02 Sep 05 A Rethink Needed?

It doesn’t seem wise to be disbanding Federal Emergency Management Agency, and certainly not after the devastation of Katrina. FEMA really came into it’s own after Hurricane Andrew made such a mess in South Florida in 1992. Until now, Andrew had been the costliest natural disaster to hit the United States. It looks like Katrina could surpass that, not only in terms of the financial cost, but the cost in human lives, livelihoods, and suffering.

The writing has been on the wall for FEMA ever since the first GW Bush administration came into office in 2001. Since 9/11 the accent has been very much focused on the prevention of terrorism, and plans to deal with the aftermath of any such activity should it occur.

Whilst this is surely important, one thing is for sure – there will be more hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods, and other major natural catastrophes, which are certain to happen again, sooner or later.