Download or read book Disaster Response and Appointment of a Recovery Czar written by Kevin R. Kosar and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011-04 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the press has looked to the past for examples of fed. responses to natural disasters that might serve as models for emulation today. The fed. response to the flood of 1927 featured Sec. of Commerce Herbert Hoover as the director of the flood response and wielding immense executive powers. This report describes the flood of 1927, and assesses the fed. government¿s response. Pres. Calvin Coolidge created a quasi-governmental commission that included members of his Cabinet and the Red Cross. This commission encouraged the public to donate funds to the relief effort and gave Hoover near-absolute authority to organize and oversee its response. A print on demand report.
Download or read book Disaster Response and Appointment of a Recovery Czar written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the press and policymakers have looked to the past for examples of federal responses to natural disasters that might serve as models for emulation today. Some Members of Congress have expressed an interest in creating a cabinet-level "czar" to administer Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief programs. Since the federal response to the flood of 1927 featured Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover as the director of the flood response and wielding immense execution powers, this episode in federal history may be of particular interest to Congress. This report describes the flood of 1927, and assess the federal government's response thereto. In short, the federal response was an executive branch response. President Calvin Coolidge created a quasi-governmental commission that included members of his Cabinet and the American National Red Cross. This commission encouraged the public to donate funds to the relief effort. It also gave Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover near-absolute authority to organize and oversee its response. Hoover used this authority to weave together federal resources, American National Red Cross volunteers, and the private sector to carry out the relief and recovery program. The concentration of power and the blending of the governmental and private sectors in Hoover's hands enabled the relief effort to be carried out expeditiously and creatively. President Coolidge's empowerment of Hoover alone as director of the flood response clarified to federal, state, and local officials and the public who was in charge. However, this administrative structure was not without costs. There was little direct federal oversight of actual relief provision. So, for example, when local and state relief workers behaved illegally, they were not held accountable. Furthermore, the concentration of power in a single set of hands enabled Secretary Hoover to undertake inadvisable actions with nearly no constraints.
Download or read book Far from Home written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Debate Over Selected Presidential Assistants and Advisors written by Barbara L. Schwemle and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are some of Pres. Obama¿s appointments (particularly some of those to the White House Office), made outside of the advice and consent process of the Senate, circumvent the Constitution? Are the activities of such appointees subject to oversight by, and accountable to, Congress? This report provides info. and views on the role of some of these appointees and discusses selected appointments in the Obama Admin. It discusses some of the constitutional concerns that have been raised about presidential advisors. These include, for ex., the kinds of positions that qualify as the type that must be filled in accordance with the Appointments Clause, with a focus on examining a few existing positions established by statute, exec. order, and regulation.
Download or read book Congressional Charter of the American National Red Cross written by Kevin R. Kosar and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. This review has been prompted by questions regarding the performance of the Amer. Nat. Red Cross (ANRC) in response to Hurricane Katrina. It examines the congressional charter of the ANRC. The report provides an overview, history, and analysis of the present charter. This focus on the ANRC¿s charter is justified on two counts. First, the charter sets forth a corp. organ¿l. structure, goals, and the means for governmental oversight of its activities. Second, the charter is the aspect of the ANRC that is most under control of Congress. Contents of this report: Intro.; Charter of the ANRC: Overview and History; Analysis: Mission of the ANRC; Nature and Powers of the ANRC; Oversight of the ANRC; ANRC Governance and Coord. with the Fed. Gov¿t.
Download or read book The Damming of the Presidency written by Frederick D. Gordon and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-01-12 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study evaluates the 1927 Great Mississippi Flood and its impact on both the 1928 and 1932 presidential elections. Herbert Hoover surged forth to win the 1928 presidency, but would suffer the greatest presidential defeat four years later. When did people change their minds? And were they influenced solely by the Great Depression or was there something else? Natural disasters and environmental crises offer both opportunities and threats for a presidential candidate. Challenger and incumbent must weave through a delicate maze of policy conundrums to garner national support. Today, the novel virus COVID-19 has altered modern society. Policy and medical experts are scrambling to develop a vaccine. Undoubtedly, economic, social, and political landscapes are being redefined, including their impact on presidential elections. Thus, a seminal question surfaces: How do force majeure events impact a political campaign? Other studies have yielded general assessments regarding presidential decision making during unforeseen events, notably with 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. This book offers a vanguard approach by applying a historical lens and seeking to test the axiom of Farley’s Law. This important law suggests that peoples’ minds are made up at least six months before a national election and no matter how poorly situations develop, party allegiance is supreme.
