HSM 497: Analysis of Federal Response to Hurricane Harvey Disaster

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the federal response to Hurricane Harvey, a devastating event that struck the USA in August 2017. The report details the hurricane's impact, including the heavy rainfall, strong winds, and widespread flooding that caused significant damage and loss of life in Texas. It examines the role of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in coordinating the rescue and recovery efforts, highlighting the pre-positioning of personnel and supplies, collaboration with local and state agencies, and the deployment of thousands of personnel. The report also discusses the financial assistance provided to affected Texans and the key aspects that contributed to the success of the response, such as inter-agency collaboration and pre-emptive measures. Furthermore, the report considers factors that affected the recovery response, such as the severity of the storm. Finally, the report touches upon the criteria FEMA uses to determine the effectiveness of future disaster responses, including planning criteria, emergency operation plans, essential functions, and training exercises.

Running head: FEDERAL RESPONSE TO THE DISASTER ‘HARVEY’
FEDERAL RESPONSE TO THE DISASTER ‘HARVEY’
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1FEDERAL RESPONSE TO THE DISASTER ‘HARVEY’
Hurricane Harvey is one of the most disastrous event in the history of USA. Harvey
touched the USA soil near Rockport, Texas on 25th August, 2017(Ratnapradipa et al., 2018).
Harvey was a major category 4 hurricane (Ratnapradipa et al., 2018). The storm causes heavy
rainfall in Texas in the next week after landfall. Houston recorded 24 inch of rain in just 48
hours (Ratnapradipa et al., 2018). Along with that, Texas also observed record amount of
rainfall near clear creek which was 49.06 inch of rain (Ratnapradipa et al., 2018). This heavy
rainfall causes major flooding in the Texas state. Harvey caused very strong wind which
reached the speed of 130 mph (Ratnapradipa et al., 2018). Almost 136,000 structure were
flooded as a direct consequences of this and 38 people died as result of the storm
(Ratnapradipa et al., 2018). Owing to this, almost 780,000 people were evacuated and 692
emergency shelters were used to temporarily house 42,000 people (Ratnapradipa et al., 2018).
More than 100,000 Texans had at least 5 inch of water in their homes (Ratnapradipa et al.,
2018).
FEMA or Federal Emergency Management Agency had prepared for this storm and
pre- positioned personnel and supplies in Texas before the landfall of Harvey. FEMA joined
forces with local agencies, Texas Division of Emergency Management and other non- profit
organisations. Along with that, President Donald Trump has issued a declaration which
allows other federal agencies to joined forces with them. Almost 31,000 personnel were
deployed to help in rescue and recovery which included National Guard and FEMA
employees (Fema.gov, 2017). First responders to this emergency situation rescued almost
122,331 individuals excluding pets and animals (Fema.gov, 2017). This number does not
include the individuals and pets rescued by residents of Texas during this ghastly disaster.
The recovery and rescue response of Harvey was one of biggest and largest operation in the
history of FEMA. More than 1.5 billion US dollar were used to pay the affected Texans from
federal funds (Fema.gov, 2017). 571.8 million US dollar were allocated by FEMA for basic

2FEDERAL RESPONSE TO THE DISASTER ‘HARVEY’
home repairs and temporary housing facilities (Fema.gov, 2017). More than eighty seven
thousand flood insurances were claimed by Texans and NFIP or National Flood Insurance
Program expedited 608 million US dollar in claim payments (Fema.gov, 2017). Although,
many agencies have been collaboratively working in this rescue and recovery operation,
FEMA coordinated the total operation.
Most significant action which helped and went right for the rescue and recovery
operation for hurricane Harvey is that the collaboration between the agencies. FEMA
officials and Texas State Government officials have acknowledges that this collaboration
helped them immensely to provide food and shelter to the affected individuals in the first nine
days (GAO, 2018). Additionally, President Donald Trump also accepted the request of Texas
governor for pre- positioning of emergency forces in Texas before landfall. This also
quickened the recovery response. One aspect that did affect the recovery response is that the
severity of the hurricane Harvey. The sheer severity of the storm and rainfall delayed the
response.
FEMA or Federal Emergency Management Agency uses few criteria to determine the
effectiveness of similar kind of future disasters. The planning criteria are key response
capabilities, emergency operations plan, essential functions and trainings and exercises
(National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017). Emergency Operation
Plan (EOP) ensures that the aftermath of a disaster is safe by describing and identifying
appropriate process for the corresponding situation (www.dhs.gov, 2019).

3FEDERAL RESPONSE TO THE DISASTER ‘HARVEY’
References
Fema.gov. (2017). Historic Disaster Response to Hurricane Harvey in Texas | FEMA.gov.
Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2017/09/22/historic-disaster-
response-hurricane-harvey-texas
GAO. (2018). 2017 Hurricanes And Wildfires. United States Government Accountability
Office. Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/694231.pdf
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Strengthening the
Disaster Resilience of the Academic Biomedical Research Community: Protecting the
Nation's Investment. National Academies Press.
Ratnapradipa, D., Cardinal, C., Ratnapradipa, K. L., Scarbrough, A., & Xie, Y. (2018).
Implications of Hurricane Harvey on Environmental Public Health in Harris County,
Texas. Journal of Environmental Health, 81(2).
www.dhs.gov. (2019). Written testimony of S&T Under Secretary for a House Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology hearing titled “A Review of Progress by the
Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate”. Retrieved
from https://www.dhs.gov/news/2015/10/27/written-testimony-st-under-secretary-
house-committee-science-space-and-technology