Emergency management describes the process of preparing for disasters, responding to their occurrence and putting in place both structural and nonstructural measures to mitigate against them. Emergency management has come a long way in terms of evolution in the United States of America. In terms of evolution, there have been a number of changes with evidence in shift from state to federal and local involvement in disaster management. This paper will thus discuss the evolution of emergency management as well as the lessons that have come as a result of this evolution.
The evolution can be traced back to the biblical times, Moses himself tried to manage floods by splitting the Red Sea (George et al, p. 1). In the United
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Hurricane Diane occurred in 1955 and was preceded by Hurricane Audrey in 1957 which had the most severe impact of the three Hurricanes (George et al, p. 4). Impromptu legislation by the Congress always followed these events with the aim of providing immediate response to the affected areas. During this period, the emergency response was state centric in nature. It was the absolute function of the state.
The occurrence of the Hebgen Tsunami that hit a magnitude of 7.3 on the Ritcher scale proved that, apart from California, Montana as well as other states were vulnerable to Earthquake hazard events. In addition, the adverse consequences of Hurricane Donna and Hurricane Carla prompted Kennedy’s relatively new government to alter their strategy against natural disasters. For example, the Office of Emergency Preparedness was born in the Whitehouse. The end objective of this office was to address natural disasters. This office was a state agency that would allow it to deal with disaster events in a more rational manner. This was not the case however, as the 1960s witnessed the renaissance of the most devastating natural disaster events; from the
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The creation of DHS to some extent undermined the roles and responsibilities of FEMA. The independence of FEMA was undermined, thus explaining the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. FEMA lacked funds and resources to undertake her roles and responsibilities of Emergency Management (George et al, p.19). As a result, over 1,800 lives were lost and tens of thousands were displaced. Restoring FEMA’s independence took center stage during Obama’s administration; however, DHS claimed, FEMA was its fundamental organ (George et al, p. 24). FEMA did not play any role during the Boston Bombings of 2013 emergency response (George et al, p.29). However, it would be naïve to assume that FEMA and DHS are today not up to their task of preparedness and response to emergencies despite the obstacles. It is important to point out that, the evolution has been met with a number of challenges. In as much as it has seen an increase in the number of actors, the conflicts within has affected the end result of emergency response. The DHS and FEMA for example, these two entities and their competition for authority meant that there was an overall lack of preparedness to counter Hurricane Sandy. Both entities lost sight to their mandate and engaged in competition for
In the book A.D New Orleans After The Deluge, By Josh Neufeld is about Hurricane Katrina and how it affected the people of New Orleans. This book was about real people that escaped and lived through the storm. Most people lost everything including their houses, all personal belongings, and jobs. As I was reading the book was shocked that in the beginning most of the characters were not worried about the storm they just wanted to wait it out. No one was expecting such a big storm and thought it would turn east like they normally did.
There became an obvious need for immediate assistance from the National Guard and the Active Duty Army to stop looters, crime, and other chaos that ensued shortly after the flood. Gaining assistance from state controlled National Guard units was not overly difficult. Unfortunately, use of Federal soldiers comes with the stipulation that “the Governor of the affected state must request use of the resources of the DoD”. (Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance) The Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco and her staff were already failing to control and lead emergency efforts.
1. Author’s Primary Claim and Summary of Main Points: Recent hurricanes, such as Harvey and Irma, have caused much political unrest among the American people. • Hurricane Irma is one of 16 of the largest category 5 hurricanes that have hit the US • The author shows an astronaut in space looking at the hurricanes hitting Florida, and hurricane Harvey’s effect on Texas. • The phrase “Houston, you have a problem,” is a reference to the Apollo 13 expedition to the moon, where James Lovell called back to base and said “Houston, we have had a problem.”
Hurricane Katrina shift the position of the Department of Homeland Security from making natural disasters an equally as important as terrorism. This even showed that disaster planning requires a great deal of collaboration. The Department of Homeland Security who swallowed up FEMA where not quick to react to Hurricane Katrina because all their focus was spend on planning for a prevent terrorist attacks. The failure of the disaster response system resulted in over 1,200 lives lost in Louisiana and Mississippi. FEMA failed to work closely with its State and local counterparts and communications between these partners and the public were strained at best.
