Public Safety Signals

Mark Says:

Mark,
I think you have misunderstanding of what FEMA’s responsibility is in a disaster. You say;

“Why is it that FEMA , with many hurricane’s under its belt, can not seem to pull a disaster plan together quickly? Is politics to blame, and should FEMA become an independent agency without direct political ties to the White House and Congress? Should block grants be given to states for disaster relief and eliminate FEMA entirely? As the days, weeks, and months progress, the answer to these questions must be addressed.”

First, FEMA is there to support state governments, and they can only provide what the state requests. According to the law, they can only be requested when local and state resources are not enough to respond to the situation and the Governor of the state declares a disaster and asks for assistance from the President. The problem, more often than not, is at the state level.
Many people do not realize that FEMA is only a support organization. According to some legal minds, if they overstep their bounds, even though they aren’t part of the military, it could be considered a violation of the “Posse Comitatus Act” in regards to policing because they are part of the government. I see you have been in Law Enforcement a while, let me ask you this;
If there was a disaster in your area, and FEMA came in and took over command and began giving the local and state government orders, do you think it would go over well? Would you be happy to take orders from a FEMA person telling you what to do in your town? Of course not! That would go over as well as a fart in church!
It is also a very slippery slope if the fed takes over operationally as it is also illegal. They cannot do anything without a state request. FEMA representatives are told at all levels that they cannot and will not supersede local or state authorities. They are there to coordinate the response when the local and state is overwhelmed. The only time that FEMA does not need to be requested is when the disaster occurs on federal property or from federal assets such as the Space Shuttle Columbia crash.
Politically speaking, once the Federal Disaster Declaration is declared, not Congress, Senate, nor the President has any say about funding and very little to say about the response (except when it is flubbed). That funding is guaranteed under the Stafford Act and is protected. FEMA is supposed to organize and work with around thirty government offices and twenty or so non-profits to coordinate those entities as requested by the state.
The question of the block grants and getting rid of FEMA is actually one of the least thought through and foolish ideas I have ever heard. FEMA is the only constant resource in a disaster that holds things together. If we go to a piecemeal approach where every state does its own thing, you will see more suffering and less forward movement during a disaster. In my opinion it will be just as bad as it was in past when federal resources were piecemeal from the 1930’s to the 1960’s. I encourage you to research those days when disaster assistance was provided under the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
If I read your post correctly, you blamed FEMA for not having power turned on. They have no responsibility for repairing transmission lines at all; this is part of an interstate compact between electric companies.
Please don’t take this post as a challenge, because it is not meant to be. This post is to begin to help people to clear up a misunderstanding that is usually spread by the media. I have taken over 50 FEMA courses from the Emergency Management Institute, and I have been in Emergency Management in some form since 1990. I learned most of this from studying with FEMA. I suggest anyone that disagrees to research this subject, and if I am wrong, I will be the first to admit it. Thanks for you time, …Mark

Take care and stay safe,
Mark S. Warnick

October 2nd, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Mark R. Says:

Mark,

I understand your comments, and appreciate them. I work with FEMA (USAR) in post-disaster situations. My point of my post may have been lost in the verbage. When the state drops the ball, who shoudl take the ball? FEMA, with its ability to pull in resources from the federal level, seems to be the obvious choice. We are not taking about police duties, or anything similar; in NIMS terms, assume the role of incident commander.

With Ike, 90 counties were attempting to “self-manage” relief efforts with FEMA’s help. THe issues srose when larger counties, with their political clout, received priority consideration from the state, leaving smaller but more devistated counties without relief. Because the local and state governments were busy with self-interest motives, FEMA appeared to be ineffective. The fault did not rest with FEMA, but the agency had to take the heat.

In terms of a violation of Posse Commitatus, the application of the PCA is very limited in scope (and routinely violated to an extent that makes it virtually ineffective to begin with). The navy routinely circumvents the terms of the PCA by housing Coast Guard personnel on their vessels in order to board US vessels in search of drugs. While the Coast Guard has adequate facilites to perform its duty, a destroyer is far more intimidating than a cutter. Similarly, the National Guard is routinely deployed in localities. While 200 years ago there was a true distinction between the US Army and State National Guards, that line is now so blurred that it is truely irrelevant.

Fianlly, I only qustion the elimination of FEMA to prove the point you made; there is no real alternative, however in its present state people already in highly stressful situations are forced to deal with a bureaucracy so disjoint endure a compouding level of stress (I am one of them…).

In the end, we, as a country, need to make some hard decisions as to how we are going to move forward in terms of disaster response. We need to remove the politics from the equation and streamline the processes.

Have a great day.

Mark

October 19th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

Mark Warnick Says:

Mark,
Thanks for the clarification, and I see we are on the same page afterall. Good luck with everything down there. Take Care and Stay Safe, … Mark

October 24th, 2008 at 5:34 pm