FEMA: A Decade Of Recovery After Hurricane Katrina

on the ground. It was amateur hour at its finest and blame was spread throughout with the Federal Governments head relief agency FEMA, bearing the brunt for failure. To a lot of people, it was amazing that despite all the efforts supposedly occurring in the aftermath of September 11th, that a response to Hurricane Katrina was even fathomable. People were still fearful that another terrorist attack could be forthcoming any day and how the local and federal governments would respond. Hurricane Katrina made people question just how adequate their government was in responding to disasters, whether caused by terrorist or manmade. Americans were brought back to reality that even in the greatest country on Earth, communication failure could occur
Progress has been seen in recovery responses to emergencies. “Since 2005, FEMA has significantly improved its ability to assist communities in responding to and recovering from disasters. Specifically, the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA) of 2006, gave FEMA clear guidance on its mission and priorities, and provided the legislative authorities needed to better partner with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments before, during, and after disasters” ("FEMA Outlines a Decade of Progress after Hurricane Katrina | FEMA.gov," 2015). Training continues between Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to better respond to emergencies, whether in relief efforts or a security standpoint. Unfortunately, it took another major catastrophe following September 11th and major criticism for policies to be passed, hopefully ensuring that responses occurring in the wake of both September 11th and Hurricane Katrina would be sufficiently improved. The sharing of information and adequate training is key to preventing the response failures of the past and ensuring that the preservation of human life, is the utmost priority in the