Tag: Hurricane Irene

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Remember when the gov’t helped people in times of disaster? Cantor says not without budget cuts.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) today stood by his call that no more money be allocated for disaster relief unless it is offset by spending cuts elsewhere.

FEMA will need more funds than it currently has to address the devastation from this weekend’s Hurricane Irene. Cantor took this position following the tornadoes that devastated Joplin, Missouri and elsewhere in the spring and summer, and after last week’s earthquake, the epicenter for which was in his district, but the hurricane’s level of destruction is far beyond that of those disasters.

Cantor told Fox News that while “we’re going to find the money,” “we’re just going to need to make sure that there are savings elsewhere to do so.”

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100s of New York area flights getting cancelled ahead of Hurricane Irene

Airlines have begun cancelling hundreds of flights to and from New York-area airports as Hurricane Irene draws closer—bad news for travelers trying to get the hell out of Dodge.

JetBlue has cancelled 882 flights so far, from Saturday through Monday, most of them at JFK Airport. The airline is waiving some change fees for cancelled flights — check their official site for more details.

AirTran is also cancelling flights across the East Coast and waiving some fees — here’s a full list of locations affected. Delta is too (full list here), as well as Continental-United (full list here).

The Port Authority has said they will be ready with “hundreds of cases of bottled water, diapers, cots, blankets and pillows” for any passengers that get stranded due to heavily delayed or canceled flights, and they have arranged to have at least one food vendor open day and night at JFK and LaGuardia.

More at the Gothamist