FEMA was also given the responsibility for overseeing the nation's Civil Defense, a function which had previously been performed by the Department of Defense's Defense Civil Preparedness Agency.

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 demonstrated that the vision of further unification of functions and another reorganization could not address the problems FEMA had previously faced.

On August 1, 2008, FEMA had released " Planning Guidance for Protection and Recovery Following Radiological Dispersal Device ( RDD ) and Improvised Nuclear Device ( IND ) incidents " which indicate action guide in case of radiation contamination.

FEMA had pre-positioned response personnel in the Gulf Coast region.

* " The Secretary Department of Homeland Security should have designated the Principal Federal Official on Saturday, two days prior to landfall, from the roster of PFOs who had successfully completed the required training, unlike then FEMA Director Michael Brown.

FEMA responded that as per procedure, the Governor of the state of New York had not asked for FEMA's assistance.

FEMA Headquarters had been in constant contact with State congressional offices providing them with the latest information available.

After a flood in 1997, Utica saw growth because it had to strengthen its building, planning, and zoning laws in order to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) and Indiana DNR rebuilding funds.

Robertson's firm participated in the development of a database of basic structural information for the towers of the World Trade Center ( WTC1 and 2 ) for NIST and FEMA and to record the undocumented structural changes that had been made to the buildings after construction began.

A 1992 interim report by the Congress ( prior to Hurricane Andrew, which led to further criticism of FEMA ) had said, " FEMA is widely viewed as a political dumping ground, a turkey farm, if you will, where large numbers of positions exist that can be conveniently and quietly filled by political appointment ..."

This was also a few days after Benson had reportedly told his staff that they could not return to their Metairie facilities because it was still being occupied by FEMA and National Guard officials and that the New Orleans area had become " unlivable.

In 1989, Las Casas was affected deeply by Hurricane Hugo, with some apartments destroyed, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) had to help some of the families in the complex.

They also had to wait several days after the storm before they got any help from FEMA workers.

FEMA, which had been established only three months before Frederic hit, was the focal point for nearly $ 250 million in federal aid for recovery, $ 188 million of which went to Alabama ( 1979 USD ).

This explains why Tom Kenney of FEMA's National Urban Search and Rescue Team, told Dan Rather of CBS News that FEMA had arrived in New York on the night of September 10.

After Katrina hit, the Shaw group hired the former head of the Projects and Contracting Office in Baghdad, Charles Hess, who also had experience working at FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers.

FEMA had announced that, in conjunction with Greyhound, the National Guard, and Houston Metro, the 25, 000 people at the Superdome would be relocated across state lines to the Houston Astrodome.

Brown first had been appointed as General Counsel at FEMA.

" His standing had also been damaged when the Boston Herald revealed his meager experience in disaster management before joining FEMA.

By the time he resigned from FEMA, Brown had already been discharged from his functions as coordinator of the federal efforts in New Orleans and Gulf Coast by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and was sent back to Washington to continue FEMA's central operations.

Among the first to express criticism of the management of the crisis had been The Pentagon, who complained only a day after Katrina hit that bureaucratic red tape from the Bush administration and the FEMA ( newly reorganized under the Homeland Security Department ) had caused the delay of a scheduled and authorized military hospital ship from Norfolk, Virginia, among other related and prepared active military crisis response procedures.

Other programs FEMA previously administered have since been internalized or shifted under direct DHS control.

FEMA has led a Public-Private Partnership in creating a National Donations Management Program making it easier for corporations or individuals not previously engaged to make offers of free assistance to States and the Federal Government in times of disaster.

As the award is presented by the President, the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Act of 2001 also repealed the previously awarded President's Award For Outstanding Public Safety Service (' President's Award ') and revised the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to remove the ' President's Award ' but keep the Secretary's Award For Distinguished Public Safety Service (' Secretary's Award '), which is an honorary award presented by the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) or the Attorney General for the recognition of outstanding and distinguished service by public safety officers *.

" For years emergency management professionals have been warning that FEMA ’ s preparedness has eroded.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) gave $ 21. 4 million to rebuilt the libraries collection, which was 75 percent of the replacement cost, and the collection has since been rebuilt.

Although some of these ideas have gained some amount of acceptance among researchers, they have not been accepted by the National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council, which advises the USGS, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ).

These funds have been matched by grants from FEMA, Save America's Treasures, and numerous other funders.

To monitor and give advance warning of the cyclones, several Observation stations have been established under the U. S. Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ), in American Samoa.

# Furthermore, the politico that falls must have been in a position of authority related to the scandal ( Mike Brown was head of FEMA during the Katrina relief efforts ( or lack thereof )).

FEMA was widely criticized for the agency ’ s response to Andrew, summed up by the famous exclamation, " Where in the hell is the cavalry on this one?

FEMA was widely criticized for what is seen as a slow initial response to the disaster and an inability to effectively manage, care for and move those trying to leave the city.

When asked what their plans for surviving nuclear war were, a FEMA official replied that they were experimenting with putting evacuation instructions in telephone books in New England.

Organizations known to use ALE for Emergency management, disaster relief, ordinary communication or extraordinary situation response include: Red Cross, FEMA, Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, NATO, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United Nations, AT & T, Civil Air Patrol, SHARES, State of California Emergency Management Agency ( CalEMA ), other US States ' Offices of Emergency Services or Emergency Management Agencies, and Amateur Radio Emergency Service ( ARES ).

FEMA has developed Continuity Guidance Circular 1, Continuity Guidance for Non-Federal Agencies ( CGC 1 ).

It houses operations and training facilities above ground for the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) and contains an underground facility designed to house key components of the American government in the case of nuclear war.

FEMA also provides these services for territories of the United States, such as Puerto Rico.

In addition to this, FEMA provides funds for training of response personnel throughout the United States and its territories as part of the agency's preparedness effort.

In addition, FEMA received authority for counter terrorism through the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici amendment under the Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996, which was a response to the recognized vulnerabilities of the U. S. after the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.

During the debate of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, some called for FEMA to remain as an independent agency.

Later, following the failed response to Hurricane Katrina, critics called for FEMA to be removed from the Department of Homeland Security.

The Administrator for Federal Emergency Management reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security. In March 2003, FEMA joined 22 other federal agencies, programs and offices in becoming the Department of Homeland Security.

FEMA began administering the Center for Domestic Preparedness in 2007.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, during the Cold War FEMA prepared assessments of the likely consequences of a full-scale Soviet nuclear attack on the United States for use in planning mitigation and recovery efforts.

* When Hurricane Frances hit South Florida on Labor Day weekend ( over 100 miles north of Miami-Dade County ), 9, 800 Miami-Dade applicants were approved by FEMA for $ 21 million in storm claims for new furniture ; clothes ; thousands of new televisions, microwaves and refrigerators ; cars ; dental bills ; and a funeral even though the Medical Examiner recorded no deaths from Frances.

A U. S. Senate committee and the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security found that FEMA inappropriately declared Miami-Dade county a disaster area and then awarded millions, often without verifying storm damage or a need for assistance.

* FEMA used hurricane aid money to pay funeral expenses for at least 203 Floridians whose deaths were not caused by the 2004 Hurricanes, the state's coroners have concluded.

FEMA received intense criticism for its response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in August 2005.

* " DHS and FEMA lacked adequate trained and experienced staff for the Katrina response.