FEMA is Different Today, Official Says

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been busy dealing with response to the Midwest floods and the California wildfires this summer. Is this the same agency that came under fire for its response to Hurricane Katrina?

The Associated Press is reporting that FEMA Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson testified before a US Senate panel on disaster recovery last week, saying the agency is not the same as the one that dealt with Katrina.

“Following emergency management officials from states affected in recent months by disasters and who had generally positive things to say about FEMA, Johnson said the change in FEMA since August 2005 has been obvious,” AP reports.

The reason for the change? Johnson gave credit to FEMA administrator R. David Paulison with pushing for change and seeing progress in areas such as building partnerships between federal, state and local officials.

But despite the improvements, Johnson testified that many challenges remain, including building up and better training FEMA’s workforce.

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