Federal agencies coping with daunting and evolving task | 09.08.2005 | 09:21:42 | Views: 4484 | ID: September 8 '05: The federal response to Hurricane Katrina has demanded the most comprehensive and largest recovery effort the United States has ever seen. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, acting under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security is coordinating the recovery effort which includes organizing more than a dozen government agencies. So far, DHS has reported in a press release that close to 47,000 rescues have been performed with more than 750 shelters being provided to almost 235,400 people. The US Coast Guard has deployed 4,000 men and women while the National Guard has sent more than 41,000 troops while 17,000 active duty military personnel have been deployed to the affected areas. While the federal response has been huge, it has not always been the first line of defense for the US. MSNBC has chronicled the emergence of the federal response in America to natural disasters and other national calamities. Initially, state and local governments were required or expected to act as the primary support system. And the Associated Press elaborated on a recent memo released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement which has informed its employees wishing to volunteer that they "will instead be part of the ICE effort to support law enforcement activities," helping to remove the remaining residents of New Orleans from the city. A spokesman for the agency, Dean Boyd, told the AP, "We want to be careful we're not stretched too thin. ... It's a daunting task," Boyd told said, "helping local police."
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