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Article: FEMA (United States Federal Emergency Management Agency)
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- Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, andSecurity
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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FEMA (United States Federal Emergency Management Agency)
Although today a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a formerly independent agency of
the U.S. federal government tasked with responding to all aspects of natural and manmade disasters. This excludes specialized response capabilities such as those of radiological teams
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although FEMA works with these
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but includes all phases of disaster response, mitigation, and prevention. Created by a 1979 executive order, FEMA employs some 2,600 people at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at sites across the nation.
Early history.
Federal efforts ...