Skip to main content

Emergency Management: Observations on DHS's Preparedness for Catastrophic Disasters

GAO-08-868T Published: Jun 11, 2008. Publicly Released: Jun 11, 2008.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

The Homeland Security Act was enacted in November 2002, creating the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to improve homeland security following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The act centralized the leadership of many homeland security activities under a single federal department and, accordingly, DHS has the dominant role in implementing this national strategy. This testimony discusses the status of DHS's actions in fulfilling its responsibilities to (1) establish policies to define roles and responsibilities for national emergency preparedness efforts and prepare for the transition between presidential administrations, and (2) develop operational plans and performance metrics to implement these roles and responsibilities and coordinate federal resources for disaster planning and response. This testimony is based on prior GAO work performed from September 2006 to June 2008 focusing on DHS's efforts to address problems identified in the many post-Katrina reviews.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Disaster planningEmergency managementEmergency preparednessEmergency preparedness programsEmergency response plansstate relationsHomeland securityHurricane KatrinaNational policiesNatural disastersPerformance measuresPolicy evaluationPresidential transitionProgram evaluationProgram managementRisk assessmentRisk managementStandardsStrategic planningTerrorismDisaster preparedness exerciseProgram goals or objectives