Download or read book The Law of Emergencies written by Nan D. Hunter and published by Butterworth-Heinemann. This book was released on 2017-08-08 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Law of Emergencies: Public Health and Disaster Management, Second Edition, introduces the American legal system as it interacts with disaster management, public health and civil unrest issues. Nan Hunter shows how the law in this area plays out in the context of real life emergencies where individuals often have to make split-second decisions. This book covers the major legal principles underlying emergency policy and operations and analyzes legal authority at the federal, state and local levels, placing the issues in historical context but concentrating on contemporary questions. The book includes primary texts, reader-friendly expository explanation and sample discussion questions in each chapter, as well as scenarios for each of the three major areas to put the concepts in to action. Prior knowledge of the law is not necessary in order to use and understand this book, and it satisfies the need of professionals in a wide array of fields related to emergency management to understand both what the law requires and how to analyze issues for which there is no clear legal answer. The book features materials on such critical issues as how to judge the extent of Constitutional authority for government to intervene in the lives and property of American citizens. At the same time, it also captures bread-and-butter issues such as responder liability and disaster relief methods. No other book brings these components together in a logically organized, step by step fashion. - Updated with expanded coverage and several new chapters - Re-organized to improve topic focus, with sections covering The President, Congress, and the Courts; Governance on the Ground; The Rights of Individuals; Disaster Management and Reconstruction; Health Emergencies; Preserving the Social Fabric; and Liability - Includes a new disaster scenario (a dirty bomb explosion in Washington, DC) to illustrate the application of key concepts - Features two new appendices that provide key excerpts from the U.S. Constitution and the Stafford Act - Includes a new glossary of legal and legislative terms
Download or read book Disasters and the American State written by Patrick S. Roberts and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-28 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disasters and the American State offers a thesis about the trajectory of federal government involvement in preparing for disaster shaped by contingent events. Politicians and bureaucrats claim credit for the government's successes in preparing for and responding to disaster, and they are also blamed for failures outside of government's control. New interventions have created precedents and established organizations and administrative cultures that accumulated over time and produced a general trend in which citizens, politicians and bureaucrats expect the government to provide more security from more kinds of disasters. The trend reached its peak when the Federal Emergency Management Agency adopted the idea of preparing for 'all hazards' as its mantra. Despite the rhetoric, however, the federal government's increasingly bold claims and heightened public expectations are disproportionate to the ability of the federal government to prevent or reduce the damage caused by disaster.
Download or read book Disaster Response written by Fred C. Pampel and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each volume of the Facts On File Library in a Book series is carefully designed to be a first-stop research source on important current issues. Written clearly and carefully so that even the most complex aspects of the topic are easily understandable, the books give the reader the essential information to begin work, plus the research tools needed to delve more deeply into the issues. Each book includes a history of the subject, biographical information on important figures in the field, a complete annotated bibliography, and a carefully designed index-everything the researcher needs to get down to work.
