Maybe FEMA could have an Eastern, Central, and Western storage/base of operations. They could then deploy the assets from those staging bases to the affected areas.

That would not require much of an investment.

Why couldn't FEMA work with the National Guard?

Sue

I wonder how many people in the hurricane stricken areas were actually prepared but lost all of their gear and supplies when their home was wiped out. I often ponder this situation since my home could be wiped out by a tornado (the most likely natural disaster to occur in our area). I guess I need to find a secondary location where I can store a decent cache of supplies and gear.

That's why my 96 hr kit is in the truck. In a bug-out situation the kit gets much bigger. For me a bug-out would be caused by a wildfire that gets into our canyon. The truck gets packed while the fire is still in the eastern part of the county, days ahead of a possible bug-out.

The trickything is finding a place that is close enough to be of benefit. Too close and it can be destroyed by the disaster, too far and its too much to get to your supplies. I'm storing food in large rubbermaid tubs that can be quickly slid in the back of the truck to go with me if needed.

My problem is that I work 13 hour shifts. If I'm at home when the disaster is impending, I can load up my truck with months worth of supplies and bug out. If I'm at work, particularly in the middle of a shift, all bets are off.

Biggest problem I would see is that FEMA is federal, the NG is state. Apples and oranges...

OBG, My knowledge of the military is almost nil, but... National Guard is Army National Guard, isn't it? If the NG is state-operated and can't work with FEMA, why are the NG guys being sent repeatedly to the Federally-sponsored event in Iraq?

Better idea yet: Give all the tax money earmarked for FEMA and give it to the Salvation Army?

Too logical, huh?

Sue

Sue,

The nature of the separation of the various entities that comprise our national defense system is a bit complicated. I will not pretend to be an expert and try to tell you the nuances between state government's rights/powers and jurisdictions and the Federal rights/powers and jurisdictions. Even in light of my 26 years of Air Force service (now retired) I still do not fully understand it. There are fine lines involved. That said, I am sure there are partnerships which can be formed to better serve the American people. Streamlining/making efficient any government/business enterprise will always be a challenge. Hopefully, there will be some progress made in the coming years.

I suspect the main issue is more cultural than monetary. The US military (well most branches ) are prepared to go somewhere (nearly anywhere) and not only survive the local environment but conduct various military operations. By and large that also includes a lot of practice at getting out in the weather and being uncomfortable while setting up a base of operations in a largely unprepared site.

FEMA on the other hand is basically a part of civil government (not military) and not to put too fine a point on it a major Bureaucracy. Now I am sure there are some real go getters in the organization but culturally they are not prepared, trained or practiced (in the same sense as the military) to go somewhere with absolutely no infrastructure and bring their own logistics and planning tail/capabilities with them. So they descend on some unlucky disaster area and in order to perform their mission, they need to establish comms, shelter, provisioning etc. for themselves. Since this is a disaster and the people in charge must be at their best this means getting the appropriate sleeping, eating and meeting accommodations (planned by and for people who are essentially bureaucrats). So you take over the local hotels etc. (since that is how your travel is typically done).

Maybe FEMA should have a larger emphasis on field training/exercises and generally roughing it / making do with mobile/temporary camps like the military. I won't get started on the byzantine rules involving who does what when for disasters (at least not this time )

- Eric