The Federal Policy On Disaster Relief And Emergency Assistance Act

Enacted in 1988, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, also known as the Stafford Act, is a United States federal law that lays out the framework for federal disaster assistance. It establishes a process for declaring disasters, determining response levels, and dividing up costs among federal, state and local governments, depending on circumstance. The intention of the law when it was created was to encourage states and local entities to develop comprehensive disaster preparedness plans, prepare for better intergovernmental coordination during a disaster, encourage the use of insurance coverage, and provide federal assistance programs for losses due to the disaster.

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 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.

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

(FEMA) - Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA’s mission for 37 years is to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and to recover disasters with a vision of “A Nation Prepared”. To rescue and attend all victims, suppress any secondary fires that might have resulted in, secure police the disaster area, and begin the process of restoring order. FEMA also coordinates the federal role is preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of responding to, and recovering all domestic disasters, whether natural or manmade including the acts of terror. In 1803 The Congressional Act was passed; the act was intended after the first piece of disaster happened, which would be, the New Hampshire FIre of 1803. FEMA provided assistance

The United States at this time was the target of a series of different natural disasters. Ranging from the “Ash Wednesday” storm which accounted for well over $300,000,000 in damages to an earthquake which measured 9.2 on the Richter scale and in turn resulted in multiple tsunamis that rolled down the pacific coast and resulted in over a hundred losses of life (Maria). These kind of disasters did not let up in the 60’s and 70’s as the United States was hammered with a series of massive earthquakes and hurricanes. Legislation recognized there needed to be a solution and so in response the Disaster Relief Act was created giving presidents more power in their declarations at the time of the disasters. Since the first government intervention in 1803 until 1970, more than one hundred federal agencies were in some manner involved in some aspect of responding to the emergencies when they took place. The overlap between state issued programs and federal installed policies was concerning. That is why in the year 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed into order the Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA). As of present day, this is the program we all now look to in times of a disaster. They strive to support not only the citizens but also the first responders to ensure we can work together to improve, build and sustain our capability to recover from all hazards that are associated with these emergencies. FEMA does not work completely alone however, and in 2001 homeland security stepped up its role in dealing with disasters (Haddow). It was the terror attacks on September 11th that sparked their involvement and their coordination with FEMA made for quick and effective decisions during one of the United States’ time of greatest

The Department of Homeland Security has merged twenty-two separate agencies into one unified and integrated department. Funding has nearly reached 9 billion dollars towards the security enhancements of homeland security such as the national borders and transportation systems (Spindlove and Simeson, 2009). Some noticeable department components that make up DHS are the developments of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), United States Customs and Border Protections (CBP), Unites States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Additionally, further expanding core mission of homeland security were the effects of hurricane Katrina and its response toward disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was enacted in order to prepare the nation for hazardous events, manage federal response and recovery efforts following a national incident. As events have unfolded, homeland security strategies and missions have adapted safeguards and protective measure to ensure a homeland that is safe from

Later, the federal, state, and local government responses to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina expanded the concept of homeland security to include significant disasters, major public health emergencies, and other events that threaten the United States, its economy, the rule of law, and government operations (2). Homeland security is the combination of law enforcement, immigration, disaster relief, and terrorist activities within the United States’ borders. This would be based on the local agencies and civilian departments to safeguard the people from any threat within while being assisted by the government. In some aspects of terror attacks, there will be a combination of both homeland security and homeland defense. 9/11 is the perfect example as homeland security was responding to the local disasters and threats while the homeland defense, military, was deploying to get to the root of the threats. This is essential to the way homeland security operates because this will stop the attack on the nation’s soil before it reaches the borders and local government agencies are required. The biggest issue with the homeland security aspect is that 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

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.

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 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).

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.