10/14/2026
Emergency Management 101: Episode #3 – FEMA and the All-Hazards Model
By the late 1970s, federal disaster programs were scattered across multiple agencies—insurance, flood control, preparedness, civil defense, and relief all lived in different places—making it hard for states and communities to navigate the system. To fix this, President Jimmy Carter signed Executive Order 12127, effective April 1, 1979, activating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and consolidating many of those disaster related responsibilities into a single federal agency. FEMA absorbed programs from HUD, the National Weather Service Community Preparedness Program, the Federal Insurance Administration, and civil defense responsibilities from the Defense Department, and was given a dual mission of emergency management and civil defense.
In the following years, landmark legislation like the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 and the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988 refined how federal assistance is provided after disasters and encouraged comprehensive preparedness and mitigation planning. The Stafford Act became the main legal authority for FEMA’s disaster programs, reinforcing the idea that the federal government steps in when states and local governments are overwhelmed, rather than replacing their responsibilities. This framework pushed states and communities to develop their own emergency operations plans and hazard mitigation plans, tying local planning directly to eligibility for federal support.
Out of this consolidation and new legislation grew the modern “all hazards” emergency management concept. Professionals began to organize their work around four phases—mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery—so that communities would be continuously identifying risks, planning and training, responding effectively, and rebuilding in ways that reduce future damage. Today, that all hazards approach is reflected at every level of the system: FEMA at the federal level, Iowa’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at the state level, and local agencies like Crawford County Emergency Management all use the same basic phases and frameworks to manage everything from severe storms and floods to hazardous materials incidents and other emergencies.
