Random Thoughts from a Large Head

Please read Destroying FEMA. It’s an excellent overview of the state of FEMA written by Eric Holdeman, the director of King County, Washington’s Office of Emergency Management. The editorial really irritates and saddens me, mostly because, from what I’ve learned since the beginning of the year in my Emergency Management classes and readings, it is all absolutely true.

FEMA getting out of the preparedness side of emergency management will be devastating. Preparedness and mitigation are the only things that will help decrease the impacts of disasters, whether they be from terrorism or natural hazards.

Personally, I think the Department of Homeland Security’s focus on terrorism, rather than an “all hazards” approach has been incredibly misguided. We step up our efforts to prevent one person from putting a bomb on a subway that might kill 30 people instead of spending money to build up a levee that might save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in property.

Admittedly, I’m not an expert. I don’t know the intricacies of politics or the decisions that have brought us to this place. I’m merely a student of Emergency Management who grew up in the Witt-era of FEMA, admiring their people and their efforts, and I’m sad to see the way things have evolved under the current administration.

I hope Katrina changes this course.