As Hurricane Sandy approached New York on October 28, 2012, and President Obama declared a state of

August 25, 2017 Hurricane Harvey hit the coast of Texas with absolute power. It was originally predicted that it would not surpass category 1, the elements combined and made Harvey extremely vicious. It hit the most populated areas on the United States becoming one of the most destructive. People did not have enough time to properly prepare for the unpredicted devastation ahead. However, the government and the people responded with strong efforts. Let’s start with the federal department. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (which is referred to as FEMA), with its government accomplices mobilized a work force and with many assets to help states affected. About 21,000 government assets were sent to help out during the vicious Tropical Storm. A lot of people sought refuge during the storm and the Federal government gave them many places to stay for example many government owned sites were converted refuge sites for the victims. The U.S coast guard played a huge role to aid victims. Thousands of coast guards were deployed in support of the relief efforts. They evacuated victims through government transport such as helicopters and big vehicles that could travel through the flooding. They are also opened various docks and waterways within Brownsville, Kentucky without any restrictions to the public. FEMA provided thousands of meals, medical and household items. Fema also paid rent for the victim’s short-term housing. Other ongoing Federal

Hurricane Katrina was a big threat to the coastal areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and the governor declared a state of emergency in reaction towards potential destruction the hurricane may fall in New Orleans, a major city in Louisiana. To prepare for the threat of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), was sent to Louisiana to help aid the state. Later, a big disaster befalls in the state of Louisiana, and the governor declared a national evacuation. New Orleans, the heavily populated city, ordered its citizen to evacuate in the Superdome, with food, shelter, and rations being distributed. After the state evacuation was made, there was a shortage of food, water, and operable toilet facilities, thus creating

Packing 145-mile-an-hour winds as it made landfall, the category 3 storm left more than a million people in three states without power and submerged highways even hundreds of miles from its center. The hurricane’s storm surge — a 29-foot wall of water pushed ashore when the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast — was the highest ever measured in the United States. Levees failed in New Orleans, resulting in political and social upheavals that continued a half decade later. (Laforet, New York Times)

The efforts taken by both governments were insufficient in preparing citizens for Hurricane Katrina and evacuating those in danger areas. After Hurricane Katrina, The United States Army Corps of Engineers was exposed for being unable to provide adequate flood protection for New Orleans, a city that is already below sea level. Although President George W. Bush signed two bills post-Katrina which contributed over $60 billion dollars for disaster relief, he was blamed for federal inaction and many Americans believe he did not do enough to help out those affected. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director, Michael Brown, was criticized greatly by the American people and ended up resigning because of the backlash he faced. Most Americans have criticized the government, both state and federal, for their inability to respond quickly to the major disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. Since Katrina, governments at all levels have felt immense pressure to become better prepared to respond to future disasters to

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, otherwise known as the Stimulus Bill, was one of the first major pieces of legislation passed by the new Democratic Congress in 2009 and signed by newly inaugurated President Barack Obama. The legislation was an attempt to take the United States economy out of a major recession through federal spending. The motivation for this bill was the collapse of the housing market bubble and the mortgage crisis. A result of these problems was the decline of consumer and corporate credit, causing monetary liquidity in the economy. Obama argued that the economy needed a “jump-start” to get moving again; that being the stimulus of 2009. Drafts for the bill called for as little as $275 billion in spending,

The whole world observed as the administration responders appeared incapable to provide essential protection from the effects of nature. The deprived response results from a failure to accomplish a number of risk factors (Moynihan, 2009). The dangers of a major hurricane striking New Orleans had been measured, and there was sufficient warning of the threat of Katrina that announcements of emergency were made days in advance of landfall (Moynihan, 2009). Nonetheless, the responders were unsuccessful to change this information into a level of preparation suitable with the possibility of the approaching disaster. Federal responders failed to recognize the need to more actively engage (Moynihan, 2009). These improvements include improved ability to provide support to states and tribes ahead of a disaster; developed a national disaster recovery strategy to guide recovery efforts after major disasters and emergencies; and the Establishment of Incident Management Assistance Teams in which these full time, rapid response teams are able to deploy within two hours and arrive at an incident within 12 hours to support the local incident commander (FEMA,

