Emergency Management

Emergency Management
Student’s Name
Institution
Course
Date
Emergency Management
Introduction
For close to two centuries, lawmakers in the US have acknowledged the need for a government, especially the federal government, which provides aid to victim citizens during disaster periods. The earliest and perhaps most significant instance of the government's involvement happened in 1803 when a series of fires ravaged through Portsmouth, a port city of New Hampshire. As a response, Congress passed a law that guaranteed the provision of relief to citizens. Regarded as the 1903 Congressional Act, the legislation contains the founding piece of national disaster law. Over time, Congress included disaster relief as part of the federal government's wide-reaching law to ensure that the nation’s economy is rebuilt. As of the middle of the 1930s decade, laws had been put in place to ensure that federal funds are provided to rebuild public facilities, roads, and bridges damaged by natural disasters. This paper analyzes various disaster events and their impacts on the nation's emergency management strategies.
9/11 and Hurricane Katrina
9/11 attacks profoundly affected the national system, which deals with catastrophic events. Before the attacks, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), alongside its state and local partners, had a common approach in place to deal with natural and unnatural disasters (Waugh, 2009). It included collaborative processes through which national disasters are managed. Responses provided to 9/11 had numerous flaws; nevertheless, the system was proved effective. FEMA provided support to both the local and state efforts of emergency management in New York. The Virginia local agencies also worked to provide aid to the Pentagon Official. To a certain measure, the responses showed that it is critical to have local agencies appropriately equipped to deal with large-scale disasters. Due to the recognition, their capabilities have, over time, been expanded regardless of the damages experienced by those at the federal level (Waugh, 2009). For example, the nation hastily constructed Homeland Security, hence downgrading FEMA, whose primary purpose was to provide civil protection. The federal government seemed to have emphasized terrorism primarily because of the intense social fears of another attack.
Emergency Management Balance Collapse
What often is stated by critics is that the nation shifted attention from civil protection to one used during the cold war. Consequences of poor prioritization later manifested when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2015. The weak levee systems quickly fell, leaving much of the city submerged (Waugh, 2009). Responses provided by both the local and state governments were inadequate due to budget cuts. For example, the Army Corps was unable to strengthen the system of levees to ensure New Orleans is protected (Waugh, 2009). After the floods, it could be noted that the government's awareness of a disaster was flawed, in addition to an ailing communication system between authorities and civilians.
Simply put, the shift ensured that most government officials are unfamiliar with the 'National Response Plan' implemented after 9/11 (Waugh, 2009). The created planning processes and training programs focusing on large disasters were insufficient after the national plan's implementation. Emphasis on counter-terrorism reduced the nation's capacity for mitigating and managing natural disasters.
Hurricane Sandy
The tropical cyclone regarded as hurricane Sandy also had its effects. Immense damages were experienced in New Jersey's and New York's coastal areas leading thousands of people to homelessness. It was evident that the effects of Hurricane Katrina ensured that the government strengthens its response plan for natural disasters (Chung, 2013). For example, the Post-Katrina Act allowed for emergencies to be declared long before a disaster struck. For this reason, supplies and emergency personnel were present at the vicinities before the event occurred, in addition to the implementation of the Surge Capacity Force under the DHS, which allowed volunteers from the department to rapidly be deployed to the affected areas (Chung, 2013). The government also had a new FEMA Corps consisting of young individuals who showed interest in emergency management careers and consented to be deployed to areas affected by natural disasters. The Federal Government, however, still delayed in ensuring that Congress approved the release of emergency funds. The issue significantly derailed response activities.
As a result, a report was provided by the Hurricane Sandy Task Force named the 'Rebuilding Strategy.' It included 69 recommendations on numerous policy areas but emphasized a design that aligned funding with locally provided rebuilding priorities (Chung, 2013). The report also sought to eliminate barriers to recovery by enhancing accountability, effectiveness, and coordination across government levels. Alongside the Climate Action of 2013 proposed by Obama's administration, the 'Rebuilding Strategy' guaranteed that communities are strengthened against extreme weather events and other effects of climate change that might manifest in the future (Chung, 2013). Most states now are re-eva...