Abstract
Two types of new disasters threaten world safety in recent years: natural disasters of unheard of proportions, such as major earthquakes and massive floods, and terrorist attacks as man-made disasters. Such a trend is obvious, especially in large cities, and Japan, with the Tokyo metropolitan area as one
of most populous cities of the world, also faces this problem. It is an urgent task with people living in modern cities to update the recognition of and establish a new approach to homeland security. The simultaneous terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 turned the threat of urban disasters by terrorist attacks into reality and fundamentally changed the homeland security laws in the U.S. On the other hand, reflection on the poor response to Hurricane Katrina at the end of August 2005 led to strengthening of the federal disaster response including natural disasters. This article surveys the response of U.S. federal agencies in times of disaster from the perspectives of both the National Security Law and the Disaster Law. The relationship between federal disaster response and information control is also considered.
