Disaster and disruptions preparedness has been one of the major investments by federal governments. Different disasters have faced different locations in the United States. These include cases of hurricanes; school shooting all of which demands a quick response to avert the danger and loss of lives and properties. Through the department of homeland security, different organizations have been established towards response to emergencies in the country. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is one of the agencies in the US whose primary purpose is to coordinate response whenever a disaster occurs. According to Peters (2017), FEMA is responsible for coordinating the government responses to both man-made and natural disasters. Some of the emergencies that the agency has helped in managing the response and the rebuilding of the affected regions include hurricane Katrina, Harvey, Irma and Dorian among other disasters. This essay provides an analysis of Hurricane Irma in the aspect of FEMA regarding emergency management phases.
Key: Federal Emergency Management Agency- FEMA
Event Overview
Remembered for its wide-ranging and severity impacts to several islands in Florida and the Caribbean Sea, Hurricane Irma was a powerful hurricane that occurred on September 2017. It has been the most intense hurricane to hit the continental US since Katrina in 2005, as well as the first to make landfall in Florida. The hurricane lasted from 31st August to Sept 11th and stretched over 600 miles from the east headed west. Irma affected 9 states destroying buildings, and turning streets into rivers, ripping power lines and uprooting trees. The hurricane passed over Barbuda destroying an estimated 94% of the buildings on the island. More than 5.6 million people were evacuated (Issa et al, 2018). By the time it ceased, hurricane Irma left behind deadly devastation, flooding of cities and leaving many without power.
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Hurricanes can result in widespread devastation both after and during the wave. Planning and preparing for such emergencies and natural disasters can make a vast difference in safety and resiliency in the wake of a hurricane. According to Rivera (2019), the success in terms of recovering following a hurricane demands focuses on advice, planning, preparedness as well as being aware of what to do in such an event. FEMA is an American government agency that has a well-stipulated design on how people should prepare as well as recover in the wake of a hurricane. With the enactment of emergency response agencies such as FEMA and Red Cross, successful mitigation has been established.
Adopting the four phases of emergency management in hurricane Irma, the United States government through the FEMA agency among others ensured different measures were adopted not only to rescue but also prevent the vast destruction and displacement of people. Mitigation refers to the action or measures adopted to reduce or prevent the risk of an imminent disaster, i.e. protection of lie, social, natural resources, and economic activities all from natural hazards (Issa et al, 2018). Being not the first hurricane to be witnessed in the region, the government through its agencies such as FEMA, military, well-wishers groups, and most importantly the homeland security department devised different mitigation measures in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Being not the first hurricane to be faced in the region, the government has adopted some details of previous incidents. By reference to Hurricane Irma, the mitigation measures included the use of zoning, adoption of new building codes. This was drawn to experience from hurricane Katrina. Elevation of flood-proof traffic signal and control boxes (Peters, 2017). This would help in determining when the communities were at risk of floods. Additionally, to reduce the menace that would be caused by the hurricane; the communities were well informed of the imminent danger, vast information sharing as well as coordination in terms of rescue agencies. This important as it enabled FEMA as the leading agency to stage a successful response to save both people and properties as well as coordinating the rescue teams.
Defined as a continuous cycle of planning, training, organizing, equipping taking action/exercising, evaluating as well as taking corrective action with the main focus on ensuring successful coordination during incident response, preparedness is the second phase of emergency management. With reference to hurricane Irma, FEMA among other agencies carried key measures to prepare for the worst. This included informing people about what would be essential in case of the hurricane fall, equipping and setting up temporary medical centers, the establishment of secondary communication channels in case the hurricane destroys the primary ones. Evacuation plans and food stocking were key preparedness measures adopted before the wake Irma. The preparedness entails training of survival skills and also on how helping others. In the case of FEMA, the agency engaged in government response team training who would, in turn, give services in the wake of Irma (Rivera, 2019). Other measures include ensuring supplies and equipment was at hand and ready for use and deployment. Planning for the first action once the disaster dawned, putting systems together, and infrastructure were also key measures adopted in the case of Irma hurricane. The preparedness was not only on the government emergency response side but also on individual people and other related emergency response units working on the coastal line.
