Fema and Its Response to Hurricane Damage

Outline

FEMA and its response to Hurricane Damage

Thesis: FEMA must implement its programs to help the residents rebuild houses, businesses, factories, and offices quickly and efficiently.

1. Problem

1. FEMA is not doing a good job when it comes to hurricanes.  Example, three years after hurricane Ike hit, FEMA was still fixing damage from Ike.
2. FEMA mismanagement leads to wasteful spending.  
3. FEMA lack of housing plan. People cannot go back to the houses, the government winds up footing the bill to pay for people who are dispossessed to living in luxury apartments or hotels.  This is wasteful spending.  

1. Solution

1. FEMA needs to spend more time and resources on preparedness for disaster (prevention) and to prepare properly plan for disaster recovery relief.
2. Streamline FEMA or start a new government agency to do what FEMA does in order to eliminate waste.

1. Concession

1. FEMA did a great job after Ike :  FEMA Provided approximately $1.2 billion across the agency's three program areas to help residents, local governments and nonprofits recover.
2. If stream line FEMA or start a new government agency will cost a lot of $ due to

• Hiring new people
• Training new people
• Finding new office space
• Writing new manual
• Designing new paper work
• Designing new procedure

1. Refutation

1. FEMA did  a bad job during Katrina.
2. The inefficient operating cost of FEMA is more than the cost of streamlining FEMA or starting a new government agency.

FEMA and its response to Hurricane Damage

“Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) mission is to support citizens and to be the first responder to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards” (“FEMA”). Hurricane is one of natural disasters that can cause of environment and manmade structures damage and human suffering. FEMA plays an important role in supporting and helping people in hurricane areas to prevent and recover from hurricane. People need to recover from hurricane quickly; however, many residents in hurricane area are still dealing with consequence of hurricane after few years hurricane hit due to they are waiting for help from FEMA. FEMA must implement its programs to help the residents rebuild houses, businesses, factories, and offices quickly and efficiently.  

FEMA is not doing a good job when it comes to hurricanes.  FEMA is slow in consideration of Hurricane relief efforts and delayed in billing. Hurricane Katrina is an example. “The Federal Emergency Management Agency has received much of the blame for the government's slow response to victims of Hurricane Katrina” (Stark), and “weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the agency was still stumbling in its response. They cited the slow pace in setting up temporary housing for evacuees and the reliance on no-bid contracts” (Lipton).  According to the Washington Post, 46 months after Katrina hit, 20,000 families in New Orleans still live in temporary mobile homes and apartments (Hsu).  Another example shows the slow response of FEMA to hurricane Ike.  “A top official of the Federal Emergency Management Agency admits that the agency was sluggish in its response to Texans affected by Hurricane Ike's devastation” (Associated Press). And three years after hurricane Ike hit, FEMA was still fixing damage from Ike. According to Houston Councilmember Wanda Adams, "What we don't want to happen is another hurricane come and, because they've been waiting for three years, more damage occurs" (Azad).

FEMA’s mismanagement lead to waste spending. FEMA has two primary assistance programs that are: Public Assistance and the Individual and Households Program (IHP).  FEMA paid for disaster related funeral expenses. However, according to Sun-Sentinel reporter, “We found that FEMA paid for 315 funerals when medical examiners attributed 123 deaths to the hurricanes. FEMA paid for people who died of cancer, AIDS, strokes and self-inflicted gunshot wound” (Kestin, Sally and O'Matz, Megan).  Federal auditors reported that the government wasted millions of dollars for Katrina relief.

Nonexistent communication with local officials led to misjudgments on the need for temporary housing. They included $3 million that FEMA spent for 4,000 base camp beds that were never used and $10 million to renovate and furnish 240 rooms in Alabama, which housed only six occupants before being closed. Poor coordination between FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers contributed to waste in an Americold Logistics LLC contract for ice. (Yen)

FEMA spent more than $2 billion to buy more than 120,000 trailers that were used by only 109 Louisiana families. “In 2006, government auditors found that sloppy errors and fraudulent claims cost FEMA more than $1 billion in disaster-relief funds” (Hall).  

FEMA’s lack of housing plans lead to waste spending in temporary housing. FEMA supported people in hurricane areas by paying for services such as housing, water, and ice.  FEMA paid hotel or apartment expenses for homeowners whose houses were uninhabitable.   Because of delaying in support people to rebuild house, people cannot go back to the houses, the government wound up footing the bill to pay for people who were dispossessed and living in luxury apartments or hotels.  FEMA did not have a coordinated plan for quickly getting people back into permanent housing; FEMA relied on temporary mobile homes.  Another example of wasteful spending of FEMA due to improper planning is “FEMA spent more than $100,000 after Katrina to keep a family in a temporary trailer for 18 months and has paid rent for thousands of families for more than three years. But it is restricted from spending significant amounts to repair permanent housing” (Associated Press).

FEMA needs to spend more time and resources on preparedness for disaster, especially natural disasters.  FEMA needs to work closely with the National Weather Service in order to forecast exactly when storms, hurricanes will hit land; Therefore, FEMA can plan for prevention and response to hurricane quickly.  Training staff is an important plan because FEMA staff will be the first responders for disaster victims such as evacuation, rescue, emergency supplies and security.  FEMA staff needs to respond quickly and efficiently for disaster relief.  Preparation and storage of food stuff, medicines, water, and supplies are needed to support people when disaster strikes.  FEMA needs to coordinate and cooperate with local government agencies, and other related agencies, and community services to train and guide people in planning for preventing and handling disasters.