Political Influance in Emergency Management Essay

Political Influance in Emergency Management - Essay Example Introduction It has been said that all disaster are â€Å"political†. For instance, the elder President George Bush is said to have lost the election because of perceived deficient response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992. His son, George W. Bush, suffered politically for several years as recovery operations on the Gulf Coast dragged on a pace that constituents considered unsatisfactory (Olasky, 2006). President Jimmy Carter created the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 1979 in order to response to the increasing disasters (Haddow, Bullock & Coppola, 2011). There are numerous environmental threats that United States face today. The environmental disasters include floods, tornadoes, failure of dams, or building structures. Hurricanes and bridge collapses are also considered natural environmental disasters. The federal relief under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been expanded under the Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assistance Act of 1974 and Hazard Mitigat ion Act of 2000. The FEMA was placed under the department of Homeland Security in 2003. Experts attribute the increase in environmental disasters to increased human encroachment and development to areas that are considered disaster prone and increased occurrence of the weather related disasters due to climate change (Haddow, Bullock & Coppola, 2011). ... Hurricane Katrina that happened in August 29 2005 is one of the disasters that experienced intense political influence (Haddow, Bullock & Coppola, 2011). The hurricane blew across southern Florida roaring in to Louisiana coast with 125 mph sustained winds thus causing a surge in sea waters and leaving 80 percent of the city flooded (Olasky, 2006). Katrina killed about 1,836 people and inflicted damages estimated at $ 125 billion. Contrary to President Clinton who utilized the FEMA to deal with a series of hurricanes, President Bush suffered major political blow due to his ability to intervene in Hurricane Katrina disaster (Olasky, 2006). Given that a large percentage of the population in New Orleans comprised of Black Americans, the slow response made the population question Presidents Bush â€Å"compassionate conservative† policies on the minorities (Olasky, 2006). President Barrack Obama also suffered politically in his early years in office due to the slow response to halti ng the oil spill in Gulf Coast. However, he recovered his politically when the oil spill was finally cleaned up (Olasky, 2006). Last week, citizens across northeastern seaboard were hit by Hurricane Sandy that left thousands homeless and destroyed thousands of businesses. The governor’s of the affected cities called for the state of emergency and President Barrack Obama granted the national disaster proclamation. Hurricane Katrina has changed the dynamics of Presidential elections in the eastern coast. For instance, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed President Barrack Obama’s reelection to what he termed as the prompt response to Hurricane Sandy disaster and the urge to people to avoid waters and