I've heard that FEMA has more power than anybody knows. After all, what IS the definition of "Federal Emergency"?
As far as being able to handle any disaster that may occur on the surface, well...
I was thrown around by the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989. I thought the house was going to fall apart. After it all stopped moving so badly, many volunteer units formed to look after scared and wounded neighbors. Missing pets were rounded up and their pictures were posted all around town so that their owners could claim them. I was part of a unit called the Roadrunners. Our job was to find a route between the valley and Santa Cruz. My brother was attached to a flight that flew over Hollister and other cut-off towns to assess the damage. When we charted the path to Santa Cruz, we began running food and emergency supplies to Tent City in Watsonville. It was there that we saw the preparedness of FEMA. Let's just say I hope they found what they were looking for because their heads were so far up their asses. They genuinely had no idea what to do. Fortunately, because of our uniforms we were mistaken for military personnel and were able to press a company of National Guardsmen into service organizing the survivor's camps in orderly manners and helping family members find one another, as well as the setting up of the food distribution program. The Roadrunners were presented with an award signed by the President, the Governor, and the head of FEMA. It resides in my brother's office.
Those of us who were here at ground zero when the area shook itself to pieces were highly critical of FEMA and the Emergency Broadcasting System, which failed to operate. Maybe FEMA isn't geared to handle disasters at all, only dissidents.
