In President Barack Obama’s first two years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) averaged 108 disaster declarations per year. In less than six months, FEMA already has issued 100 declarations in 2011. The record year remains 1996, when President Bill Clinton issued 157 declarations. If FEMA maintains this pace for …
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano surveyed the damage of the tornado-ravaged South this weekend, promising federal supplies and aid to help victims of one of the deadliest storm systems in U.S. history. But before FEMA or government leaders stood in the wreckage, local community groups and church congregations …
With the recent devastation in Japan, the paragon of earthquake preparedness, Americans are rightfully questioning the readiness of the United States to handle a large-scale national disaster. In spite of the supposed progress the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has made since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, there is wide spread …
Friday morning, a massive earthquake hit Japan and spawned a massive tsunami that is sweeping across the Pacific, requiring evacuation along the Hawaiian coast. This morning the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued an alert that “tsunami warnings and watches have been issued for the U.S. territories of Guam, the …
As we have written extensively, the federalization of natural disaster response is a losing proposition, as many states that have few natural disasters subsidize the states that have frequent (but fairly routine) natural disasters such as tornadoes, floods, fires, and storms. Now we learn that it isn’t just disaster response …
House Republicans are attempting to live up to their pledge to cut $100 billion from the federal government’s current fiscal year 2011 budget. One of the proposed programs placed on the chopping block is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) program—a federal program that subsidizes …
The Daily Caller recently reported on and posted an embargoed Department of Homeland Security Inspector General audit of a FEMA fire prevention grant to the ACORN. In fiscal year 2007, ACORN created the ACORN Institute to specifically apply for a $1 million FEMA grant to help urban communities prevent fires. …
In the continuing (over)reaction to the failures of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) once again “leaned forward” in anticipation of a hurricane. For all of its activities in response to Hurricane Dean in 2009, FEMA spent north of $50 million for what amounted to …
