What The Public Doesn't Know About FEMA
by Lucien Canton
The Future of the US Emergency Management System
by Timothy Riecker
"Future Of FEMA" Debated By Republicans & Dems In House Homeland Security Committee
Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service
by Michael Lewis
Posted by Lucien Canton on 03/28/2025 | Permalink
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My brother in Los Angeles called the other day to wish me a happy birthday. After the usual pleasantries and catching up on family, our talk turned to the current situation in the United States. Oddly, for two siblings who were raised in the same environment, we are on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Fortunately, we have sufficient affection for each other to be able to discuss issues amicably with the understanding that we won’t be able to change each other’s minds.
My brother said that he thought returning emergency management responsibilities to the states was not a bad idea. He also felt that FEMA wasn’t really needed. As we talked, I realized that all he really knew about emergency management and FEMA’s role was what he was hearing on the news and most of that was the misinformation spouted by the current administration. It made me wonder what it is we’re not telling the public.
The only thing the public hears is FEMA’s recovery mission. I say “recovery” because little mention is made of FEMA’s role in coordinating the response of multiple federal agencies. FEMA not only distributes disaster relief funds from programs under its control, but also coordinates funding provided through the programs of other agencies such as the Small Business Administration. All these programs were created by Congress and have different regulations imposed by their implementing legislation. Most of the public don’t realize that many of the programs FEMA disburses directly were originally administered by other federal agencies. FEMA was created to consolidate these various programs into a single agency and to serve as the primary source of disaster relief funding.
FEMA also coordinates direct federal assistance provided by responding agencies through a system of mission assignments. This allows FEMA to tap any needed resources available in the federal system. This might be specialized teams such as a Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) or an Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR), teams that are drawn from local governments but trained, equipped, and funded by FEMA. Direct federal assistance might include resources such as emergency power generation provided by the Corps of Engineers or technical assistance in determining increased fire load provided by the US Forest Service. There have been times where FEMA tasked the US Navy to provide hospital ships to support relief operations or the Air Force and Coast Guard for aerial assets for transportation and reconnaissance.
Sometimes FEMA is called on to solve unusual problems directly. Following the Northridge earthquake, we were tasked on short notice to find a circus tent to support local merchants. In the Pacific we had to purchase and deploy desalination units for remote islands that had contaminated water lenses and worked with GSA to locate and airlift a critical part to keep a local government vessel operational. During the recovery from Hurricane Iniki, we worked with the Corps of Engineers to transport ice from Oahu to Kauai until local companies could regain operations using FEMA supplied generators. In Puerto Rico after Hurricane Marylyn, we found ourselves having to assemble portable toilets for distribution across the island.
Like many, my brother believes FEMA is a bloated, inefficient agency. However, FEMA is an extremely small agency, having less than 5,000 permanent full and part-time employees distributed over ten regional offices and the Washington DC headquarters. During disaster response, the agency can call on approximately 7,800 Reservists who fill disaster management roles and 8,900 Cadre On Call Recovery/Recovery Employees (CORE), temporary employees on 2-to-4-year appointments who support disaster related activities. FEMA can also hire locally when deployed to a disaster area.
However, not all these employees are deployable assets. Only about 10,000 are assigned to incident management. Others provide incident support, ancillary support, and mission essential support services to deployed incident management staff, as well as to FEMA more generally. According to a May 2023 GAO report, FEMA Disaster Workforce: Actions Needed to Improve Hiring Data and Address Staffing Gaps, in 2022 FEMA had a staffing gap of 35% across all categories. Hardly a bloated agency considering the increase in frequency and ferocity of disasters.
So, what do the remainder of FEMA employees do? Almost a third of FEMA’s budget is devoted grants intended to increase local communities’ ability to respond to disasters. These include mitigation programs such as the National Flood Insurance Program and national security programs such as the Urban Areas Security Initiative and Port Security Grants. One critical grant is the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) that provides funding to local emergency management offices to enhance emergency planning. Grants are also provided for specific threats such as dam safety and firefighting. FEMA funds numerous training and education programs such as the US Fire Administration, the Emergency Management Institute (now The National Disaster & Emergency Management University), and the Center for Homeland Defence and Security. FEMA also provides funds to help local governments deal with homelessness and hunger, the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP). FEMA even plays a role in supporting the US NATO mission by advocating for national preparedness and resilience. FEMA hosted "The Resilience Dialogue: Strengthening our Communities to Meet the Future," at the 2024 NATO Summit which focused on these key areas
But it is in advancing the professionalization of emergency management that I believe FEMA has made its biggest contribution. By developing doctrine, we have moved towards a standardized system of emergency planning and response that allows us to share resources and provide mutual aid. The development of the National Incident Management System and adoption of the Incident Command System was a major step forward, Concepts such as Whole Community and Lifelines have improved our ability to involve communities in emergency planning.
