Introduction
The federal emergency management agency (FEMA) is a government entity which was established in 1979 through an executive order signed by the then American president Jimmy Carter. It was accorded a cabinet level post in the central government in 1996, a position given to departments such as the state department and that of labor. The organization has 2,600 permanent employees working in its headquarters and across its regional offices. It also has various service centers such as the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) and the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) and 4000 non-permanent staff reserved for disasters. The agency serves to help American citizens cope with disasters. It ensures that there is effective preparation, management and recovery from terrorist attacks and natural disasters such as hurricanes and storms. This paper looks at the role that the agency plays, how it is funded, its role in the recent disaster in Puerto Rico, and the politics associated with its functioning.
The Purpose of FEMA
FEMA coordinates with various other government relief agencies when disaster strikes. Its work in response to disasters is spearheaded by its office of response and recovery. The coordination of the efforts of these government relief agencies is made possible through the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act which has existed since 1988 when it was signed into law. FEMA funds disaster support activities that have been duly authorized. It also funds state, tribal, local and territorial causes that are eligible, such as the provision of debris removal services and emergency protection. It achieves this through finances sourced from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) which also caters for other relief services including offering financial help to qualifying disaster survivors, repairing and restoration of eligible disaster-wasted public infrastructure, giving grants for fire management help to qualifying grassland and large forest fires, and funding hazard mitigation causes.
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FEMA generally helps with medical services, property repair and restoration, and housing during disasters. The agency provides medical treatment and caters for medical costs that come with life loss during disasters. It also assists in replacement, transportation, and storage of private property, whichever is appropriate. Additionally, it helps through provision of temporary housing and grants to owners of destroyed uninsured homes (Lindsay, 2014) . FEMA, at the basic level, works to serve two main purposes: enhancing the ability of the federal government to successively go through a foreign attack, and helping both state and local governments in dealing with natural disasters.
How FEMA is funded
FEMA is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), a federal appropriation against which it directs, controls, coordinates, and funds qualifying disaster management efforts that come into play when the country is hit by overwhelming disasters that are beyond state control. This is done in accordance to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Katz, Attal-Juncqua, & Fischer, 2017) . The US congress funds FEMA through a mix of emergency funding programs and regular appropriations.
The Emergency Relief and Disaster Assistance Act gives the president the power to declare incidents as national disasters warranting federal intervention. These incidences can be destructive massive disasters to more routine and localized disasters with less damaging effects. A declaration acts as a call for federal assistance which comes in the form of various recovery and response mechanisms as prescribed by the Stafford Relief and Assistance Act. This assistance is given to state, local and tribal authorities. The DRF is the primary source of funding for the operations of the agency. The funds are used to pay for the costs of ongoing recovery and reconstruction projects initiated after disasters that occurred in the previous fiscal years, and prevailing emergency needs. It is also a reserve to cater for emergency needs and reconstruction from future events.
The Disaster Relief Fund is an annually funded no year kitty. This is to say that unused money from the previous year is forwarded to the next one. Congress gives additional funding through supplementary and annual appropriations to the fund when the account balance is low (Lindsay, 2014) . Funding FEMA is recurrent expenditure for the federal government, though it can sometimes be supplemental, particularly in instances where the account needs to be replenished.
Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria, a category 4 storm, hit Puerto Rico in September 2017 causing massive destruction to the islands infrastructure. The storm left many people on the island homeless as others sought help from the mainland through the assistance of FEMA. The official death toll from the hurricane is 64, but death records reveal that more than 1000 people died on the island from the effects of the storm. The previous years had recorded fewer catastrophes during similar periods (Graham, 2017) . FEMA was still dealing with the effects of hurricanes Irma and Harvey in Texas and Florida, where many of its workers were deployed (Robles, 2018) .
FEMA had used up its supply reserves in Puerto Rico to aid the Virgin Islands and Florida which had been badly hit by hurricane Irma. The hurricane had not hit Puerto Rico on its way but hurricane Maria landed within 2 weeks of the skirting of Irma. FEMA reported that its warehouse in Puerto Rico only remained with a few supplies even before Irma, a quantity that was only a minute fraction of what would finally be needed on the island. FEMA, in dealing with the effects of Maria, failed to consider the logistical concerns that its disaster drilling drills had reported it could possibly face in dealing with disasters on the island.
