MIAMI–The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in much better shape than a year ago, said a top official at an insurance gathering here this morning.
David Mauristad, federal insurance administrator, told attendees at the President's Natural Catastrophe Conference that "we will capitalize on the opportunities Katrina presented us."
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is sponsoring the event that has numerous state and federal regulatory officials taking part with property-casualty insurance industry representatives.
Much criticized for its performance during the 2005 Katrina catastrophe, the agency is now headed by David Paulison.
Mr. Mauristad said that with only 250 employees, FEMA depends on its federal and state partners for effectiveness. "People don't really understand how reliant we are on our partners in times of emergency," he said.
The new director has improved coordination with federal cabinet agencies as well as streamlined logistics and staging area operations, he said.
"We will be learning the lessons of Katrina for years to come," Mr. Mauristad said. "It served as a wakeup call for us to improve our communications and operations strategies."
Along those same lines, William Fugate, Florida director of emergency services, said no one community can be expected to have enough resources to respond effectively to a disaster.
While states have formal agreements among themselves to share resources, the same is not true for local communities, said Mr. Fugate. "Nobody has figured out how to move resources within the state," he commented.
Mr. Fugate said hurricanes and earthquakes and floods are merely natural phenomena that turn into disasters because of human folly and lack of preparedness.
The best example, he said, was the fact that it took Florida seven years after the mega-catastrophe of Hurricane Andrew to enact building codes.
"People said they would make the homes too expensive, but they never talk about the hot tubs and the fact that homes are four times the size today that they used to be," he said.
States can better prepare for emergencies by having reserve funding to avoid reliance on the federal government and also giving governors power to cut across agency jurisdictions in emergencies, Mr. Fugate advised.
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