at the time stopped us from receiving the funds. That was critical for us, prior we have gone through multiple attempts to try to get funding through our community, either through increase taxes or other means, unfortunately just couldn't get that done."
If the funding is restored, this will allow residents and property owners to prepare themselves for the unknown. According to the California Hospital Association, all hospitals in California need to be retrofitted by 2030. If Kern Valley Hospital isn't retrofitted by then, it will be forced to close, which will affect residents in that community.
"For us its going its going to be a little bit longer to get it through, obviously construction doesn't happen overnight. We are lucky we have approved building plans from the state. We have building permits that have been issued by the county to go ahead and get started. We are shovel ready which was one of the things FEMA was very impressed with and why they approved us on that grant." said McGlew
Senator Schiff said "We're going to try to make sure that we continue to provide vital help to serve our constituents in Kern County. I have no doubt that residents in Kern County are dependent on Medicaid funding for the health care that is provided through the county. I know there is a lot of folks depending on that health care."
The hospital needs to get funding before April of 2026. If not, their plans and building permits will expire, which will result in a huge expense for the facility.
"That would be traumatic for this community being we are the only hospital for this area. If we get a major earthquake that comes through the canyon will be impacted and the likelihood of us getting patients out of here will be dramatically compromised." said McGlew
California is at risk of losing an average of 9.6 billion dollars per year from earthquake damage. Residents here fear that without the support of the federal government homes and lives could be lost. For 23ABC I'm Eric J. Dockery your neighborhood reporter.
For more information visit:
Senator Schiff Press Release
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