The 1990s in crisis history

Incidents

Hurricane Floyd 1999 57 deaths
Major Atlantic hurricane causing extensive flooding in North Carolina and the eastern seaboard.
Northridge CA Earthquake 1994 72 deaths
Magnitude 6.
Great Midwest Floods 1993 48 deaths
Catastrophic flooding across the Mississippi and Missouri River basins.
Hurricane Andrew 1992 62 deaths
Category 5 hurricane devastating South Florida, leading to major FEMA criticism and federal disaster reform.
Hurricane Iniki 1992 6 deaths
Most powerful hurricane to strike Hawaii in recorded history, struck Kauai.

Presidential Decision Directive 62 — Combating Terrorism 1998
Clinton directive establishing the national counterterrorism strategy and the National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counterterrorism.
Presidential Decision Directive 63 — Critical Infrastructure Protection 1998
Clinton directive establishing the federal framework for critical infrastructure protection following PCCIP.
Executive Order 13010 — Critical Infrastructure Protection 1996
Established the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection (PCCIP).
Executive Order 12941 — Seismic Safety of Existing Federally Owned or Leased Buildings 1994
Required ICSSC standards for evaluating seismic risk of existing federal buildings.
Executive Order 12699 — Seismic Safety of Federal Buildings 1990
Required earthquake hazard reduction in new federal building construction.

Report of the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection 1997
Recommended federal framework for protecting national critical infrastructure; foundation of CIP policy.
Galloway Report: Interagency Floodplain Management Review 1994
Report of the Interagency Floodplain Management Review Committee following the 1993 Midwest Floods; recommended reform of national floodplain management.
GAO Report: Federal, State and Local Response Needs Improvement 1993
Government Accountability Office report identifying systemic shortfalls in federal-state-local disaster response coordination.
NAPA Report: Coping with Catastrophe 1993
National Academy of Public Administration report critiquing federal emergency management after Hurricane Andrew; influenced FEMA reform under Witt.
NAPA Report: Review of Federal Activities for HAZMAT Accident Safety 1993
NAPA review of federal hazardous materials accident safety activities.

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act 1996
Federal antiterrorism statute passed after the Oklahoma City bombing.
Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act (Nunn-Lugar-Domenici) 1996
Title XIV of FY1997 NDAA; established WMD preparedness program for first responders.
National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 1994
Reformed the National Flood Insurance Program following the 1993 Midwest Floods.
Oil Pollution Act of 1990 1990
Statute responding to Exxon Valdez, requiring double-hull tankers and creating Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

Strategic National Stockpile 1999
Federal medical countermeasure stockpile, transferred from CDC to ASPR/HHS in 2018; central to anthrax, H1N1, Ebola, and COVID-19 responses.
FEMA Project Impact: Building Disaster Resistant Communities 1997
FEMA pre-disaster mitigation program under Director Witt, defunded in 2001-2002.
Federal Response Plan 1992
Federal Response Plan signed for natural hazards; coordinated 27 federal agencies under Stafford Act; superseded by NRP in 2004.

USA v. McVeigh; USA v. Nichols (Oklahoma City Bombing Prosecutions) 1997
Federal prosecutions of Timothy McVeigh (convicted June 1997, executed June 2001) and Terry Nichols for the 1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing.
In re Exxon Valdez (Punitive Damages Litigation) 1994
Class action arising from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

FEMA Mitigation Directorate 1993
FEMA directorate created under Director Witt to elevate hazard mitigation as a core agency function.

FEMA Reform Under James Lee Witt 1993
Reform of FEMA under Director Witt: customer-focused culture, mitigation directorate, all-hazards model, cabinet elevation.

James Lee Witt 1993
FEMA Director under President Clinton; led FEMA's transformation, mitigation focus, and elevation to cabinet status.

Federal Response Failure to Hurricane Andrew 1992 61 deaths
Widely criticized slow federal response to Hurricane Andrew; triggered NAPA review and FEMA reform under Witt.