Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced changes to the structure of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), designed to strengthen its ability to respond to and deal with natural and man-made disasters. This announcement follows months of criticisms from local and state officials as well as concerns expressed by Congress regarding real and alleged shortcomings of DHS’s handling of the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Secretary Chertoff addressed four key areas as he announced the new measures:
1. Improving FEMA’s Logistic Capabilities: DHS will establish a more sophisticated and specialized logistics management system. This will streamline the supply chain to maximize readiness and ensure better inventory control.
2. Enhancing Customer Service and Intake Procedures: New upgrades and improved business processing will be applied to FEMA’s customer service system to strengthen its ability to register disaster victims eligible for assistance to protect against fraud and abuse. These changes include:
- Upgrade the FEMA Web site and 1-800 call-in number to handle at least 200,000 disaster registrations per day.
- Use advanced information technology and computer systems to more easily manage information.
- Continue training on professionalism and customer service for DHS personnel.
- Establish a highly trained unit of 1,500 permanent employees, in addition to volunteers, to serve as a core disaster workforce able to take full advantage of DHS assets, resources, and capabilities.
- Develop a pilot program for deploying mobile disaster assistance trucks to victims in temporary housing or shelters.
3. Streamlining the Debris Removal Process
4. Building More Effective Communications: DHS will establish a hardened set of communications capabilities to ensure timely and accurate awareness about conditions and events unfolding during a disaster. This will be accomplished through:
- interoperable equipment able to function under severe disaster conditions
- enhanced communication capabilities to provide real-time information
- specialized reconnaissance teams made up of DHS personnel and assets including the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
IAFC President Bill Killen said that this announcement “is a good first step and a common sense approach to many of the issues raised about the DHS response to the recent hurricane disasters. Local fire departments and other emergency first responders performed well under extremely adverse conditions. However, there is a demonstrated need for improvements to ensure a prompt, orderly and continuing response and presence by the federal government at a disaster. We will closely monitor these new initiatives and stand ready to assist DHS and FEMA when needed.”
Secretary Chertoff has the authority to make these changes without legislative approval. He announced the changes in addition to the increased funding and organizational changes for FEMA that were included in President Bush’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 budget request. The president requested $5.3 billion for FEMA for FY 2007.
Within the next few weeks, the IAFC expects the House and Senate committees investigating the Katrina disaster and the White House to release reports on the federal response and recommendations for improving it in the future.