Witt O’Brien’s Proudly Supports the USVI’s Recovery at 2nd FEMA/USVI Summit

In September 2017 the U.S. Virgin Islands were devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Both private property and public infrastructure were severely damaged. On the ground since the events of the storm, Witt O’Brien’s is proud to have played a part in assisting the Territory with its recovery efforts.

To date, Witt O’Brien’s has helped the USVI to secure billions in federal funding to help the islands recover and rebuild. Critically, Witt O’Brien’s policy and program experts have helped shape FEMA policies in the Territory on the application of disaster-specific recovery legislation, i.e., The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, notably by developing USVI-specific construction industry standards and persuading FEMA to replace—rather than repair—much of the Territory’s storm-damaged critical service infrastructure.

These new industry standards have allowed the Witt O’Brien’s team to vastly expand the scope and cost of approved recovery projects, resulting in an exponential increase in the overall funding available to the Territory to build back more resiliently.

On December 5th, U.S. Virgin Islands Governor, Albert Bryan Jr., attended the 2nd FEMA/USVI Summit in New York City. He took a moment to share his thoughts on the Bipartisan Budget Act, what it means for the USVI, and how best to expeditiously implement the high priority projects using these billions of dollars of federal assistance. Our own Brad Gair, Senior Managing Director and USVI Project Lead, was on hand to facilitate the discussion with FEMA and provide policy and subject matter expertise.

Witt O’Brien’s is proud to assist the USVI’s government and people in their recovery and look forward to providing ongoing support and assistance. Watch Governor Albert Bryan Jr.’s video address at https://fb.watch/hsk5rLansG/.