In accordance with the 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, the terrorist threat is one of the prevailing challenges that pose a significant risk level to the United States as well as to American citizens abroad and many U.S. allies (Department of Homeland Security, 2014). In the United States, the Federal Government assumes the responsibility for leading the efforts that seek to manage the risk level of the terrorist threat. That is why the Federal Government has created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), whose main mission is to prevent terrorist threats by managing their risk levels (DHS, 2014). Since the terrorist threat is a very complex threat to manage for one entity or agency alone, the DHS is able to accomplish its main mission by working in partnerships with many federal agencies; State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLLTT) Governments; private and public organizations; international partners; and communities all across the United States (DHS, 2014). In all of those partnerships, the Federal Government through the DHS plays a leadership role
FEMA additionally should have the capacity to effortlessly and productively work together with other offices inside DHS to give a viable government reaction when justified. Offices, for example, the Transportation Security Administration and the
Also, during Hurricane Katrina FEMA didn’t allow for volunteer agencies to aide in the
It is no secret that the United States was completely unprepared for an attack of the magnitude of the attack on the Twin Towers. The U.S is protected by Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it was formed just right after the attack. The Department of Homeland Security, mission is to protect and secure the nation from the many threats we face. According to The U.S. Department of Homeland Security focus on three goals, prevent terrorist attacks.
Introduction This informational interview was conducted with Dr. Pamela Aaltonen, a Homeland Security instructor at Purdue University, and active member at the Tippecanoe Board of Health. Her role here is to frame issues in the concept of Homeland security and emergency management. Dr. Aaltonen holds a key role in Homeland Security, as many disasters contain human health issues, such as mass causalities, pandemic outbreaks, and sanitary issues following natural disasters. Dr. Aaltonen’s flavor of Homeland Security differs from the work that I normally see, but as displayed during the interview, Homeland Security is a multi-disciplinary field that requires cooperation across all fields.
Hurricane sandy was a one through four category hurricane but, there were not very many deaths which is a good thing. Next many families were left homeless after hurricane sandy. Their homes were either destroyed by flooding, high winds, fallen trees, or waves from the ocean. Most homes were destroyed by flooding and high winds. The Red Cross had to step in because
The Division includes the Office of Emergency Management, the Office of Preparedness, and the Office of Prevention and Security (State of Colorado, 2015). Its mission, vision, and values are to "prevent, protect, mitigate, respond and recover from all-hazards" through the development of a comprehensive Strategic Plan in synchronization with the DHS (State of Colorado, 2015, p.1). The State of Colorado has its own unique concerns it must address. Colorado Concerns and Threats Critical
A Galveston Daily News reporter in 1900 told the story of the Sept. 8, 1900, hurricane could never truly be written. For many, no words could ever be spoken again about the deadly hurricane that reshaped the Gulf Coast forever. The story of the 1900 Storm is one about
Hurricane Katrina’s Recovery Ten years ago Hurricane Katrine made history by being one of the worst hurricanes to make landfall. It was ranked as one of the deadliest hurricanes in the US history causing over $100 billion dollars in damages. There were over 1,800 confirmed deaths due to Katrina. Hurricane Katrina destroyed over 1 million acres throughout the Gulf Coast and over 80% of New Orleans was flooded.
The Stafford Act was enacted in 1988 and determines how and when the federal government is allowed to intervene in a natural disaster. It also defines the type of assistance to be provided as well as the distribution of funds among the federal, state and local governments. FEMA is responsible for coordinating the assistance identified in the Stafford Act. However, FEMA has to answer to the Secretary of Homeland Security rather than making their own decisions. The authors describe how our current governmental system isn’t well equipped to deal with major devastation such as Hurricane Katrina.
Ultimately, the entire government failed the people affected by Hurricane Katrina and are still handling the terrible situation to this day. Had the captivation and focus not been so hard on terrorism, I believe that