10-03-2017, 01:16 PM
"they had prepared very little and expected FEMA to save the day"
As I understand it, prior to Katrina, FEMA was never expected to be a "first responder" type of agency. State/territory/local response was expected to get over the initial part of the emergencies and FEMA was more of a bureaucratic response that came in after that to implement long-term recovery.
That is the primary reason why FEMA was highly criticized after Katrina, they were tasked to do something they had never done before. A lot of this has to do with the agency being migrated to the then-new Dept of Homeland Security- FEMA had not yet completed it's evolution from bureaucracy to response.
FEMA is still not a "first responder" type of agency. It's unfortunate that PR chose not to prepare better for this inevitability, but considering their budget problems and mass exodus of taxpayers, I'm not surprised.
As I understand it, prior to Katrina, FEMA was never expected to be a "first responder" type of agency. State/territory/local response was expected to get over the initial part of the emergencies and FEMA was more of a bureaucratic response that came in after that to implement long-term recovery.
That is the primary reason why FEMA was highly criticized after Katrina, they were tasked to do something they had never done before. A lot of this has to do with the agency being migrated to the then-new Dept of Homeland Security- FEMA had not yet completed it's evolution from bureaucracy to response.
FEMA is still not a "first responder" type of agency. It's unfortunate that PR chose not to prepare better for this inevitability, but considering their budget problems and mass exodus of taxpayers, I'm not surprised.