The Importance Of FEMA

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

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.

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

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.

When a natural disaster comes to mind you think many resources are utilized. You think many agencies from around the world must have come to help one of the biggest disasters the country has seen. Although that is not exactly what happened in New Orleans many agencies did come to help. Local, State, and Federal agencies were present during and after the hurricane. Governor Katherine Babineaux Blanco and Mayor Ray Nagin called a state of emergency and issued a mandatory evacuation, shortly after, President Bush to issue a state of emergency and mandatory evacuation on a federal level to ensure assistance from agencies like FEMA and the America Red Cross (Kamp). Mayor Ray Nagin also

Should the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) move out from under the DHS umbrella to become a stand alone agency? Yes. We will discuss two glaring reasons that this should take place, budget & mission statement. Will it be an easy move? No, but after working out the administrative kinks, the FEMA would operate much smoother as it's own organization.

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 events of September 11th, 2001 forever changed the organizational make-up of Emergency Management. Prior to 9/11, FEMA was the premier organization in the United States that dealt with any sort of disaster management. While FEMA was not without its own particular struggles early on, it had grown into an effective program; often emulated by other Governments for its effectiveness. As the primary Emergency Management function for the United States it was afforded a cabinet level position; thus allowing direct access to the President (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2011). Functioning as its own entity, FEMA was also able to spend its money as they saw fit, develop its own hierarchy, and most importantly; decide which natural disasters/emergencies to focus a majority of their resources on. Unfortunately for FEMA all of that was lost with the creation of The Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2011), “In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when the Department of Homeland Security was established and FEMA lost its status as an independent agency, emergency management became a minor player” (p. 343). The shift from a focus on natural disasters, to a focus on terrorism has been detrimental for FEMA. First and foremost, FEMA lost its cabinet position and the direct line to the President that it was afforded. While funding was accelerated to DHS in quantities never before seen in emergency management, FEMA, being a subordinate of

When a disaster such as a hurricane takes place, the first responsibility is of the state’s governor to make a formal request for a state of disaster and receive the necessary assistance and aid to the affected area (The Disaster Hanbook- National Edition, 1998). The President of the United States of America must make a declaration of emergency and major disaster to initiate the effort to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (The Disaster Hanbook- National Edition, 1998). Once a disaster has been declared, the U.S president will send supplementary funds to the state and local efforts to aid the affected population (The Disaster Hanbook- National Edition, 1998). In order for funding to be dispersed to the area in need, the President of the United States must allow this action to take place.

On October 20, 1991 a large suburban conflagration swept through the hillsides of Oakland California and into the backyards of Berkley. The Oakland Hills Firestorm went down in history as one of the worst fires since the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. Twenty-five people lost their lives that Sunday, one hundred and fifty others were injured, and a total of one thousand five hundred and twenty acres of land was scorched. The destruction included three thousand three hundred and fifty four single family dwellings and four hundred and thirty seven apartments. All and all, they estimated the total loss at 1.5 billion dollars.

Under the 1988 Stafford Act, the federal government guidance is to support the disasters only if they are of “such severity and magnitude beyond their state and the affected local government’s capabilities to support the disaster” (Edwards, 2014). The Governor may request to the president to declare an “emergency” or a “major disaster” if federal assistance is needed (Edwards, 2014). An “emergency” declaration usually considered when a hurricanes hit, whereas “major disaster” declarations is after disasters to render aid to state and local governments and individuals (Edwards, 2014). In the past, 86 percent of major disaster declarations requested by governors to the president have been approved (Edwards, 2014).

An additional upsetting issue that FEMA presented orbited around the logistical supply train. FEMA had an abundance of supplies of food and water. What FEMA didn't have was the capability to track it and regulate it and redirect it(9). That was would hurt the residents of the affected areas the most. What is the point having the resources that you need if can’t control where it’s going. This would have a lot of residence angry due to the fact individuals in areas of New Orleans that were “poor neighborhoods” would somehow be forgotten and be responded to last(9). What had people surprised is the fact that FEMA couldn’t locate where its services were headed to. How can FEMA not locate or direct where its services are needed? If Walmart, Target,

Some of the challenges that made Hurricane Katrina a very difficult were a lack of developed partnerships. FEMA did not set up partnerships in a way that was effective for the situation. FEMA's executives were not able to look past power to help the ones who needed it most; in fact, FEMA's logic was that they had to have senior leadership support in order to create the collaborative networks needed to help New Orleans. FEMA was unable to recognize their need for outsiders that were a necessity in order to successfully execute their mission.

“The large number of casualties, heavy damage to buildings and basic infrastructure, and disruption of essential public services will overwhelm the capabilities of the State and its local governments to meet the needs of the situation, and the President will declare a major disaster or emergency. A major disaster or emergency can cause numerous fatalities and injuries, property loss, and disruption of normal life-support systems, and can have an impact on the regional economic, physical, and social infrastructures.”