FEMA has further supported professionalization through the Emergency Management Institute. Not only has FEMA provide onsite and remote training for practitioners, but its Higher Education Program has helped develop the curricula that is shaping the next generation of emergency managers. More importantly, its ability and willingness to fund working groups devoted to professional development has given us the long-needed definition of emergency management, the Principles of Emergency Management, and our Code of Ethics and Professional Standards of Conduct.
The Secretary for Homeland Security announced at a recent cabinet meeting that she intends to eliminate FEMA, fueling speculation that the review council directed by the President in January will be cancelled. This suggests that changes to the agency will be made without consultation with the emergency management community. We need to focus the discussion away from just the failures of relief operations and ensure that the pre-disaster mission of FEMA is given equal weight. We all agree that FEMA needs review and improvement but not at the expense of turning the clock back almost a hundred years.
Posted by Lucien Canton on 03/28/2025 | Permalink
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It's Past Time To Adopt A Code of Ethics
by Lucien Canton
Taking the Reins
by Timothy Riecker
Why Are the LA Wildfires So Extreme?
Plagues in the Nation: How Epidemics Shaped America
by Polly J. Price
Posted by Lucien Canton on 03/05/2025 | Permalink
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As emergency management evolves from a technical discipline to a profession, one of the hallmarks that we have been lacking is a code of ethics. A code of ethics has many functions but the most important by far is that it establishes a framework for decision making that ensures that our actions are morally sound as well as legal. This in turn builds trust and confidence in those we serve. This trust has been badly eroded over the past few years and there has never been a greater need for a code of ethics.
Attempts to develop a code of ethics for emergency management have been going on for several years, both in the academic world and supported by FEMA. Professional organizations such as the International Association of Emergency Management have developed their own but these generally pertain only to members of the organization and have not gained general acceptance within the emergency management community.
To address this need, the FEMA Higher Education Project assembled an Ethics Special Interest Group that drafted a code of ethics in 2021 that was then circulated for review and comment. The document was finalized in 2022 and presented at several emergency management conferences, where it was well received. The document, Code of Ethics and Professional Standards of Conduct for Emergency Management Professionals, consists of two components: a code of ethics that provides a set of “foundational tenets that guide ethical practice and decision-making” and a standard of conduct that presents “professional expectations for all emergency management professionals and extends across all areas of practice as well as individuals’ representation of the profession of emergency management”. In addition, the document includes several appendices that provide guidance on an ethical decision-making process and examples of the application of the code and standards.
The foundational tenets stated in the Code of Conduct are straightforward:
As with most things, the devil is in the details. To fully implement the code of ethics, it is necessary to understand and follow standards of conduct that identify the responsibilities inherent in the code. The Professional Standards of Conduct consist of 28 standards that detail our responsibilities to affected populations, the public, the environment, colleagues, employers, the profession and ourselves. Here again the document is clearly written and straightforward:
Responsibility to Affected Populations
STANDARD 1: Emergency management professionals recognize that diversity in needs exist and work to provide services without discrimination or preference.
STANDARD 2: Emergency management professionals use their expertise to communicate clearly, effectively, and appropriately regarding risks.
STANDARD 3: Emergency management professionals collaborate with stakeholders to understand vulnerabilities, exposures, threats, and the unique characteristics of communities in determining risk reduction measures.
STANDARD 4: Emergency management professionals advance the development and implementation of programs, plans, strategies, and initiatives to support life safety, reduce or eliminate damage to property and the environment, and support quality of life.
Responsibility to Partners, Stakeholders, and the Public
STANDARD 5: Emergency management professionals create and maintain robust, effective relationships with a wide variety of partners.
STANDARD 6: Emergency management professionals are aware of and operate within applicable laws and regulations.
STANDARD 7: Emergency management professionals educate, inform, and promote change in programs, policies, regulations, and laws that conflict with the professional and effective practice of emergency management.
STANDARD 8: Emergency management professionals accurately represent their qualifications.
