Federal Emergency Management Agency

United States disaster response agency, part of Department of Homeland Security

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders on April 1, 1979. The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the president that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster. The only exception to the state's gubernatorial declaration requirement occurs when an emergency or disaster takes place on federal property or affects a federal asset—for example, the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia return-flight disaster.

Also known as...FEMA, U.S. FEMA, and United States Federal Emergency Management Agency
US & Canada World
Massive wildfires ravage Georgia and Florida

Massive wildfires ravage Georgia and Florida A state of emergency has been declared in Georgia as uncontrollable wildfires destroy dozens of homes across the Southeast.