The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency under the Department of
Homeland Security which provides federal level coordination on emergency and
disaster relief to affected communities in the United States. FEMA works alongside
local and state responders to provide assistance particularly with
communities which may become overwhelmed with a lack of available local resources
during a state of emergency.
In the past,
FEMA has struggled to address disaster support, such as with Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. The public demand for immediate and real-time response previously overwhelmed the agency. It took some time to re-evaluate their strategy.
This new app is a result of their Strategic Plan which addresses responsiveness and enhanced communications for the agency during disaster situations. FEMA's mobile application allows users to post information,
seek assistance and learn more about disasters in their respective regions.
This is a free and easy to use app, and is available for Apple, Android and
Blackberry mobile devices.
The app shows
users how to locate open shelters, upload photos from disaster areas, receive
alerts from the National Weather Service and tips on how to be prepared for an
emergency. While, all of this information was always available on their website,
having it handy on a phone is much more helpful.
This
modern-approach was really needed; the only disappointing aspect is that it
wasn’t developed sooner. While, I personally haven’t
used the app for an emergency yet, it is hoped that the app would be able to
provide real-time responses and help people in affected areas throughout the United States.
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