**Updated June 24, 2011 at 1:15 p.m. EDT**
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) today met separately with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to receive updates on the flooding throughout Nebraska and discuss concerns surrounding water release and flood insurance decisions. Johanns and several other senators met with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, and Johanns later met with USACE Brigadier General John McMahon. Johanns additionally hand-delivered a letter to Administrator Fugate requesting further explanation of FEMA's flood insurance decision-making.
"There are many questions surrounding the Army Corps of Engineers' water storage and releases from dams and a cloud of uncertainty hangs over flood insurance in Nebraska due to FEMA decisions about when the flood officially began," Johanns said. "Those affected deserve answers. I appreciated the opportunity to convey these concerns directly to decision-makers in both agencies and I will continue to insist upon clear answers. Right now, these agencies must focus on managing the flood waters and disaster response, but the time will come for straightforward, honest explanations to some very valid questions."
FEMA has determined June 1, the date at which floodwaters were first released from the Garrison Dam in North Dakota, as the official starting point of the Missouri River flooding. This has implications for insurance coverage and seems to ignore later dam releases that caused significantly greater flooding in Nebraska.
A copy of Johanns' letter to Administrator Fugate can be found here.