The first badge of food and water supplies reached the island several days after the storm had hit. There were hardly any drivers to help in moving the FEMA supplies from the seaports to the survivors because many truck drivers were already deeply engrossed in dealing with the damage that the storm had caused them personally. Reconnaissance officials sent to the island through helicopters found it challenging to relay the information that they had gathered since the storm had destroyed the island’s communication systems. FEMA also sent satellite phones for use on the island. These phones however, could not work because they were not meant for use in the Caribbean.
Many midlevel health clinics grappled without emergency power because FEMA could not provide enough generators to cater for the situation on the island after the hurricane. There was urgent need of about 1400 generators for provision of emergency power but FEMA could provide only about a half of them. About a year after Maria, Puerto Rico still struggles with the impact as it prepares for possible disasters in 2018. Many households still have no power and Prepa, the islands publicly owned electric authority, is faced with management and staff challenges.
FEMA and the Politics of Disaster
FEMA’s greatest challenge to its success is not natural disasters or foreign/ terrorist attacks, as many might expect, but basic political disagreements about the role that the federal government should play in disaster management. Democrats and republicans have historically engaged in heated debates about the scope and extend of the federal government in responding to disasters. Many republican politicians such as Mitt Romney often question the role of FEMA in disaster management (Oliver & Reeves, 2015) . This questioning is not simply about political posturing but is a legitimate presentation of a broader wave of ideas embedded within the republican mentality. Republicans are for the idea that FEMA should play a limited role in responding to disasters and be more oriented towards support for national security. During the Reagan administration, for instance, FEMA was largely tasked with civil defense. It was largely preoccupied with counterterrorism under the Bush presidency, when it was placed within the newly established Homeland Security Department.
Republicans have in the past bashed FEMA and disaster relief has been a contentious concern for them. Many of them, such as Eric Cantor, claim that federal assistance in disasters should be met with budget reductions. Mitt Romney, once a presidential nominee, suggested that states should take on disaster management roles individually without the involvement of the federal government. Ron Paul who was also once a republican presidential candidate said that FEMA should be abolished. The Libertarian Cato Institute also argued that FEMA, in helping the victims of disaster through provision of insurance and disaster relief, was encouraging Americans to build in areas prone to disaster and forcing other Americans to pay for their risky decisions (Cohn, 2012) .
Democrats, on the other hand, advocate for a FEMA which is structured to deal with hazards of all kinds. Democrats want a strong FEMA oriented towards both natural disasters and national security. They also have expressed more support for FEMA’s role in reducing the likelihood or impacts of disasters even before they happen through provide support for both local and state investments. Democrats, therefore, are more inclined towards a strengthened and adequately funded FEMA than republicans. They have argued that the agency needs expansive funding for disaster preparedness and reconstruction.
Republicans hold a deep ideology that incompetence is an inherent characteristic of federal bureaucracies, making them ineffective. Republicans therefore lack an incentive to support FEMA or work towards its effectiveness. Democrats, on the contrary, work to see the success and efficiency of the federal bureaucracy. FEMA is therefore, more of a priority under a democratic administration.
Conclusion
FEMA plays an important role in dealing with both natural and man-made disasters. Its funding is the responsibility of the federal government through DRF. Various valid concerns arose about its role in Puerto Rico when hurricane Maria struck. Many people have argued that its performance was sub-standard and not effective. The agency continues to grapple with political complexities particularly when republicans are in power. FEMA’s future and performance depends on the ideologies of successive governments.
References
Cohn, J. (2012, Oct). Sandy’s Lesson for the Voters: Government Matters . Retrieved Oct 16, 2018, from The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/article/109393/sandy-should-remind-us-why-we-need-big-strong-federal-government
Graham, D. A. (2017, Sep). Is the Federal Government Doing Enough for Puerto Rico? Retrieved Oct 16, 2018, from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-relief-trump-federal/541122/
Katz, R., Attal-Juncqua, A., & Fischer, J. E. (2017). Funding Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the United States. American Journal of Public Health , 148-152.
Kohn, S. (2011). Another disaster: Conservatives' attack on FEMA . Retrieved Oct 16, 2018, from CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/08/29/kohn.conservatives.fema/index.html
Lindsay, B. R. (2014). FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund: Overview and Selected Issues. Congressional Research Service .
Oliver, A. J., & Reeves, A. (2015). The Politics of Disaster Relief. Retrieved Oct 16, 2018, from Andrewreeves.org: http://www.andrewreeves.org/papers/disasters-review.pdf
Robles, F. (2018, July). FEMA Was Sorely Unprepared for Puerto Rico Hurricane, Report Says. Retrieved Oct 16, 2018, from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/us/fema-puerto-rico-maria.html
