The Federal Emergency Management Agency: A New Era of Weather Disaster Management

Weather directly accounts for nearly all Major Disaster Declarations nationwide and plays a critical role in FEMA decision making. However, the decision making process among FEMA, and emergency management in general, is not substantially embedded within existing literature. Despite the importance of weather information and continued increase in vulnerabilities due to climate change, population migration, etc., the decision making process in relation to weather events is not well understood. This study examines FEMA utilization and communication of weather information for maintaining situational awareness in support of decision making. The culmination of this work advances the profession and discipline of emergency management by providing a sound methodology and decision making process framework for FEMA, in relation to weather information. The utilization of which is applicable for FEMA beyond the scope of this study and can be extended analogously to be inclusive of all hazard types. The implications of this work are to enhance FEMA leadership weather decision making capabilities in support of more timely, relevant decisions and more effective, efficient operations to enhance their ability to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters leading to saved lives and property. The purpose of this research is to bridge the gap between meteorological needs and existing educational and informational structures, requirements, and impediments to enhance decision making, situational awareness, and communication within FEMA. The major overarching questions this research seeks to answer are: (1) How is weather information utilized and communicated within FEMA?, (2) What are the primary elements and influencers of FEMA leadership decision making regarding weather?, and (3) How can FEMA best prepare for disaster operations for weather events? Utilizing an exploratory case study design, based on the Baumgart et al. (2008) model of local emergency management severe weather decision making (comprised of three systems: (1) environmental, (2) informational, and (3) perceptual and cognitive) in conjunction with the Endsley (1995) model of situation awareness (comprised of three levels: (1) perception, (2) comprehension, and (3) projection), data analysis of qualitative surveys and interviews yielded several findings. First and foremost, (1) operational decision making at FEMA is heavily influenced by a multitude of factors including (a) organizational, (b) operational, (c) individual, (d) informational, (e) impact, and (f) hazard. Further complicating matters, FEMA utilizes a variety of information sources and communication mechanisms including media/social media, State/Tribe/Territory, private sector/ apps, television/radio, internet/web, Emergency Support Functions/partners, National Weather Service, and other agencies, yet (2) a communication gap exists between FEMA and the public. Furthermore, (3) utilization of weather information across FEMA is substantive for the purposes of (a) situational awareness, (b)…