Photographs Relating to Disasters and Emergency Management Programs, Activities, and Officials

There is coverage (more than 1,400 images) of the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Virginia. Numerous views show the nature and extent of the devastation, the massive mobilization of personnel and equipment for search, rescue, and cleanup operations, the progress of the rebuilding effort for the damaged section of the Pentagon, visits and speeches by national, state, and local political leaders and other dignitaries, and tributes ranging from makeshift memorials near New York City's "Ground Zero" to formal commemorations on anniversaries of the tragedy.

Among other disasters, and FEMA responses thereto, covered in this series are Hurricane Andrew, striking Florida in August, 1992; the wid espread flooding in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, and other Midwestern states in July, 1993; the Northridge, California earthquake of January, 1994; the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April, 1995; Typhoon Paka (December, 1997) and Super Typhoon Pongsona (December, 2002), with their impact on Guam; El Nino-related flooding and mudslides in California in February, 1998; Hurricane Floyd, hitting Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, and other states in September, 1999; the forest fires in Santa Fe National Forest in May, 2000; Hurricane Lili, leaving its mark on Louisiana and Texas in October, 2002; the tornadoes striking western Tennessee in May, 2003; and Hurricane Isabel, affecting many areas of the East Coast in September, 2003.FEMA Directors James Lee Witt, Joe M. Allbaugh, and Michael D. Brown are among the agency headquarters and field officials shown in inspection, meeting, Congressional testimony, and portrait settings.

There is also coverage of Presidential visits to disaster sites, such as President George Bush's meeting with California residents in the aftermath of the October, 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, President Bill Clinton's visit to Jefferson County, Alabama to survey damage and interview survivors after the April, 1998 tornadoes; and President George W. Bush's visit to the World Trade Center ruins three days after the "9/11" attacks.

Along with disaster-specific coverage in this series, considerable attention is devoted to FEMA's ongoing disaster preparedness programs, including promotion of damage mitigation measures in design, construction, and modification of structures and systems, and training of emergency management leaders from around the country at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Press conferences, policy conferences, and other FEMA headquarters events are also featured in this series, as are such non-FEMA ceremonies as the Native American parade commemorating the opening of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in 2004.

Photographs in this series represent the work of more than three dozen photographers, including FEMA photographic specialists as well as other public information personnel from headquarters and field offices. Among the most frequent contributors are Liz Roll, Andrea Booher, Dave Saville, Dave Gatley, Jocelyn Augustino, Larry Lerner, Michael Rieger, Bri Rodriguez, Kevin Galvin, Robert Eplett, Jason Pack, Bob Epstein, and John Shea.

The paper materials provide documentation for the photographs. This data comprises government records extracted from the Archival Research Catalog (ARC). See the ARC catalog entry for this series for more information on this data and how to order it.