Fema Case Study

FEMA was established after a number of serious natural disasters that took place, but after that there were very few disasters so FEMA has not been in practice. Secondly FEMA has a history of poor planning, people with skill sets not suited for emergency response, FEMA was therefore not considered to be a priority agency when Hurricane Katrina

time of crisis by R. David Paulison, who unlike Brown, has had a career focused on disaster

The components of DHS are Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Border Patrol, Transportation Security Administration, and the U.S. Customs Service and the last federal agency the Secret Service (Oliver, W. M., Marion, N. E., & Hill, J. B. 2015). These components will help secure the protection of the people of the United States from terrorist attacks and any other disasters such as the preparation for a nuclear attack that possible deals with chemical, radiologist, and biologist or any other man-made material. The Department of Homeland goal is to also focus more on how to help the people to prepare for emergency preparedness and how to properly response if any act occurs and to also know how to properly recover

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,

Over the years of Hurricane Katrina, Fema faced many criticisms. Back in 9/11, They acted fast and accordingly to the disaster. During hurricane Katrina, they were slow and had false promises that the locals of New orleans believed (Maestri, “The

Over the years of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA faced many criticisms. Not only FEMA, but “every level of government was roundly criticized”( Howellq ). Back in 9/11, They acted fast and accordingly to the disaster. During hurricane Katrina, they were slow and had false promises that the locals of New Orleans believed ( Maestri, “The Storm”, PBS ). Many people asked FEMA for resources and help, but that turned down because they did not “ask the right way” ( Hale “The Storm”, PBS). During an interview with one of FEMA’s secretaries, “Michael Brown”, had claimed that FEMA could not help Louisiana because they didn’t tell them what they

Carter states “ That commitment to the people we serve and the belief in our survivor centric mission will never change. FEMA has continued to stay committed to protecting and serving the American people. The director of FEMA, Thomas Casey, was charged with integrating these diverse programs into one conceive operation capable of delivering federal resources and assistance through a new method called “Integrated Emergency System”. This system was centered on all hazards approach.

FEMA takes over for state and local governments whey they tell FEMA what they need.

It was suggested that if FEMA could not be more effective to abolish it entirely. President Clinton with the assistance of the new director of FEMA, James Lee Witt, up scaled the response time of FEMA since they no longer ahd to wait for state approval. The enhancements that Witt made were the most effective changes made in years. (27) At that point, oversight felt the changes should be made permanent and Congress should be involved however, once the public outrage over the mishandling of Andrew died down Congress decided not to spend the time or money on the project and moved to other things. The changes to the system were made through executive order however since Congress did not stay involved to address the issue therefore once President Bush took office, the orders were dismantled. President Bush felt that the Changes made by President Clinton were more of an entitlement that wasted federal money and the executive order was changed to remove much of what was in the

The Federal Emergency management Agency came under the helm of the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2013 in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks (fema.gov). FEMA’s mission as a result of the attacks changed from preparing for natural disasters and hazards to ensuring the nation’s first responders are well equipped to deal with weapons of mass destruction (fema.gov). Notably FEMA is most known for helping millions in need in times of disaster and turmoil. Unfortunately they will always be known for their lack of preparation during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath in Louisiana in 2005. The organization failed to do what it set out to do and as a result millions of people were displaced and many lost their lives.

Many argue that because of this change, the slow reaction of FEMA was expected, but considering a terrorist attack could lead to an evacuation, this idea is proven false. The first problem is really that the bureaucracies and government control in the United States have grown, slowing the reaction time of governmental agency aid.

But it doesn’t look like FEMA is going anywhere. Inspector General Richard Skinner wrote a 2009 report in which he said, “Removing FEMA from DHS at this point would cause considerable upheaval, to both FEMA and the department.” (11)

The Hurricane Katrina disaster highly challenged the operations of FEMA thereby leading to great changes in the agency. The Storm that is ranked as the third most intense U.S. landfalling intense caught the FEMA and at large the Department of Homeland Security unprepared thereby leading to severe losses. The hurricane claimed more than 1200 individuals and a total property of around $108 billion, of which could have minimized if FEMA could have carried out its operations effectively (Bea, 2006).

FEMA assisted in New York City’s recovery by utilizing its full spectrum of disaster assistance programs. Due to the unique circumstances of managing the consequences of a terrorist attack as opposed to a natural disaster, FEMA had to use its