History of Federal Disaster Mitigation
Evolution of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — a former independent agency that became part of the new Department of Homeland Security in March 2003 — is tasked with responding to, planning for, recovering from, and mitigating against disasters. FEMA can trace its beginnings to the Congressional Act of 1803. This Act, generally considered the first piece of disaster legislation, provided assistance to a New Hampshire town following an extensive fire. In the century that followed, ad hoc legislation was passed more than 100 times in response to hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters.The 1930sBy the 1930s, when the Federal…
