Effectiveness Of The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Throughout its history, FEMA has had two main missions. First, FEMA’s mission is to enhance the federal government 's capacity to deal with and survive foreign attacks. The main types of foreign attacks that FEMA is tasked to respond to relate to terrorist attacks and nuclear war. The second mission of FEMA is to assist state and local authori¬ties to respond to man-made and natural disasters that are to enormous for the local and state resources to respond to efficiently. While national security focuses more on civil defense, state and local authorities are more focused on natural disasters such as hurricanes, storms, floods and potential nuclear power accidents. These divergent focuses really presents FEMA with huge challenges since federal security authorities’ main objective is quite different from state or local authorities’ focus. Considering that FEMA designed the Federal Response Plan, the agency has the challenge of balancing these interests while working on its two key missions.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has had some downfalls within their missions as does any organization, however, they still lead a very positive and contributing lending hand when in times of need. Their goal and ultimate mission, according to the official website of the Department of Homeland Security, is to “support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against,

Despite warnings of the impact, Hurricane Andrew the response was negligent and ill prepared. As predicted, the devastation was catastrophic. (20) Governor Chiles was either not informed as to how the state would be affected or was lax in his duties. The Governor waited too long before requesting help for the state. Governor Chiles felt that the state itself could handle the damages that arose after impact and refused government assistance. Once he realized the state could not handle the devastation on its own, government also waited for a formal request from the Governor before stepping in. The reaction from FEMA after the request was slow and ineffective waiting for word from Chiles. In essence, no one actually surveyed the damages caused by the hurricane and once surveyed properly; people had already waited too long and were in dire

Natural disasters always bring many property damages, casualty and countless people who lost their home and all their belongings. "On May 22, 2011, the city of Joplin, Missouri was impacted by an EF-5 tornado. There were 158 deaths with over a thousand injured as a result of the tornado". Hurricane Katrina has been a good example as a warning on how the agencies as FEMA should have been handling the disasters. There were complaints from the survivors to the government, FEMA and other organizations that were involved in the rescue. Throughout the years, FEMA, the government, and some non-profit organizations have been working on the solution from the lesson of Hurricane Katrina and trying to minimize the casualty and property damages in the

One dominant agency is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the United States Department of Homeland Security. FEMA was created on 1979 by the late President Jimmy Carter that signed the executive order to support the citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation, people work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards. Another program called National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) was developed to lead the federal government’s effort to reduce the fatalities, injuries, and property losses caused by earthquakes. This program was established in 1977 to coordinate their complementary activities with FEMA, the

For the past 35 years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, commonly known as FEMA, has been dedicated to preparing, protecting, responding and serving the American people following major disasters and crisis. Effective on April 1, 1979 under President Jimmy Carter’s administration and funded through federal funding, FEMA has been committed to preparing, protecting, responding and assisting in recovery efforts in the state as well as the local government during crisis and disasters. Similarly to any agency, FEMA has faced many challenges when providing funding to victims and survivors of disasters. Critics have criticized FEMA in their response to disasters.

The national agencies involved in pre and post-disaster management and planning are The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in connection with The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and The Ready Campaign. FEMA was first implemented during President Jimmy Carter's term in 1979. Their mission is dedicated to nationally support and protect citizens throughout the country during natural or manmade disasters (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2017). FEMA works closely together with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security along with local and state governments to provide extensive disaster relief efforts and necessary assistance during any crisis (Department Homeland Security, 2016). FEMA offers both pre and post-disaster

Chris Edwards states that the FEMA looks a first hero against any disasters in the United States, and the FEMA is responsible before, during and after any disaster (Edwards, 2014). In this manner, the FEMA spent a lot of money to recover the recently happened disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005. According to Edwards, “federalism” should support on the efforts to prevent any disasters, to get rid of them, and to recover them as quickly as possible to serve the American people properly. Of course, all Americans should support and put efforts to recover of any kind of disasters that the Americans already proved this in the past. Another issue is about bringing the places affected by a disaster in a good situation, which means “restoration,” as Norman E. McSwain Jr. states in his essay (McSwain, 2010, 587-591). For example, McSwain states that one of the most restoration of the cities affected by Katrina was about health care situation (McSwain, 2010, 587-591). In

The Federal Emergency Management Agency would be called into called into question for several reasons. FEMA usually is responsible for placing between six thousand to eight thousand people in homes a year. Hurricane Katrina

All functions vested in the President that have been delegated or assigned to the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, Department of Defense, are transferred or reassigned to the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency” ( Executive Order NO. 12,148, 1979). In this executive order, director of the FEMA had given many other authorities as he was being asked to establish Federal policies for, and coordinate, all civil defense and civil emergency planning, management and assistance of the Federal agencies. In the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Congress decided to make department of homeland security to coordinate with other federal agencies to work in any disaster or law order situation. “Carry out all functions of entities transferred to the Department, including by acting as a focal point regarding natural and manmade crises and emergency planning” PUBLIC LAW 107–296—NOV. 25,

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a body under the United States Department of Homeland Security that was created in 1978 to improve the safety of the American residents, especially during disasters. FEMA has a primary mandate of coordinating the response to any disaster that may occur in the U.S. and that overwhelms both local and state authorities’ resources. FEMA comes in to aid only after the governor of the involved state has declared a state of emergency and has made a formal request. However, there is an exception to the gubernatorial declaration requirement, when an emergency occurs on a federal property such as the Space Shuttle Columbia experienced in the 2003 return-flight disaster ("About the FEMA Agency", 2016).

“On April 1, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed the executive order that created the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”1.Year in and out, a disaster can strike at any moment and put millions of people in danger and wreck billions of dollars’ worth of property. But, this is where the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) steps in and up to the plate. FEMA works “as part of a team helping communities reduce their risk, helping emergency officials prepare for all hazards, and helping people get back on their feet after their lives are disrupted by a disaster.”2 FEMA’s primary focus is to coordinate federal and logistical operations “to save and sustain lives, minimize suffering, and protect property in a timely and effective manner in communities that become devastated by disasters.”3

This report below is a concerning the overall DHS program prioritization which will address the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which is a directorate under the DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which become part of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate of DHS. This report could have not been prepared without gathering background information concerning the following area hazard/threats, hazard identification and risk analysis, terrorist laws and analyzing and quantifying risk DHS. All of which led to findings and recommendation for the DHS to evaluate and prioritize their programs

There are numerous types of situations that could cause an emergency response, but who is supposed to provide emergency response to largescale emergencies? The answer is the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); specifically the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Department of Homeland Security was created because of one single event that happened on September 11th, 2001. There are several entities under the DHS program, additionally; the Federal Emergency Management Agency heads the emergency response efforts under DHS.

These events along with others help shape the role of the federal government, especially their laws, programs, policies, regulations, plans, and grant requirements in state and local emergency management organizations and efforts to offset some of the aftermath. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) initiated the Federal Response Plan in New York and Virginia. The emergency response system recognized for its quick and effective activation of hundreds of Federal response personnel to help in a crisis. Later in 2002, President Bush signed the Homeland Security Act of 2002; and announced the Secretary of Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Governor Tom Ridge. The Homeland Security Act was designed to protect the United States from