The response phase of emergency management entails the different actions adopted by the people and the rescue teams to save lives as well as to prevent continued damage of properties. According to Emergency Management: FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (2019), the response is summarized as the putting of preparedness plans into action. One of the major responses in the dawn of Irma was the deployment of emergency shelters for the evacuated people and animals. They're also active deployment of the military and FEMA personnel to actively assist with evacuation and saving of the properties. From other response teams such as Red Cross among other like-minded organs, food-stuffs were supplied; clean drinking water as well as medical services to prevent disease breaking out. Through the coordination of FEMA, the response ensures minimal cases of destruction and death of animals and people (Kinnally, 2018). Some of the responses entail the Operation Ruman which was staged by the military, government and public donations are corrected to be dispersed to the affected personnel. There was also travel advisory to ensure people's safety during the hurricane.
After a successful response to the hurricane emergency and containment of the disaster, the net process was to plan for recovery or re-establishment of the affected areas. Vo & Castro (2018) defines the recovery phase as an important stage in emergency management as it helps to return to normality through the reconstruction of facilities, buildings, and financial activities. In Florida, Americans worked through private and government-owned agencies worked to restore the affected regions. This was through the restoration of health services. Towards meeting of human needs, there was a long-term recovery group that provided volunteer housing, rebuilding as well as canal clean up among other activities. From the funds raised in different agencies as well as a full range of federal, local, country, state, philanthropic and nonprofit contributions were made towards the recovery initiative of the affected regions (Kinnally, 2018). The financial help that was directed towards the rebuilding and the removal of the debris was utilized towards setting up essential public and private properties such as affected schools, homes and healthcare facilities.
Over the years, United States have experienced different levels of hurricanes. However, each of the past disasters has provided a learning curve, which serves a rich source of information when preparing and preventing another hurricane menace. Being natural disasters, Irma among other hurricanes has negatively affected the American lives, but on the positive side, giving an overview of what is to be expected if another one occurs (Peters, 2017). With technological advancement in the modern era, the American government has managed to detect possible incoming threats hence able to plan early, evacuate early and in turn avoid massive loss of lives and properties. Through FEMA, there has been an establishment of insurance services that affected people to apply for compensation. This, in turn, helps people in rebuilding their lives after a hurricane.
In conclusion, hurricane Irma remains one of the devastating natural disasters to have affected the American. Hurricane Irma occurred in 2017, categorized as category 4 and despite its devastating impact on the state of Florida, it provided a worthy experience for future preparedness such as the wake of Hurricane Michael. The succession of these events stretched the country’s response team from the government to other emergency response agencies. Ultimately, the lessons derived from the 2017 hurricane season enabled the government through FEMA to effectively establish a working relationship with other partners to help people before, during as well as after disasters. Through FEMA’s emergency management programs, the mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery were successful more so in its ability to establish a collective capacity to prepare for future disasters. Drawing from the hurricane Irma analysis, the event has provided a move forward through leveraging innovative tactics, utilizing new technology, as well as strengthening partnerships hence improving outcomes of the nation’s response to emergencies.
References
Emergency Management: FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (2019). GAO Reports , 1–29.
Issa, A., Ramadugu, K., Mulay, P., Hamilton, J., Siegel, V., Harrison, C., … Boehmer, T. (2018). Deaths Related to Hurricane Irma - Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, September 4-October 10, 2017. MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report , 67 (30), 829–832.
Kinnally, N. (2018). Big Pine Rises Up: Pro bono lawyer helps Keys residents get back on their feet after Irma. Florida Bar Journal , 92 (5), 18–20.
Peters, K. M. (2017). Thousands of Feds Respond to Irma’s Massive Destruction. Government Executive , 1.
Rivera, J. (2019). A Content Analysis on the Phases of Emergency Management for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. University of Central Florida Undergraduate Research Journal , 11 (1), 8–17.
Vo, T., & Castro, B. (2018). Credits & Incentives Update: The Silver Lining on the Hurricane Clouds of Harvey, Irma and Maria. Journal of State Taxation , 36 (2), 13–40.