STANDARD 9: Emergency management professionals support and guide evidence-based choices and actions by clearly communicating the adverse impacts of hazards and threats based on scientific evidence.
STANDARD 10: Emergency management professionals stay informed about new research, practice standards, relevant tools, and technologies.
STANDARD 11: Emergency management professionals remain current on issues that affect public risk.
STANDARD 12: Emergency management professionals do not engage in or endorse abusive, harassing, or hostile professional relationships.
STANDARD 13: Emergency management professionals make sound fiscal decisions that support effective practice and the stewardship of resources.
Responsibility to the Environment
STANDARD 14: Emergency management professionals understand the interconnectedness, interdependence, and sensitivities between the human, built, cyber, and natural environments.
STANDARD 15: Emergency management professionals seek to protect the natural environment from harm and, where practical, nurture its recovery.
Responsibility to Colleagues
STANDARD 16: Emergency management professionals support and assist other professionals in meeting and elevating emergency management practice.
STANDARD 17: Emergency management professionals respond appropriately to unprofessional and problematic behavior of their colleagues.
Responsibility to Employers
STANDARD 18: Emergency management professionals take direction from employers without deviating from professional standards.
STANDARD 19: Emergency management professionals have a duty to provide employers with all available relevant facts, data, and resources so that they are able make informed decisions.
STANDARD 20: Emergency management professionals, whether in formal or informal leadership roles, have an obligation to use an ethical decision-making model to help create an organizational culture that promotes and encourages professional behavior.
Responsibility to the Profession
STANDARD 21: Emergency management professionals have a duty to further the standing of the profession through their words, behaviors, and actions.
STANDARD 22: Emergency management professionals have an obligation to advocate for a representative and diverse profession.
STANDARD 23: Emergency management professionals promote the continuing development and improvement of their profession.
STANDARD 24: Emergency management professionals support and assist emergency management students in their learning and career development, including opportunities to engage in relevant internships and practicums, participate in training and practice activities, and contribute to meaningful work projects and initiatives.
Responsibility to Self
STANDARD 25: Emergency management professionals have a commitment to lifelong learning and to continually advance their knowledge and skills to serve their community and the profession.
STANDARD 26: Emergency management professionals recognize how their own cultural and social backgrounds, beliefs, values, and biases may affect competent and just service, and strive to make proactive positive changes for the benefit of their constituents.
STANDARD 27: Emergency management professionals are mindful of the ways in which stress can affect their health and well-being and take appropriate self-care measures.
STANDARD 28: Emergency management professionals practice continual self-reflection focused on professional growth and development.
Surprisingly, the document, although generally praised by professional organizations and practitioners, has not been well publicized and consequently has not received much traction in the emergency management community. It has been removed from the FEMA website and is difficult to find in a web search. At a time when our credibility is at a very low ebb, I think it is essential that we create a groundswell of support. I urge you to adopt the Code of Ethics and Professional Standards of Conduct for Emergency Management Professionals in your organization and publicize it anyway you can. It is another milestone in our road to being recognized as professionals.
Note: you can find a copy of the Code of Ethics and Professional Standards of Conduct for Emergency Management Professionals as well as the Principles of Emergency Management and its supplement on my website under Resources: Professional Reference.
Posted by Lucien Canton on 02/27/2025 | Permalink
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Abolish FEMA? Not A Good Plan.
by Lucien Canton
2024 National Preparedness Report – Another Missed Opportunity
by Timothy Riecker
Why Are the LA Wildfires So Extreme?
Fire in Paradise: An American Tragedy
by Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano
Posted by Lucien Canton on 01/29/2025 | Permalink
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In an interview with a conservative talk show host on January 22, 2025, the incoming President of the United States said that he would prefer to end FEMA’s federal mission and return responsibility for disaster response to individual states. He reiterated disinformation about FEMA’s response to Hurricanes Milton and Helen in 2024 that he and fellow Republicans had used to discredit the agency, claiming that FEMA had not performed well in the past four years and “got in the way” of effective response.
Comments such as these and the threat to abolish FEMA demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of how the emergency management system in the United States operates and sets disaster relief back by several hundred years. Disaster relief was originally the responsibility of individual communities and states, and federal assistance was extremely limited. As populations grew and disasters became more complex, the role of the federal government in disaster relief increased. It was understood that disasters, by definition, exceed the resources of the state. FEMA was created to consolidate the various relief programs offered by federal agencies into a cohesive framework.
