Emergency Management the American Experience

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Question:

Write a Reaction paper on Emergency Management in the American Experience from 1900-2010

Answer: 

Introduction

Clair Robin has brought together a team of highly qualified practitioners and scholars for examining the United States’ emergency management system. The team of Clair Robin also examined the role of federal government regarding the response of the government towards several calamities in the United States. The main purpose of the team was the management of the public policies, brighten the changes in the public policies, recognize the implications of the changes for the management of emergency, and administrations in reaction to major calamities. The team aimed to identify the major changes in public policy regarding response to major disasters. The United States has faced several devastating disasters over a period. The impacts of devastating disasters have brought many changes in the policies of emergency management of the United States. One of the major and most devastating disasters which highly impacted the United States is the great flood of Mississippi. 

The 1927 Mississippi flood and the contribution to the theories of response

In the history of the United States, the great flood of Mississippi which was occurred in 1927 is one of the most devastating disasters. The flood lasted for a period of approx. Two months from April to June. It was caused by heavy rainfall. Due to the heavy rainfall, the area of Mississippi river was havoc which brought disastrous result. But due to the Great Flood of Mississippi, the policies of the United States regarding emergency management changed. The approach to deal with such type of floods of the US changed drastically. Initially, the main aim of the emergency management was to reduce the damage, but after the adoption of the new approach, the key purpose of the management of emergency is to provide value to the environment and apply to measures to mitigate the environmental as well as economic losses. 

The Dust Bowl and the contribution to the theories of mitigation 

The Dust Bowl is also one of the major environmental disasters which hit the United States in the mid of 1930s. The Dust Bowl was characterized by a severe shortage of water. Harsh farming techniques were also responsible for the Dust Bowl disaster. It was one of the worst droughts in North America. Due to the lack of rain, a storm of dust created which was capable enough to cover the houses. The large part of agriculture was destroyed by the Dust Bowl. The government had failed to anticipate the drought at that time. After that federal government adopted several long-term approaches to deal with such disasters such as Federal Drought Relief Program, livestock feed, and transport, etc.

The 1947 Texas City explosions and the impact to the law

It was also one of the major disasters of the United States in which a freighter caught fire on April 16, 1947. The freighter contained around 2000 tons of ammonium nitrate. This disaster occurred in Texas City’s port. The explosion was very explosive, or we can say that equal to almost four kiloton nuclear weapon. More than 1500 people died in that accident, and more than 1000 people were injured. After this explosion a law made in the United States that a private party can sue the United States in the federal court. The name of the law is Federal Tort Claims Act. 

Civil Defense and the 1950 Federal Disaster Relief Act

After the World War II, one of the unusual or erratic histories of the government of the United States was protecting the civilians from the attack of enemies. This was called Civil Defence.  The civil defense organizations of the state and local developed to include citizens in the war effort during the Second World War. These organizations formulated policies to protect the civilians. 
The federal disaster relief act was passed in 1950 by the Congress. The federal disaster relief act is one of the most important federal assistance policies in the history of the United States. It was also formulated to provide safety to the civilians against the attack of enemies. 

Intergovernmental relationships in civil defense

After the Second World War, the federal government of the United States was increasingly involved in the mobilizing of the resources. The government was also involved in the crisis planning to protect the civilian population. California and New York were experienced in preparing to respond to the disasters.  After analyzing the need for the policies of civil defense, the states cooperated with each other to formulate policies to meet the emergency situations.

The disaster declaration system and early policy development

After the formulation of the Federal Disaster Relief Act, only a few significant disasters occurred. No civil defense emergencies were declared until that time. The government assisted the civilian population hit by the disasters. But from 1950 to 1964 the federal government of the United States issued a report in which the government declared 174 disasters which created a demand for fund of almost $275 million to recover damage and provide assistance to the people. 

The history of FEMA 

FEMA is an abbreviation for Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA was formed on April 1, 1979, under the Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3of 1978. It was applied by two executive orders. The primary purpose of the agency is to coordinate with the response of the federal government to a calamity which has happened in the United States. FEMA was established to respond to the disasters and formulate policies to mitigate the impact of disasters. 

Modern federal mitigation, law, and policy

There are various modern laws and policies of federal government to mitigate the impacts of disasters such as 
•The Robert Stafford T.  Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act: there are several programs under this act, such as

• Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

• Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program

• Public Assistance Grant Program

• Fire Management Assistance Grant Program

•The Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013
Apart from this there are several policies to mitigate the impacts of disasters such as;

• State Mitigation Plan Review Guide 2015

• Gui De Revision del Plan Local de Mitigation 2011

• Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide 2017

• Local Mitigation Plan Review Guide 2011

• Tribal Multi-Hazard Mitigation Planning Guidance 2010

• Development of the Emergency Management profession 

Due to the growing needs for training for the emergency managers to deal with the hazards and disasters which occur in the country the field of emergency management profession is being evolved. Under this profession there are several academic programs is being evolved to provide proper training to the emergency managers. Under this program, specialized training initiatives have been adopted.

References 

• Rubin, C. B. (Ed.). (2012). Emergency management: The American experience 1900-2010. CRC Press.