Under Secretary Brown Unveils "Building on Success"
Plan Details Agency's Program Evolutions for 2005 Hurricane Season and Beyond
Release Date: April 28, 2005
Release Number: HQ-05-084
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary and head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Michael D. Brown announced FEMA’s “Building on Success” plan that details program evolutions during the 2004 hurricanes now in place to help the Agency respond to the 2005 hurricane season and all future disasters.
“The unprecedented 2004 hurricane season tested our programs and systems like never before and we were able to react in an able and flexible way,” Brown said. “My ‘Building on Success’ plan outlines some of the specific areas where FEMA’s response and recovery operations evolved during the 2004 hurricane season to better serve disaster victims, and now we will be able to use these great evolutions for the 2005 hurricane season and all future disasters for years to come,” Brown said.
With the official start to the 2005 hurricane season almost a month away, Brown stressed some of the great feats the Agency made in 2004 that will be used again in future disasters. Highlights in “Building on Success” include the pre-positioning of disaster supplies which most states used for the first time during the 2004 hurricane season; the deployment of the National Disaster Medical System which treated more than 10,000 patients during the 2004 storms; and disaster victims being able to apply for individual assistance from FEMA for the first time through the FEMA website. These three advances in FEMA’s programs along with the others detailed in “Building on Success” demonstrate the Agency’s dedication to serving the needs of disaster victims with ongoing program checks and performance reviews following every major disaster.
Last year, FEMA responded to a record-setting 27 total major declared disasters for hurricane-related damage in 15 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Florida was hit by four hurricanes and disasters were also declared in Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia due to damages from the storms.
For more information on hurricanes and how to prepare your home for the upcoming hurricane season, please visit: www.fema.gov/hazards/hurricanes/hurinfo.shtm
Please visit the Building on Success Photo Gallery: www.fema.gov/storm/building_on_success/buildingonsuccess1.fema?id=1
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Friday, 29-Apr-2005 09:54:33