Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

The disaster of hurricane Katrina identified so many flaws in FEMA. Some of these flaws were due to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 deviated a lot of money from FEMA and weakened its ability to respond adequately to the disaster of Katrina. As you stated this bought on many changes to FEMA, which were now being addressed under the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA).

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

e mission of the department of homeland security is “to secure the nation from the many threats we face. This requires the dedication of more than 240,000 employees in jobs that range from aviation and border security to emergency response, from cybersecurity analyst to chemical facility inspector. Their duties are wide-ranging, and our goal is clear - keeping America safe” the secr Thetary oversees the third largest department of the cabinet keeping america safe from terrorists. He runs this organization but is not the only one with a voice in homeland security.above him is the president which they have to listen to.plus they have a variety of advisory panels and committees to make sure everything there runs smooth. Also, there are many levels and jobs to the department some of them include law enforcement, immigration and travel security,prevention and response,and mission support careers.

Lifting FEMA won 't make Americans any more secure from demonstrations of terrorism or natural disasters. People on call, not FEMA, are the most basic players in the initial 24-72 hours after a disaster strikes. These people have the genuine effect as far as lives and property spared. A bureau level FEMA won 't make this reaction any more consistent. FEMA ought to be looking outside the Beltway, not further up the D.C. natural way of life, in its endeavors to enhance disaster reaction and recovery.

FEMA is a United States Federal Agency, and part of the office of Homeland Security. They have a focus on serving the USA and its territories. They do this with a system that divides the country into 10 regions. I found this method to broad to effectively serve the various citizenship. With distance there is bound to be some disconnect.

This news article implies that FEMA should be disbanded. The author states that when the federal government gets involved in natural disasters, especially hurricanes, more harm may be caused than good. The federal government has been involved in responses at a much higher rate than in the past due to an increase in declared federal disasters averaging 139 a year. There are an abundance of federal guidelines that must be followed when a disaster occurs that often makes it difficult for officials to make clear and concise decisions. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina FEMA spent an excess of money that was not allocated correctly so much of the money was wasted.

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.

Government Facilities Sector is one of the largest and most complex sectors of the 17 critical infrastructures that’s included in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. The Department of Homeland Security, General Services Administration and the Federal Protective Service (FPS) were given the responsibilities as co-leads and Federal interface for this sector by PPD-21. The government facilities sector will arrange for the protection, safety, and security of all government assets, employees, and visitors to the facilities under its sector, as well as balanced management of physical and cyber risk, so that essential government functions and services are preserved without disruption. The execution of this will require GFS to reduce the nations

The Federal Emergency Relief Act provided state assistance for the unemployed and their families. Rather than having large numbers of workers on the dole, Roosevelt believed in payment for the work performed to help maintain morale of recipients. This program, while being more costly, did provide work for 20 million people. Roosevelt knew that most of the government 's relief efforts got canned due to the fact that they got held up by politics.

In 2002, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was developed in response to the 2001 terrorist attacks on America. Thus, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created. The Department of Homeland Security was established to protect America from future terrorist attacks. According to Schmalleger (2013), the DHS directs twenty-two agencies who are administrates under five departments. Those five departments are: Border and Transportation Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Science and Technology, Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection, and Management.

Following the devastating economic disaster in 1920, 15 million people had not only lost their jobs, but a majority of their savings as well. Many of their homes were dependent on the money used for relief from the government. A number of business and banks were shutting down, the production and sales of services and goods were drastically reduced. All the while, very little aid had reached state level. By May 22, 1933, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration was set up.

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).

The article broke down one of the most horrific natural disasters of the century. For many, the wounds have yet to heal and with this article, those individuals and their families are forced to show us their scars again. This was equally hard for Fink to report after talking to survivors from Katrina. She unbiasedly informed her audience who may have been oblivious to what the conditions were for just this hospital alone. The help in the recovery of these sick and injured souls was not treated as a life or death emergency like it should have been.

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.

FEMA’s mission and priorities were changed so that, “terrorism prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery became central to the emergency management mission” (Haddow 325). As a result of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 the country’s focus shifted completely from natural disasters to an outright major assault on all things terrorism with no second glance at the potential emergency’s natural disasters presented. There might be a possibility that because of the nation’s extreme obsession with terrorists and terrorism that Hurricane Katrina was not given full priority nor given as much thought as it should have been because the whole focus of the government was on terrorism. When an agency and governmental structure, such as the defense agencies, undergoes an extreme shift within the course of a few years brought on so suddenly, there are bound to be weaknesses. Hurricane Katrina was the most challenging threat that tested the DHS as well as FEMA’s preparation and mitigation of natural disasters since the shift of focus.