FEMA has always had a troubled history. It was formed from various programs from other agencies with associated staff, operating cultures, and funding streams. This prevented the FEMA director from being able to reallocate resources to where they were most needed and to adequately respond to disasters. Indeed, the FEMA mission, especially in the early stages of a disaster, was not clearly defined.
But FEMA evolved over time. Administrative problems were overcome, and the agency’s mission became more defined. This was particularly true once politicians began to realize the agency was more effective when led by a professional emergency manager. FEMA’s biggest missteps usually occurred when non-emergency managers served as directors or administrators.
The most visible part of FEMA’s mission is the provision of disaster relief. However, this role is misunderstood by most politicians and the public. FEMA is a small agency and provides very few direct services. Instead, it coordinates the activities of other agencies of the federal government in much the same way local emergency managers coordinate local agencies. FEMA uses a system of mission assignments to reimburse these agencies for their support.
FEMA has also developed a mechanism for disbursing disaster relief funds to disaster victims. In this it relies primarily on a large pool of reservists who handle the application and inspection process. Part of this financial mechanism includes a process for reimbursing local governments for the costs associated with response and recovery. This financial process also relies heavily on reservists to review applications and inspect projects
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Much of the bad press that FEMA gets, aside from the recent problem of deliberate disinformation, can be traced back to reservists who are insufficiently vetted, trained, and supervised. In addition, FEMA emerging research indicates that disaster policy in the US harms those who need help the most after a disaster. There is no doubt that there is a need for substantive changes to disaster relief policies in the US and to how FEMA operates.
FEMA’s mission, however, goes beyond just disaster relief. Inheriting the planners positioned at local levels by the old Civil Defence programs, FEMA evolved this into a system of all hazards planners. Many local emergency management programs are dependent on FEMA funding for their existence. In evolving this system of planners through training and publications, FEMA has created a national doctrine that governs planning and response. While there is considerable variance in how this doctrine is applied locally, it has bred enough similarity that programs such as the Emergency Management Assistance Compact and local mutual aid agreements allow for cross-agency support. All this would be lost if FEMA were abolished.
On January 26, 2025, the President signed an executive order that established a FEMA Review Council headed by the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense. The Council is charged with assessing FEMA and making recommendations to the President within 180 days on how to improve the agency. On the surface, this seems a reasonable approach that could considerably improve FEMA. However, the President has made it clear that he would like to see FEMA abolished and the responsibility for disaster relief become the responsibility of individual states with relief funds controlled by the White House. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen and will depend on the makeup of the Council.
Even if FEMA survives, there are other proposals contained in Project 2025 that could affect the agency and have a major impact on disaster relief policy:
• Move the agency to the Department of the Interior.
• Combine it with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and move it to the Department of Transportation.
• Increase the disaster cost share from states paying 25% to paying 75% to encourage more state involvement in disaster preparedness.
• Adjust the per capita indicator to raise the threshold for receiving Public Assistance.
• Privatize the National Flood Insurance Program.
• Require all grant recipients to demonstrate that they comply with federal law, and that their mission and actions support the broader homeland security mission.
• Eliminate the SBA Disaster Loan Program.
• Clarify the mission of the Strategic National Stockpile as the supplier of last resort to the federal government, state governments, or first responders and key medical staff rather than serving the public.
Between deliberate disinformation and continued emphasis on FEMA’s failures rather than its successes, the public has lost trust in FEMA and the emergency management system. The failure to apply for assistance by disaster victims in Hurricanes Milton and Helene is the most recent example of what lack of trust can create. The threat of tying disaster relief to acceding to political demands in the Southern California Wildfires of 2025 is further eroding trust in the government. Trust is essential to successful disaster relief.
One small ray of hope is a bi-partisan bill introduced Congressmen Jared Moskowitz (D) Florida and Garret Graves (R) Louisiana in 2023. The bill, H.R.5599 - FEMA Independence Act of 2023, would establish FEMA as a cabinet-level independent agency. The bill has been languishing in committee since November 2023 and is unlikely to pass the Republican dominated House and Senate or to be signed by the President.
