A high-ranking Federal Emergency Management Agency official who oversaw the reconstruction of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid is under investigation by a government watchdog over allegations she steered work to a utility contractor, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. FEMA Deputy Regional Administrator Ahsha Tribble was relieved of her duties and placed on administrative leave last week amid a continuing probe by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. Tribble deployed to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria struck the U.S. island territory in September 2017 and spent the next year there coordinating FEMA’s response to the storm-ravaged power system, according to her FEMA biography. The DHS Inspector General, which conducts investigations into FEMA, has probed her interactions with Cobra Acquisitions LLC, a grid-construction contractor hired by Puerto Rico’s public electric utility after the hurricane. The investigation has also focused on whether Cobra gained an improper advantage in the contracting process.
