Federal Preparedness and Mitigation Programs Disasters can occur at any moment, anywhere; financial

This paper is designed to show you the differences between the way conservatives and progressives view the federal role in emergency management. Furthermore, the advantages and disadvantages of each them. Also, we will discuss what you should expect as a practitioner of the profession on how to prepare yourself when you would like to switch from one to the other. Most importantly discuss the criteria of a natural disaster and how human and social perception factors inter play with each other. One question at hand is do we blame the victim? What does “blaming the victim” means? Is there any validity to this or not? Does this concept influence the way our society responds to disaster or any other event that may occur? These are some of

Much of this changed with the establishment of DHS. Many, if not all, of the grant programs established within the new DHS focused on terrorism. FEMA programs and funding were diverted or reduced to support terrorism. The all-hazards concept was not embraced in the early years of DHS. (Bullock, 2016, p. 5)

Tragic events that cause damage to property and life may destroy the social, cultural and economic life of a community. Communities must be engaged in the various phases from prevention to recovery to build disaster resilient communities. In order to do this, there must be a disaster preparedness plan in place that involves multiple people in various roles.

The largest disaster in the middle Tennessee area was the flooding of the Cumberland River in 2010. There were disaster mitigation efforts made before and after the disaster. Disaster mitigation is the first of the four pillars of disaster preparedness (Siminovi, 2011). This is one of the most important pillars, as this is where real change can be physically made in order to possibly change the path of any future disaster.

Critical incidents require immediate action (Levinson & Granot, 2002). Additionally, they also require ongoing support in order to ensure that they are correctly managed and the long-term effects are mitigated (Schneid & Collins, 2001). Addressed here are four specific events - earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornados. There are ways to mitigate the damage of these events, and there are also ways to try to prepare for them. Additionally, the type of response to these events is important as is the recovery from them. For earthquakes, mitigation is limited. It is possible to build houses and buildings stronger and more able to withstand shaking, and in earthquake-prone areas the cabinets often have latches and large appliances are strapped to the wall (U.S., 2007). People who live there should also have emergency supplies of food and water, and should be prepared for an earthquake by knowing information about evacuation routes (U.S., 2007). The response to earthquakes and the recovery from them are usually strong, because the areas that are most prone are also most prepared. When an earthquake hits in an unusual area, however, it can take much longer to help people and to rebuild the infrastructure.

Based upon the research results obtained regarding policy issues of how funding of grants is obtained and the policy processes that are in place. There are areas of these said policies that are being reformed after going through a process called, lessons learned. These lessons are learned from prior disasters/incidents through a hazard mitigation process that is always going on before, during, and after an incident. In past incidents some policies are not existent and need to be produced through the use of policy tools from the support of the private sector and government agencies collaborates with one another to build a new policy such as FEMA grants for use by state and local governments. The grant funding process is important to the

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) describes the National Planning Frameworks, which contains preparedness missions for the whole community (individuals, families, businesses, all types of community organizations, non-profit groups, media outlets, academies, and all levels of government including state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal partners, (FEMA 2015), as a way to foster a shared understanding of the roles and responsibilities from the first responders to the Federal government and the White House; all of which results in a more secure and resilient nation. It is everyone’s job in a community to ensure preparedness to keep the Nation safe from harm, and resilient when struck by hazards, such as pandemics, natural

“Effective mitigation requires that we all understand local risks, address the hood choices, and invest in long term community well-being. Without mitigation actions, we jeopardize our society financial security and self-reliance.” (FEMA) The programs that FEMA have in place for mitigation help to reduce the impact of events. There is also Hazard Mitigation which takes action to reduce and prevent future damage before a disaster happens.

While disasters are bound to happen regardless of how wealthy and powerful neighborhoods are, the measures taken afterwards to deal with the consequences of the disasters differ greatly from area to area. Take, for example fire disasters in Malibu as compared to those in Downtown Los Angeles. According to Mike Davis, Malibu fires are inevitable and occur “as long as private residential development is tolerated in the fire ecology of the Santa Monicas” (4). However, individuals still choose to live in Malibu because they have the power and wealth to afford to do so. Furthermore, “defended in 1993 by the largest army of firefighters in California history, wealthy Malibu homeowners also benefitted from an extraordinary range of insurance, landuse, and disaster relief subsidies as well as obsessive media coverage” (Davis 4). On the other hand, “many of the 100-or-so recent fatalities from tenement fires in the Westlake and Downtown areas might have been prevented if slumlords had been held to minimal standards of building safety” (Davis 4). Furthermore, although these fires were much more unfortunate and fatal, considering that they were preventable, more government and media attention was paid to the disasters in Malibu. According to Davis, “if enormous resources have been allocated- quixotically-to fight irresistible forces of nature on the Malibu coast, then scandalously little attention has

Some of the disaster plans did not work, and some simply did not have one in place like with Hurricane Katrina. Our homeland security that was put in place have to be prepared. I know now in Louisiana State employees are non-profits of the states during any kind of disaster they have to check on the people they serve.I know in hurricane Katrina a lot of disabled, and the elderly got left there, and I think some even drowned. Now, a plan is in place for the elderly, and the mentally challenged. This plan can even be built on, but a plan needs to be put in place for future disasters(heritage.org,2015,Np).

people's lives. After each natural disaster there can be a lot of damage to homes, buildings, and cities. Each can

Data obtained by assessing social vulnerability must be implemented within each phase of the emergency management process; mitigation, response, and recovery. First, to effectively respond and recover from incidents emergency management agencies must concentrate on the mitigation phase to prevent incidents from happening in the first place. This is achieved through a thorough hazard/vulnerability analysis (HVA). This type of analysis assesses the risk of physical, economic, and social vulnerability within all communities of a given jurisdiction (Lindell et al., 2006, p. 165). Additionally, the basis of the HVA allows emergency managers to effectively plan for disaster by creating pre-planned responses to disasters (rather than improvised response) and staging resources to locations with the highest probability of risk; ultimately contributing to the mitigation and response phases.

Actions taken to minimize adverse impact of disasters. These including structural measures like building of flood defences and non-structural measures like training etcetera. Public awareness related to disaster risk reduction, contribute in promoting a "culture of prevention" by changing attitudes. It revolves around civil institutions responsible to prevent disasters.

Risk for disasters is a part of life; emergency situations occur more frequently than many people believe. A wise person plans for the worse, and hopes for the best. After a disaster, how well a community can recover will depend largely on how well they prepared in advance. Risk management includes identifying any potential risks to a community and proactively planning to minimize the threat. Proactive organization of resources and people to respond to emergencies can mean the difference between a community’s ability to regroup and recover, and the loss of life. To better

On August 29, 2009, Hurricane Katrina struck the United States Gulf Coast. It was a Category 3 Hurricane, according to the Saffir Simpson Scale. Winds gusted to up to 140 miles per hour, and the hurricane was almost 400 miles wide . The storm itself did a tremendous amount of damage, but the storm’s aftermath was cataclysmic. Many claimed that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the storm. This paper will examine the four elements of disaster management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation – as well as an analysis on the data presented.