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Stafford Act Essay

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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. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall making it evident that the government was unprepared for a major disaster. Also, Hurricane Katrina revealed problems

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