When a disaster such as a hurricane takes place, the first responsibility is of the state’s governor to make a formal request for a state of disaster and receive the necessary assistance and aid to the affected area (The Disaster Hanbook- National Edition, 1998). The President of the United States of America must make a declaration of emergency and major disaster to initiate the effort to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (The Disaster Hanbook- National Edition, 1998). Once a disaster has been declared, the U.S president will send supplementary funds to the state and local efforts to aid the affected population (The Disaster Hanbook- National Edition, 1998). In order for funding to be dispersed to the area in need, the President of the United States must allow this action to take place.

As FEMA’s funds were rapidly depleting, two more hurricanes and disasters were set to ravage the United States. “The administration is already anticipating the need for more hurricane relief funding: The White House has requested an additional $6.7 billion in Harvey funding as part of the spending bill that Congress must pass by the end of September to keep the government open. Greg Abbott said on Sunday that the Harvey recovery could ultimately cost as much as $180 billion” (Khimm, 2017).

The State of New Jersey assisted the citizens of South Amboy by providing them with low interest loans in order for them to begin the recovery phase, also the Governor of New Jersey declared a State of Emergency in the area of disaster in order to obtain Federal funds to assist the community. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), came into the area within hours and provided the members of the community with money in order to assist them with the recovery phase and cover some of the losses the citizens encountered after super storm sandy struck the city of South

Immediately following Hurricane Sandy, the damages done to the transportation infrastructure included approximately 600 million gallons of water that penetrated the mass transit system and critical inter-city roads. States along the eastern seaboard were impacted from Florida to Maine, with the most destruction occurring in New Jersey and New York. Prior to landfall, pre-storm emergency declarations were issued for Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and West Virginia to facilitate preparation. Following the storm, major disaster declarations were issued for Connecticut, New York, New Jersey followed by Rhode Island, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and New Hampshire.

spending for FEMA. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks Bush Administration were focused more on antiterrorism,

The Sandy Recovery Act of 2013 signed by President Obama afforded federally recognized tribes residing on reservations the ability to deal directly with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Prior to the signing of the amendment, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988 (Stafford Act), which provides disaster relief, did not include a provision allowing the tribes to request federal aid directly to the president. The sovereignty of the particular tribal nation was categorized as being in the same genre as a local

In late October of 2012 Hurricane Sandy hit many New York City boroughs and several parts of New Jersey. My community and many others were greatly affected. Homes around me were destroyed, people in my community were killed, and some families lost everything. My high school was a shelter for those who were severely affected from October 23rd my high school were asking for volunteers and my older brother and I were there amongst hundreds giving out food collecting clothing articles, blankets, toys, anything to help others. The hardest part was seeing my high school teachers crying educators who were emotionally unstable and had no place to go. The town of Tottenville was terribly affected by hurricane sandy, houses on the shore were gone,

Hurricane Sandy is probably one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent human history. This is no exaggeration, as implied by its status as "superstorm" and its tongue in cheek nomination as "Frankenstorm." And indeed, there has been a significant scale of damage to property and in some cases even to life itself. As the President of the United States of America, President Barack Obama took it upon himself to personally visit the states that were hardest hit, and to offer support where he could. This in itself may not be extremely unusual for a current president. However, Obama took time out of a very busy election campaign, which he was by no means certain of winning, to lend both personal, emotional, and financial support before, during, and after the storm.

In the news lately, the United States federal government is devising a plan to aid Puerto Rico in rebuilding, mostly the power grid and infrastructure, due to damage caused by Hurricane Maria. On Thursday the House of Representatives were suppose to assemble and vote on a relief bill that called for a $4.9 billion loan to Puerto Rico as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands (this is included in the $36.5 billion to help with hurricane and wildfire relief). Although the loan is intended to aid Puerto Rico, it is for short-term needs only, such as paying urgent bills, not for rebuilding; rebuilding will be addressed by the administration through a much more long-term solution. Additionally, Puerto Rico’s Governor has asked for $3.2 billion in block