Download or read book Emergency Management written by Claire B. Rubin and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2012-04-03 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following in the footsteps of its popular predecessor, the second edition of Emergency Management: The American Experience 1900–2010 provides the background needed to understand the key political and policy underpinnings of emergency management, exploring how major "focusing events" have shaped the development of emergency management. It builds on the original theoretical framework and chronological approach, but improves on the first edition by adding fresh information on older events such as Hurricane Katrina as well as a new chapter covering the BP oil spill in 2010 and the unprecedented characteristics of the disaster response to it. The final chapter offers an insightful discussion of the public administration concepts that constitute the larger context for consideration of emergency management in the United States for more than a century. Some praise for the new edition of this award-winning book: The first edition of this book filled a serious gap in the literature by providing historical context for present-day emergency management. This edition goes further to flesh out that context, detailing the political and practical underpinnings of emergency management organization and practice. —Professor William L. Waugh Jr., Department of Public Administration & Urban Studies, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University ... a must-read for both undergraduate and graduate students who want to learn from our past and join a growing professional field committed to enhancing community resilience and sustainability. — John C. Pine, director, Research Institute for Energy, Environment and Economics, Appalachian State University
Download or read book Designing Resilience written by Louise K. Comfort and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2010-09-19 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the wake of severe climatic events and terrorist acts and the emergence of dangerous technologies, communities, nations, and global organizations have diligently sought to create strategies to prepare for such events. Designing Resilience presents case studies of extreme events and analyzes the ability of affected individuals, institutions, governments, and technological systems to cope with disaster. This volume defines resilience as it relates to disaster management at specific stages: mitigation, prevention, preparation, and response and recovery. The book illustrates models by which to evaluate resilience at levels ranging from individuals to NGOs to governmental jurisdictions and examines how resilience can be developed and sustained. A group's or nation's ability to withstand events and emerge from them with their central institutions intact is at the core of resilience. Quality of response, capacity to improvise, coordination, flexibility, and endurance are also determinants. Individual case studies, including Hurricane Katrina in the United States, the London bombings, and French preparedness for the Avian flu, demonstrate effective and ineffective strategies.The contributors reveal how the complexity and global interconnectivity of modern systems-whether they are governments, mobile populations, power grids, financial systems, or the Internet-have transcended borders and created a new level of exposure that has made them especially vulnerable to extreme events. Yet these far-reaching global systems also possess the ability to alert and respond at greater speeds than ever before. The authors also analyze specific characteristics of resilient systems-the qualities they possess and how they become resilient-to determine if there are ways to build a system of resilience from the ground up. As such, Designing Resilience will inform a broad range of students and scholars in areas of public administration, public policy, and the social sciences.
Download or read book The Big Ones written by Dr. Lucy Jones and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the world-renowned seismologist, a riveting history of natural disasters, their impact on our culture, and new ways of thinking about the ones to come Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanoes--they stem from the same forces that give our planet life. Earthquakes give us natural springs; volcanoes produce fertile soil. It is only when these forces exceed our ability to withstand them that they become disasters. Together they have shaped our cities and their architecture; elevated leaders and toppled governments; influenced the way we think, feel, fight, unite, and pray. The history of natural disasters is a history of ourselves. In The Big Ones, leading seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones offers a bracing look at some of the world's greatest natural disasters, whose reverberations we continue to feel today. At Pompeii, Jones explores how a volcanic eruption in the first century AD challenged prevailing views of religion. She examines the California floods of 1862 and the limits of human memory. And she probes more recent events--such as the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and the American hurricanes of 2017--to illustrate the potential for globalization to humanize and heal. With population in hazardous regions growing and temperatures around the world rising, the impacts of natural disasters are greater than ever before. The Big Ones is more than just a work of history or science; it is a call to action. Natural hazards are inevitable; human catastrophes are not. With this energizing and exhaustively researched book, Dr. Jones offers a look at our past, readying us to face down the Big Ones in our future.
Download or read book Theoretical Foundations of Homeland Security written by James D. Ramsay and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-20 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new textbook outlines the main theories and concepts from a variety of disciplines that support homeland security operations, structures and strategies. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11th, "homeland security" (HLS) grew in importance within the U.S. government (and around the world) and matured from a concept discussed among a relatively small cadre of policymakers and strategic thinkers to a broadly discussed issue in Congress and society with a growing academic presence. Yet the ability to discern a theory of homeland security that would support overall security strategy has been more elusive to both scholars and policymakers. This textbook aims to elucidate a grand theory of homeland security by leveraging the theoretical underpinnings of the disciplines that comprise the strategies, operations and structures of the HLS enterprise. In this way, each chapter contributes to a grand theory of homeland security as it explores a different discipline that influences or supports a domain of the homeland security enterprise. These chapters cover intelligence systems, terrorism origins and ideologies, emergency management, environmental and human security, cybersecurity policy, crime and security, global governance, risk management, public health, law and policy, technology, interagency collaboration and the sociology of security. This book will be essential reading for students of Homeland Security and Emergency Response, and recommended reading for students of terrorism, intelligence, cybersecurity, risk management and national security.
Download or read book There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster written by Gregory Squires and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-01-11 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster is the first comprehensive critical book on the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. The disaster will go down on record as one of the worst in American history, not least because of the government’s inept and cavalier response. But it is also a huge story for other reasons; the impact of the hurricane was uneven, and race and class were deeply implicated in the unevenness. Hartman and. Squires assemble two dozen critical scholars and activists who present a multifaceted portrait of the social implications of the disaster. The book covers the response to the disaster and the roles that race and class played, its impact on housing and redevelopment, the historical context of urban disasters in America and the future of economic development in the region. It offers strategic guidance for key actors - government agencies, financial institutions, neighbourhood organizations - in efforts to rebuild shattered communities.
