Emergency Powers and Hurricane Isaac

For the past several decades there has been a push by both conservatives and liberals to restrict agency discretion. Conservatives want to keep agencies from acting, and liberals want to force agencies to act in certain ways. This makes it very difficult for agencies to function in emergencies. To remedy this, legislatures pass laws that allow the governor or president to waive agency regulations and even ignore statutory limits during emergencies.

National Emergency Powers – these are the President’s powers.

Florida Governor’s Executive Order triggering emergency powers.

Florida DOH implementation of the order

Florida Emergency Powers Laws doc

South East Louisiana Evacuation Guide

LA Emergency Response

Office of the LA Governor

LA Governor takes control of motels and hotels