12 / Introduction
by local fi re, police, animal control, or other entities. When the inci-
dent exceeds the capacity of local resources to respond, it is consid-
ered a disaster. Both kinds of events can harm lives and property
and disrupt “normal” life.
When local and state agencies lack or lose the resources to re-
spond, a governor may request that the President declare a major
disaster. The request is prepared jointly by state offi cials and staff
members from one of the ten regional offi ces of the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency (FEMA). After consideration at the
regional level, the staff at FEMA’s Washington, DC, headquarters re-
views the request. FEMA then makes a recommendation to the Pres-
ident. The presidential declaration activates numerous resources
through twenty-seven federal departments and agencies, which are
coordinated through FEMA under the Federal Response Plan. Fed-
eral assistance is intended to supplement state and local efforts.
FEMA and other federal agencies do not take control of disasters;
the governor and local offi cials maintain oversight and control of re-
lief efforts.
Disaster response is coordinated through the National Incident
Management System (NIMS) and the National Response Plan. The
NIMS orchestrates the activities of local, state, federal, and tribal gov-
ernments and standardizes the practices for the response through the
National Response Plan.^24 According to the Department of Home -
land Security, the National Response Plan
establishes a single, comprehensive framework for the man-
agement of domestic incidents. It provides the structure
and mechanisms for the coordination of Federal support to
State, local, and tribal incident managers and for exercis-
ing direct Federal authorities and responsibilities. The NRP
[National Response Plan] assists in the important homeland
security mission of preventing terrorist attacks within the
United States; reducing the vulnerability to all natural and
man-made hazards; and minimizing the damage and assist-
ing in the recovery from any type of incident that occurs.^25