Download or read book The Collapse of Fortress Bush written by Alasdair Roberts and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2008-02-01 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Bush presidency began to collapse, pundits were quick to tell a tale of the “imperial presidency” gone awry, a story of secretive, power-hungry ideologues who guided an arrogant president down the road to ruin. But the inside story of the failures of the Bush administration is both much more complex and alarming, says leading policy analyst Alasdair Roberts. In the most comprehensive, balanced view of the Bush presidency to date, Roberts portrays a surprisingly weak president, hamstrung by bureaucratic, constitutional, cultural and economic barriers and strikingly unable to wield authority even within his own executive branch. The Collapse of Fortress Bush shows how the president fought—and lost—key battles with the defense and intelligence communities. From Homeland Security to Katrina, Bush could not coordinate agencies to meet domestic threats or disasters. Either the Bush administration refused to exercise authority, was thwarted in the attempt to exercise authority, or wielded authority but could not meet the test of legitimacy needed to enact their goals. Ultimately, the vaunted White House discipline gave way to public recriminations among key advisers. Condemned for secretiveness, the Bush administration became one of the most closely scrutinized presidencies in the modern era. Roberts links the collapse of the Bush presidency to deeper currents in American politics and culture, especially a new militarism and the supremacy of the Reagan-era consensus on low taxes, limited government, and free markets. Only in this setting was it possible to have a “total war on terrorism” in which taxes were reduced, private consumption was encouraged, and businesses were lightly regulated. A balanced, incisive account by a skilled observer of U.S. government, The Collapse of Fortress Bush turns the spotlight from the powerful cabal that launched the war in Iraq to tell a much more disturbing story about American power and the failure of executive leadership.
Download or read book City Adrift written by Center for Public Integrity and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2007-06-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hurricane Katrina was a stunning example of complete civic breakdown. Beginning on August 29, 2005, the world watched in horror as—despite all the warnings and studies—every system that might have protected New Orleans failed. Levees and canals buckled, pouring more than 100 billion gallons of floodwater into the city. Botched communications crippled rescue operations. Buses that might have evacuated thousands never came. Hospitals lost power, and patients lay suffering in darkness and stifling heat. At least 1,400 Louisianans died in Hurricane Katrina, more than half of them from New Orleans, and hundreds of thousands more were displaced, many still wondering if they will ever be able to return. How could all of this have happened in twenty-first-century America? And could it all happen again? To answer these questions, the Center for Public Integrity commissioned seven seasoned journalists to travel to New Orleans and investigate the storm’s aftermath. In City Adrift: New Orleans Before and After Katrina, they present their findings. The stellar roster of contributors includes Pulitzer Prize-winner John McQuaid, whose earlier work predicted the failure of the levees and the impending disaster; longtime Boston Globe newsman Curtis Wilkie, a French Quarter resident for nearly fifteen years; and Katy Reckdahl, an award-winning freelance journalist who gave birth to her son in a New Orleans hospital the day before Katrina hit. They and the rest of the investigative team interviewed homeowners and health officials, first responders and politicians, and evacuees and other ordinary citizens to explore the storm from numerous angles, including health care, social services, housing and insurance, and emergency preparedness. They also identify the political, social, geographical, and technological factors that compounded the tragedy. Comprehensive and balanced, City Adrift provides not only an assessment of what went wrong in the Big Easy during and following Hurricane Katrina, but also, more importantly, a road map of what must be done to ensure that such a devastating tragedy is never repeated.
Download or read book Path of Destruction written by Mark Schleifstein and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2009-06-27 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 5:02 A.M. on August 29, 2005, Power Went Out in the Superdome. Not long after, wind ripped giant white rubber sheets off the roof and sent huge shards of debris flying toward Uptown. Rivulets of rainwater began finding their way down through the ceiling, dripping and pouring into the stands, the mezzanine, and the football field. Without ventilation, the air began to get gamy with the smell of sweat and garbage. The bathrooms stopped working. Many people slept; others waited, mostly in silence.
