Federal Emergency Management Agency

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Federal Emergence Management Agency

The Presidential Reorganization Plan under the Department of Homeland and Housing in 1979 initiated FEMA in 1978. FEMA’s work is to take action to a disaster that overcomes the state and the local authorities. Offer low interest rate loans to people with the assistance of the Small Business Administration. This loan in turn helps them to open businesses, which can help them repay the loans and improve their standards of living. Reduce the dependency rate whereby the young, elderly or the poor expect much from their well up relatives. The funds help the elderly to reduce stress by thinking a lot because they are living alone and the young to avoid engaging in immoral behaviors because of their idle minds. Offers assistance on a state property affected by a disaster either within its geographical area or without. The governor of a state makes a request to the President for FEMA to respond to a disaster. Since it’s conception in April 1, 1979, FEMA has the nation dedicated agency to mange national disasters, has supported American with numerous crisis like the Great Midwest Floods of 1993, 1994 Northridge Earthquake, the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Hurricane Katrina 2005, Hurricane Sandy October 29, 2012, The World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and The attacks on the Pentagon and The World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.        

History of FEMA

In 1803, the US congress passed the first legislation measure to provide relief for merchants in Portsmouth by giving them more time for remitting tariffs on imported goods. The ad-hoc legislation between 1803 and 1930 was passed severally for compensation after a disaster. For example, after the Great Wall fire incident in 1835, the New York City merchants received waive on tariff duties. After Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the congress passed legislation to compensate those injured at John T. Ford’s theatre. In 1932, President Herbert Hoover commissioned the Reconstruction Finance Corporation after the Great Depression in 1929. The RFC work was to lend money to institutions and banks for stimulation of economic activities. RFC was responsible for releasing federal dollars during disasters thus it is considered as the first federal disaster response agency. In 1934, Public Roads Bureau was allowed to finance reconstruction of roads and highways after a disaster. The U.S Army Corps of Engineers was given authority over irrigation projects and flood control by the Flood Control Act 1944.

In 1973, President Reorganization Plan no.1 brought federal disaster recovery and relief under the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration was formed as unit in the department (FEMA.gov, n.d). The agency’s function was to oversee disasters occurring until it was incorporated with Federal Emergency Management Agency, implemented and created by Executive Orders 12148 and 12127 by No. 2 of 1978 President Reorganization Plan respectively. More agencies were involved in disaster relief prior to implementation of no. 3 of 1978 Reorganization Plan. Over the years, president executive orders and the Congress extended the number of covered categories for assistance. The congress came up with annual budget amounts to victims of different types of disasters or hazards for assistance by enacting various laws (Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), n.d.). Congress specified the qualifications and then delegated federal and non-federal agencies various responsibilities. With time, these laws expanded array of agencies, which underwent reorganization for example the Federal Civil Defense Administration that worked within the Executive Office of the President. Administrations of disaster relief were given to the president who delegated the duties to the Home Finance Administration and Housing. Subsequently new offices were formed, which were Office of Defense Mobilization, Office of Civil Defense; under the Agriculture Department, Defense Department (DoD), Health, Education, Welfare department (HEW); the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency; the General Services Administration (GSA); the Office of Emergency Planning (OEmP) and the Department of Housing and Urban Planning Development (HUD). These actions showed that the different disparate legislative actions motivated by budgetary earmarking and policy, unifying and a strategy to meet the nation’s needs and addressed the nation’s domestic preparedness. In 1978, a controversial decision to consolidate the singular functions was made; Federal Emergency Management Agency was to house disaster preparedness and civil defense under one roof.