The Federal Emergency Management Agency

This case summarizes events preceding the Hurricane Katrina, which was one of the worst natural catastrophes in the modern history of the USA. It raises questions about the lack of reasonable prevention and preparation actions due to flimsy structure and management of the responsible organizations and persons, invalidity and inconsistence of their actions and incapability of making the decisions in a timely manner. As a result of the unstructured and incoherent activities, we could observe several ineffective and costly attempts to mitigate floods and hurricanes. In the beginning the local officials, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and “White Houses past and present always seem penny-wise and pound-foolish” because of the chain of the wrong

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. The results were catastrophic. Katrina and storm-related flooding took more than 1,800 lives and caused an estimated $81 billion in damages. In the storm’s aftermath, there was widespread debate over government response to the disaster. I believe that the bulk of the responsibility lay with the state and local governments. They should have been better prepared ahead of time and had more comprehensive plans in place to minimize danger to citizens. The national government has traditionally only sent its military into a state at the request of that state’s governor. The governors of Louisiana and Mississippi did not immediately request that action (Fraga, L.

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

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

The seriousness of Katrina's loss made it clear that local and state resources were overcome, leaving only federal services as capable responders (DW, 2009). There were problems with evacuation and housing. The quantity of individuals in need of shelter was overpowering. Due to the flooding, thousands of Louisiana citizens were made homeless (DW, 2009). There were concerns of mismanagement. There are ongoing fears over the mismanagement and lack of leadership in the assistance hard work in response to the storm and its outcome, and the hindered response to the flooding of New Orleans, and the following state of disorder (DW, 2009). The government was blamed for the death and disorder due to their slow response. There were a communication breakdown

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

On May 12, 1933 after years of struggling to get started, the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) was created. The one who would oversee this program was Harry Hopkins. A key condition of the Federal Emergency Relief Act of 1933 was that for authorization of this program to even begin FERA would need to expire in two years. So, with a very small deadline the FERA decided to set required guidelines and procedures for this act. One of those required guidelines was the administrations had to work with state government by providing federal grants for relief purposes. Those States with grant applications were to provide information on the amount of money that was necessary to meet relief needs in their state. They also had to share the amounts available

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.

In a time of crisis, the government response to the situation at hand was poor and inefficient. There were numerous flaws and errors in the relief plan proposed to the government which in turn led to delayed relief to victims in need. The immediate response phase after Katrina lasted roughly 12 days. During this time, “victims were evacuated, rescued, sheltered, and received medical care from first responders, charities and other non-governmental organizations, and private citizens”(McNeill, 2011). The fact that the U.S. government organizations were not the first responders to the disaster is shameful for our country.

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).

The purpose of this paper is to interpret and debate several different viewpoints presented in the Case Study 3.1, with regards to Hurricane Katrina and the breakdown of events that followed this natural disaster. Initially, the most persuasive and least persuasive perspectives will be presented. Additionally, the management and efficiency arguments for and against a more centralized national disaster response will be addressed. Also, the reasoning behind not wanting a federal fire department. Lastly, the results of not having government assistance in the face of a disaster. The outcome of this assignment will be to analyze and incorporate information presented through scholarly articles, journals, current events, as well as personal experiences. Upon final analyzation and completion of the questions, the reader will be able to reflect and understand the proposed materials.

Tariq HollandsworthURST 241Anthony PratoTHE STORMWhat government leaders, agencies, and officials were responsible for the political falloutof Katrina?● FEMA director Michael Brown gave a false and misleading statement about theeffort and effectiveness given by the president and governor to the public. Makingthe situation look as though it were being taken care of. He also said thegovernment just learned about the information “today”. Also says he couldn’thelp because he says the people didn’t ask exactly what they needed or a list ofpriorities. FEMA didn’t deliver any of the requests specifically from the 45 pagerequest sheet. Also the president didn’t make enough effort or initiative afterKatrina. It took the president 6 days

Government at all levels plays an important role during disaster management. Actions and roles of each government agencies are spelled out in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the National Response Framework (NRF). But before we go into details on the roles of governments, let me first of all explain what constitute emergency and emergency management, just to give clearer understanding some of these terms. Then I will examine the roles of governments at all level including first responder actions, mutual support, lead and support roles.

How much does experiencing downtime at your business cost? Looking at the average loss, it comes in at around $5,600 every minute or $300,000 per hour. What's worse, if disaster strikes, will your business make a comeback? According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, about 40 percent of businesses will not reopen their doors after they have incurred the wrath of a disaster. An additional 25 percent cannot survive for longer than a year after a disaster. Those statistics are humbling.