1) The main difference between the terrorist hazard and the natural and technological disasters is the issue of causation. All terrorist acts are deliberate and have the purpose. On the contrary, the natural and technological disasters are non-intended. Therefore, the terrorist acts may be prevented, if the government s and other organizations take the proper action. In the case of the natural and technological disasters one may reduce the risk of technological disasters, but cannot avoid the natural disasters.
2) The goal of the emergency management in regards to the terrorism threat is to increase security via five phases: prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation. For instance, Federal Emergency Management Agency’s mission is to “to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation from all hazardsby supporting the Nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation” (Baird 10).
3) After the 9/11 attacks the Federal Government provided $344 million to New York City to restore the infrastructure and provide the required critical services. $151 million was provided to the U.S. Army, engineer teams from the Department of Health and Human Services, and FEMA’s rescuers. $196 million was provided in individual assistance (Purpura 198). In addition, Homeland Security expenses increased sharply from $16 billion in 2001 up to $69.1 billion in 2011 (National Priorities Project).
4) First responders never took part in such emergency situations and they had no sufficient training and equipment to handle the emergency effectively. What is more, they could not communicate effectively with each other and other workers because of the lack of interoperable communication equipment and absence of the credentialing system (Schwartz 7).
5) Emergency managers became much more involved in planning and coordination in order to respond better to the possible terrorist attacks. They have new responsibilities and nowadays homeland security is a key coordination role in a lot of emergency management offices (Fagel 2). In general, emergency management became advanced and has higher standards, requirements, and financial resources.
6) The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 was passed in order to restructure the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As the result, the Agency received increased authority to handle the natural disasters as well as the terrorist threats. Consequently, the regions became better prepared due to the improved emergency management and customer service capabilities (DHS).
7) FEMA under the Department of Homeland Security is the key source of funding. Other than FEMA and DHS, there are non-DHS homeland security programs that include initiatives by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Health and Human Services, and Transportation Security Administration. Other Federal agency programs include the Department of Health and Human Services public health preparedness grants, Department of Justice grants for counter-terrorism and general-purpose law enforcement activities (Riehl 8).
8) The 9/11 commission was created to analyze all the circumstances surrounding the events of 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and assess the preparedness for the response to the attacks. The commission came to the conclusion that CIA and FBI failed to prevent the attacks. These agencies had to be more aggressive in fighting the international terrorism and preventing the USA from the terrorist attacks.
9) After the terrorist attacks in 2001, the governments at the state level play an important role in terms of the homeland security. They revised the public security policies and enforced the new laws. Moreover, they significantly improved their emergency response capabilities by developing a strong intelligence capability that relies on the fusion centers and intelligence units in the existing structures that share information with the federal level agencies (Steiner).
10) Overall, the consequences of the Hurricane Katrina revealed that the Department of Homeland Security was too pre-occupied with the prevention of the terrorist events. After the disaster caused by the Hurricane Katrina the government was focused on improving the preparedness for the natural disasters and terrorist acts by integrating the policies at all government levels that would enhance the emergency management (Townsend 65).
Works Cited
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Disasters Overview. Department of Homeland Security.16 July 2015. Web. 17 April
Fagel, M. The Role of the Emergency Manager: Has It Changed Since 9-11-01? International
Association of Emergency Managers. 2001. Web. 17 April 2016.
Natural Disasters Roundtable. A summary of the forum on countering terrorism:
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Purpura, P. Terrorism and Homeland Security: An Introduction with Applications.
Butterworth-Heinemann. 2011. Web. 17 April 2016.
Riehl, J. Homeland Security: Federal Assistance Funding and Business Opportunities. CRS
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Schwartz, J. The Critical Role of First Responders: Sharing Lessons Learned from Past
Attacks. Committee of Homeland Security. June 18, 2014. Web. 17 April 2016.
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Townsend, F. The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina Lessons Learned. Department of
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2016.U.S. Security Spending Since 9/11. National Priorities Project. 26 May 2011. Web. 17
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