The feds arrived in Connecticut on Wednesday morning to provide help as a buildup of snow and ice bring down buildings across the state.
The FEMA Incident Management Assistance team arrived early Wednesday morning and met with local emergency teams to coordinate a possible response.
Structural collapses and damage have been reported at an abandoned mill in Stafford Springs, a commercial building in East Haven, a former bowling alley in Waterbury, a detached residential garage at Center and Griswold streets in Manchester, an auto body shop in Enfield, a high school auditorium in South Windsor, a multi-vehicle garage at a condo in Wethersfield and a commercial building in Middletown.
President Barack Obama spoke by phone with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate on Wednesday morning about the storm moving across the country and FEMA personnel were sent to Connecticut, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. The federal agency is also getting commodities, including water, meals, blankets, cots, generators and other essential items, set to deliver quickly if needed.
Obama stressed the need for close coordination at all levels of government, and instructed DHS and FEMA to continue anticipating and addressing the needs of the states dealing with the storm.
