This is widely considered the first piece of legislation passed by the federal government that provided relief after a disaster. Congress passed a measure in 1803 that provided relief for Portsmouth merchants by extending the time they had for remitting tariffs on imported goods.
Prior to 1930s Ī series of devastating fires struck the port city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, early in the 19th century. has existed in one form or another for over 200 years.
The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the President that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster. The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders on April 1, 1979. The Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No.