Federal Emergency Management Agency

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1. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for  “mobilizing and positioning emergency equipment, getting people out of danger, providing food, water, shelter and medical services and bringing damaged services and systems back on line (Federal Emergency Management Agency, n.d.).”  FEMA is also responsible for distributing funds to “rebuild homes, businesses and public facilities, to clear debris and repair roads and bridges and to restore water, sewer and other essential services (Federal Emerg Federal Emergency Management Agencyency Management Agency, n.d.).”

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One major disaster that occured several years ago was Hurricane Katrina.  Hurricane Katrina was declared a major disaster in August 29, 2005 and the  incident lasted until November 1, 2005 (Historic disasters, 2020).  “Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Mississippi, causing large-scale devastation along the Gulf Coast, leaving more than 1,800 people dead, displacing families to all 50 states, and resulting in billions in losses to infrastructure and the economy (Historic disasters, 2020).”  FEMA was not prepared to deal with the damages that Hurricane Katrina would cause and was delayed in their response leading to severe criticism.  Prior to Hurricane Katrina, FEMA was primarly focused on terrorism and had neglected to prepare for a natural disaster (FEMA faces intense scrutiny, 2005).  After the criticism that FEMA and the federal government received due to the poor response time of a disaster, the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 was passed which allowed for a faster and more appropriate response time to disasters.  There would be 2 more category 5 hurricanes to hit the US in 2005, hurricane Rita and Wilma.  FEMA reported that it had used roughly 5.9 billion dollars as a disaster relief fund for the three category 5 hurricanes in 2005 (Federal disaster assistance, 2019).

Due to the severity of the damages caused by Hurricane Katrina there were several organizations besides FEMA that helped in the recovery and safety of those affected by the hurricane.  Besides the local law enforcement and local agencies that assisted in helping those affected by the hurricane, there are 49 other agencies that helped participate in the disaster relief of Hurricane Katrina.  The list is as follows: America’s Promise, American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Louisiana, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Boys and Girls Club of America, Bonner Foundation, Campfire USA, Campus Compact, Catholic Charities USA, Christians Organized for Relief Efforts (CORE), Christian Reformed World Relief Comittee (CRWRC), Common Ground Relief, Community Action Partnership, Corporation for National and Community Service, Episcopal Relief and Development, Habitat for Humanity, Hands on Network, Hope Crisis Response Network (HCRN), Independent Sector, International Relief and Development, Junior League International, KaBOOM!, Katrina Aid Today, Luthern Disaster Response, Mennonite Disaster Service, Mercy Medical Airlift, MyGoodDeed.org, National Human Service Assembly, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), National Youth Leadership Council, Nazarine Compassionate Ministries, Noah’s Wish, National Peace Corps Association, Operation NOAH Rebuild (Northern American Mission Board), Peace Corps, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network, RandomKid, Salvation Army, Travelers Aid International, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), USA Freedom Corps, United Jewish Communities, United Way, VOLUNTEERMATCH, Volunteers of America, Week of Compassion (Christian Church/Desciples of Christ), YMCA of the USA, and Youth Service America (The power of help and hope, 2006).  For detailed information of what each organization contributed as aid in the disaster relief of those affected by Hurricane Katrina it can be found on the following link https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R43139.pdf.

2. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) helps people before, during and after disasters like Floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and forest fires to mention but a few (FEMA, 2020).

California is known of having wildfires each year and the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County is still known to be California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire in history which swept through 153,336 acres over 16 days and destroyed 18,804 structures, prompted the evacuation of more than 30,000 residents and took the lives of 85 individuals (FEMA, 2020).

Since 2018, FEMA has provided more than $238 million in assistance to local and state government agencies, and residents to support recovery from the Camp Fire.  Individuals and households received $84 million to manage rental expenses, home repair and home replacement costs, in addition to grants to replace personal property and cover other disaster-related expenses. As part of an extensive direct housing mission, FEMA also developed the 72-acre Gridley Industrial Park, with 289 manufactured housing units and mobile homes for thousands of displaced Butte County residents. FEMA also coordinated efforts with other agencies like the U.S. Forest Service who sent off strike teams to fight the fires, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation and Housing who all joined hands in helping people fully recover from the damage caused by the fire (FEMA, 2020)