President Carter Creates FEMA by Executive Order

President Jimmy Carter signed Executive Order 12127 on April 1, 1979, creating the Federal Emergency Management Agency by consolidating five separate federal disaster and civil defense functions under one agency. FEMA absorbed the Federal Insurance Administration, the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration, the National Weather Service Community Preparedness Program, the Federal Preparedness Agency, and the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration. FEMA became operational on March 1, 1979.