Keywords

hurricanes, florida history, hurricane history, FEMA, emergency management, history of emergency management

Abstract

Humanity in the Calamity maps out the erroneous land practices that damned the American population to build in the state of Florida in a manner that does not fit the fluid landscape of the environment. Throughout history, as Americans built up Florida on the threatened coastline, the doctrines of disaster polities and emergency management were birthed under the influence of Civil Defense, induced by the militaristic agendas of the Cold War. The influence of Cold War-Era Civil Defense clouded the field of emergency management and FEMA, limiting the response to natural disasters making disasters more violent and deadly.

These issues were seen in the preparation, landfall, and aftermath to Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Humanity in the Calamity maintains that Hurricane Andrew served as a historically significant focusing event that triggered changes in emergency management going into the twenty-first century. These administrative changes pulled the mission of emergency management towards a doctrine known as the all-hazards approach that put natural disasters on a level equal to that of military response. The period of 1993 to 2002 served as unique period when natural disaster was at the forefront of FEMA’s doctrine. These developments were stifled in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, further marking 1993 to 2002 as a historic period worth further study. Historians long neglected the study of hurricanes until recently. This research aims to provide an addition to the growing field of hurricane history through a multidisciplinary approach.

Completion Date

2025

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Lester, Connie

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

History

Identifier

DP0029375

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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