The Impact Of Funding Of Funding For All Local Fire / Ems Agencies

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is a federal agency connected to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with the goal of helping America prevent, prepare, and recover from all forms of disasters, whether they are natural or man-made. The agency was founded 37 years ago, in 1979, when it was finally decided that federal action needed to take place in order to respond to and aid the United States during times of disaster. It was signed by Jimmy Carter on April 1 and has been in effect since then, with the main mission of, “to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of ‘A Nation Prepared.’”

One topic that is in the cross fire on debates all the time is the federal policy on disaster relief, and disaster preparedness. The federal government has programs put into place to help the victims of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornados. Some of these disaster relief programs are The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and The Red Cross. These programs have many policies in place, but some feel that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to improve these policies.

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

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

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

The whole world observed as the administration responders appeared incapable to provide essential protection from the effects of nature. The deprived response results from a failure to accomplish a number of risk factors (Moynihan, 2009). The dangers of a major hurricane striking New Orleans had been measured, and there was sufficient warning of the threat of Katrina that announcements of emergency were made days in advance of landfall (Moynihan, 2009). Nonetheless, the responders were unsuccessful to change this information into a level of preparation suitable with the possibility of the approaching disaster. Federal responders failed to recognize the need to more actively engage (Moynihan, 2009). These improvements include improved ability to provide support to states and tribes ahead of a disaster; developed a national disaster recovery strategy to guide recovery efforts after major disasters and emergencies; and the Establishment of Incident Management Assistance Teams in which these full time, rapid response teams are able to deploy within two hours and arrive at an incident within 12 hours to support the local incident commander (FEMA,

In January of 2008, Homeland Security gave UNC a multi-million dollar grant to study natural disasters in coastal areas (Homeland security, 2008). Due to this grant, and the efforts made on Carolina’s behalf, emergency managers were able to have the latest scientific information to protect our coastlines and citizens. Carolina also used the grant to collaborate with other universities and agencies to conduct research. The outline of the grant was to provide UNC with about $2.5 million per year for six years, with the possibility for more, as the research developed. “[The grant] will help protect our homes, our businesses, our environment and

As the state of our currently understood weather patterns and global climate become more understood, in context, with great concern, the federal government has placed an ever larger portion of its national focus on promoting a more efficient response to such concern via disaster mitigation and management with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A historical extension of the federal government for which is principle utilized for disaster aid and response, this agency is as much a direct extension of the current presidential administration as it is a crisis agency for social good. This simple description clearly suggests a detailed understanding following the Hurricane Katrina disaster that left the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, in particular, as a study in social failure. But as an agency emboldened by an administration concerned with climate change, FEMA has shown as an agent for change in how it addresses and refocuses states in preparation for the inevitable future climate change.

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.

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

The risk management plays an important role within the Homeland Security enterprise, because can help to organize the tasks and prepare better each organization to respond effectively in the event of terrorist attack or natural disaster (CRS 2007). Since the 9/11 terror attacks, preparation and response to terrorist attacks has changed thanks to the federal government’s attitude to distributing funds to states and local governments (CRS 2007). To better comprehend the current approach to each phase of the grant program development, it’s important to understand its origin (CRS 2007). While the nation was begin to understand the importance of homeland security, the development of the grant program and the risk management methodologies was happening at the same time (CRS

In the United States, people who live in poverty are already one of the most vulnerable populations and it is this population that is heavily impacted by public policy relating to natural disasters. Often, public policies relating to disaster preparedness and recovery are not discussed until after a natural disaster takes place which is too late to do any good for the people affected and who are devastated almost beyond comprehension. The role of government in disaster preparedness and recovery became a “hot button” issue especially after Hurricane Katrina when the federal and local governments seemed to protect/help those who already had resources and not those with little to no resources. According to a Gallup Poll by Jones & Carroll (2005), forty-nine percent of respondents said that FEMA was most helpful to them while thirty-one percent of respondents said that nothing was helpful to them during recovery from Hurricane Katrina. This information indicates that there is a gap in services disaster relief policies and programs that needs to be filled.

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.