FEMA: Emergency Management

Introduction

A simple definition is emergency management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters.

Explain why you think FEMA was an agency in trouble at the close of the 1980s?

During the early to mid-1980’s FEMA was faced with the daunting challenge of establishing itself as a credible federal agency. In 1982, President Reagan appointed General Louis O. Guiffrida as Director of FEMA. Director Guiffrida had a background in terrorism preparedness and training at the State government level. This level of expertise would set the tone for his leadership style and the direction he would lead the agency. Without a significant natural disaster

The 90’s saw an unprecedented number of natural disasters that would put FEMA’s resolve to the test. West coast earthquakes and mid-west floods are incidents that defined FEMA between 1992 and 1995. In 1993, America witnessed the first bombing of The World Trade Center. Then, in 1995, America was witness to home grown terrorism (the Oklahoma City Bombing), which would lead to the reintroduction of the fundamentals that was the framework of FEMA in the 1980’s, national security.

The Nunn-Lugar legislation of 1995 revisited the question of who would be the lead agency in regards to acts of terrorism. The FBI and The NSA quickly asserted themselves in leadership roles, claiming they had the man power respond to any act of terrorism on American soil. This left FEMA and other federal agencies to determine who would respond other incidents; fire/emergency medical services, police, and public utilities. All three agencies were evaluated, with the findings being inconclusive.

The transformation of FEMA in the 1990s was comprehensive. The agency incorporated an all-hazards approach to emergency management, with terrorism being a vital component. But as with any restructuring, growing pains and re-evaluation are to be expected, and FEMA was left redefining itself and it authoritative

Overview of the Risk Issue:

Hurricane Katrina was the largest natural disaster in the United States living memory, affecting 92, 000 square miles, and destroying the majority of New Orleans. Over 1,800 people died and tens of thousands were left homeless and without basic necessities.

Katrina evolved into a series of connected crises, with two basic causes. The primary cause was the hurricane itself, and no less damaging, the collapse of man-made levees meant to protect a city built below sea-level. These factors caused a series of cascading problems that characterizes Katrina as an example of a new type of complex crisis. Critical evacuation challenges, widespread lethal pollution, the destruction of 90% of the essential utility networks (energy, communications, water, etc.), unprecedented public safety concerns over the possible loss of the port area (which is essential to the continent 's economy), even uncertainty as to whether portions of the city could be saved.”

What we learned will result in change:

1. Social