The federal disaster agency that has aided California in the wake of numerous earthquakes, floods and fires has been folded into the Department of Homeland Security, a move that has caused concern among some state officials and earthquake scientists.
Some of the state's top seismic experts have privately expressed fear that the change might mean that FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will reduce its focus -- and funding -- on response to such disasters as earthquakes. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, for example, FEMA provided nearly $10 billion of the $13 billion in federal aid to the state.
At the same time, James Lee Witt, director of FEMA in the Clinton administration, said in an interview last week that he is concerned about the Bush administration's decision to eliminate a special fund next year under which FEMA helps pay for retrofitting of buildings and other structures.
FEMA officials, backed by Tom Ridge, secretary of Homeland Security, have tried to assuage the concerns.
Ridge went out of his way at a Feb. 24 meeting in Washington with state emergency managers to emphasize the "all-hazard" aspects of Homeland Security.
The department includes not only FEMA but also agencies such as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, the Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and the Federal Insurance Administration. The stated purpose of the amalgamation is to better fight terrorism
Ridge said Homeland Security would have three primary missions: to prevent terrorist attacks, reduce damage from them, and minimize damage from natural disasters. The state directors were relieved, for the third mission was a familiar one.
FEMA has been of vital assistance to California not only at Northridge, but also in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake and the 1997 New Year's flood in Northern California and the eastern Sierra, to mention only the largest recent disasters in the state.
Besides putting up most of the federal Northridge assistance, it allocated $723 million toward strengthening buildings and public works against future quakes.
The largest single grant of "mitigation funds" was $294 million for the UCLA Medical Center. As in all mitigation grants, the idea was to reconstruct the center to increase the chances that it could remain functional in the event of a temblor.