Emergency managers are not completely powerless. By educating politicians and the public, there may still be time to stop the gutting of a vital agency and begin to regain public trust. Three critical areas need to be addressed:
1. Protest any attempts to abolish FEMA.
2. Demand that the FEMA Administrator be an experienced professional emergency manager.
3. Advocate for passage of H.R. 5599
Posted by Lucien Canton on 01/29/2025 | Permalink
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Download Emergency Management Solutions
Five Domains of Incident Management
by Timothy Riecker
Boxing Day 2004 tsunami in Indian Ocean remembered 20 years on | BBC News
Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One
by Thomas Sowell
Posted by Lucien Canton on 01/07/2025 | Permalink
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Download Emergency Management Solutions
Disinformation and Disasters: A Deadly Combination
by Lucien Canton
ICS: Problems and Perceptions
by Timothy Riecker
Crisis Management Team: Assemble!
by Erik Bernstein
Posted by Lucien Canton on 11/27/2024 | Permalink
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A FEMA supervisor was fired recently for instructing disaster relief workers responding to Hurricane Milton to avoid canvassing homes displaying Trump signs. The FEMA administrator called the supervisor’s actions “reprehensible” and “a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles.” While there is no disagreement that emergency managers have a mandate to deliver relief services equally to all victims, regardless of political affiliation, one must wonder if there is more to the story.
The supervisor argues that her teams had been verbally and physically threatened by victims displaying Trump signs, indicating a community trend that created a hostile environment and danger to her workers. She maintains that her actions were taken in accordance with FEMA protocols that stressed avoidance of high-risk environments and that she is being scapegoated to save the agency’s reputation. More importantly, she claims that the problem is widespread and not limited to her area of operations or her team.
Without knowing more detail than has been given in the media, it is difficult to determine the truth of the matter. However, I believe that there is a larger issue here. The root cause was not the hostile response by some disaster victims but rather the actions that created that hostility.
With a close Presidential election less than month away, the Republican campaign had a vested interest in seeing disaster relief operations in Hurricanes Helene and Milton fail or at least appear to fail. Communications guru Art Botterell’s Fourth Law of Emergency Management states, “Perception is reality” and Republicans took full advantage of social media to create the perception that the response was a failure. This included misinformation such as:
The result of this misinformation was predictable. Many victims refused assistance, and first responders and disaster workers were demoralized and threatened. Even meteorologists received death threats. As the rumors spread and were repeated by the Republican campaign, they in turn spawned outlandish conspiracy theories among its supporters such as that the weather was being manipulated to target Republican areas or that FEMA was blocking donations and confiscating and hoarding goods. Elected officials and government workers had to use valuable resources and time to dispel rumors and misinformation, but the sad fact is that truth travels slower than lies. A 2018 MIT study found that a false news story was 70% more likely to be reposted on social media than a true one. Despite a good effort at rumor control by FEMA and the active support of Republican governors and mayors, the efforts of the Republican campaign and its supporters were able to successfully cast doubt on the effectiveness of disaster relief operations.
I’m not naïve enough to believe that politicians have never used disasters to further political agendas. A study of Presidential declarations of disaster for the years 1989-1999 showed that the number of electoral votes in a state and whether it was considered competitive had a great deal of bearing on whether a declaration was granted. According to the findings, a non-competitive state with three electoral votes was 50% less likely to receive a declaration than a competitive state with 20 electoral votes. Even my personal hero, the Marquis de Pombal, used the 1755 Lisbon earthquake to break the power of the Catholic Church in Portugal and to eliminate his adversaries.
What we see here, however, is a blatant disregard for the well-being of disaster victims to further political ambition. Even more egregious is that many of these victims were and still are supporters of the Republican party. This disregard goes against everything to which we in emergency management have dedicated ourselves. More importantly, it destroys trust in a system that relies on the support of the public. As Edward Conley, a veteran of thirty years with FEMA and author of Promote the Dog Sitter: And Other Principles for Leading during Disasters writes, “The more people trust, believe in, and work with our nation’s emergency management system, the better the system works.”
Unfortunately, the genie is out of the bottle, and we are likely to see similar disinformation operations in future disasters. This means we now, more than ever, must understand and apply the principles of crisis management information. The age when public information officers put out periodic press releases and gave occasional interviews has been gone for some time, overtaken by the 24-hour news cycle. The old conventional wisdom of ignoring ridiculous rumors to avoid giving them creditability is no longer valid in the day of social media. We need the ability to be proactive with our information and nimble enough to react quickly to disinformation. It’s time to rethink the Joint Information Center and our use of social media and to bring them into the 21st century. I’m afraid that disinformation is the way of the future and poses a major threat to those we serve, and we need to be able to counter it. We won’t win, but we need to do better.
Posted by Lucien Canton on 11/27/2024 | Permalink
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