Fempa 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

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) response to the Northridge earthquake was almost immediate with the assistance of two urban search and rescue teams and the support from FEMA continued to grow after that (DeBlasio et al,. (2002). During the first week of rebuilding the Federal government provided an aid package to support the rebuilding needs of the area impacted by the earthquake. The aid package was broken down int several categories of recipients of the money with the two largest being money for FEMA and money of the Federal Highway Association. FEMA received $3.9 million and the Federal Highway Association received $1.35 billion (Eugene, 2010) According to Eugene (2010) the Federal Emergency Management Agency also provided assistance for

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act is mainly focused on response. The government was nowhere near prepared in 2005 when hurricane Katrina struck, then shortly followed by hurricane Rita. “In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed thousands of homes and displaced over 1 million people. In light of widespread Congressional and public interest in U.S. agencies’ performance in assisting hurricane victims, GAO initiated work under the Comptroller General’s authority to examine federal housing assistance.” (GAO Reports. 2007.)

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

Since its inception, FEMA has dealt with quite many disasters. In all these disasters, at least, people’s lives and property have been saved. Public opinion on the performance of FEMA is quite divergent. However, there is a feeling that FEMA has several weaknesses that if corrected will help the agency achieve its objectives and even exceed public expectations about its performance. In particular, FEMA’s responses to 9/11 attacks and

As Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma successively lashed the gulf coast starting in late August 2005, nature’s fury exposed serious weaknesses in the United States’ emergency response capabilities. Not all emergencies pose this magnitude of challenge. In the United States, the initial—and usually major—responsibility for disaster response rests with local authorities. This “bottom-up” system of emergency management has a long history and continues to make sense in most circumstances. Core Challenges for Large-Scale Disaster

The Creation of FEMA started out as a beautiful theory. Before FEMA we had an Acts constructed to make the situation better but FEMA was constructed to assistance the situations first hand so that the American people were catered to at a quicker response and in a manner that was assessed for safety situations. “On April 1, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed the executive order that created the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). From day one, FEMA has remained committed to protecting and serving the American people. That commitment to the people we serve and the belief in our survivor centric mission will never change.” This is stated on fema.gov; this shows that FEMA was designed to be the leaders in effect for disasters that

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

In 1992, Bill Clinton became president. The new emergency manager, James Lee Witt, authorized FEMA to once more to take up an all hazards approach. Also it became an a customer-focused organization that worked closely with its state and local emergency management partners, and effectively responded to unprecedented series of major disasters across the country. This also included terrorist attacks such as 9/11 and the Oklahoma City

Even though it is the responsibility of the federal and state governments to aid citizens during times of disaster, the people devastated by Hurricane Katrina were not effectively facilitated as according to their rights as citizens of the United States. The government’s failures to deliver assistance to citizens stem from inadequate protection systems in place before the storm even struck. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security were the two largest incumbents in the wake of the storm. The failure of these agencies rests on the shoulders of those chosen to head the agency. These directors, appointed by then president George W. Bush, were not capable of leading large government agencies through a

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is responsible for coordinating the government’s role in preparation, prevention, response and recovery from domestic disaster, whether they be natural or man-made. FEMA.gov lists 1849 total disasters declared since 1953, with an average of 32 each year (13). This particular agency has generated a lot of praise and but just as much criticism. Over the course of FEMA’s history, there are many lessons to be learned and FEMA is always looking for ways to be more effective. This paper will examine the history of FEMA, evaluate its performance over the years and pinpoint lessons to be learned and actions to be taken.

Despite being ineffective, FEMA played significant roles in the Hurricane Katrina storm. For instance, FEMA organized as well as mobilized the necessary resources to aid the residents of New Orleans from the disaster. According to

The burden of emergency management has grown great deal in the last few decades. We have seen an increase in natural disasters, a new threat of terrorism on our front door and an increase in manmade disasters. All of these have tested emergency management in a number of cities and towns across the nation. It is not always disasters that present problems for emergency managers. We have to look beyond our traditional view of emergency management of helping us during times of disasters and view what issues they consider may affect their emergency response. Issues that emergency management see that are moving into the critical area are issues of urbanization and hazard exposure, the rising costs of disaster recovery, and low priority of emergency management.

Hurricane Katrina exposed huge issues in the United States disaster preparedness and response programs. In 2005, the structure for homeland security was unable to manage catastrophic events like Hurricane Katrina. Unified management of national response