FEMA: The San Andreas Fault (JCC)

On the Pacific Coast, people often joke grimly about “The Big One”, the inevitable 7+ magnitude earthquake long predicted to come roaring out of the San Andreas Fault. But on February 20, 2026, inevitability struck with unforgiving force. A massive quake ripped along the spine of California, plunging major urban hubs into chaos and leveling critical infrastructure in mere moments. Roads buckled, power grids collapsed, and communication networks went dark.

Now, with millions affected and time running out, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), under the Department of Homeland Security, must coordinate with local governments, state officials, the National Guard, and scientific experts to mount one of the largest domestic disaster responses in U.S. history. But with a politically fractured landscape between federal and state powers, public and private interests, and urban and rural divides, every decision carries weight. Mistrust runs deep, resources are limited, and not every player agrees on what “recovery” looks like.

Delegates will step into the roles of FEMA officials, National Guard officers, leading scientists, and representatives from state, municipal, and federal governments. This crisis will follow two sides of the story: the Federal Government’s response and the State-Municipal response, each respective room weighing political leverage with altruism. With lives hanging in the balance and a fractured society staring back from the rubble, the question is not only how to respond, but who will lead, who will be blamed, and who will be left behind.

As the earth tears California apart, will the nation’s leaders find common ground with their State-Municipal counterparts? Or will the aftershocks, both political and literal, threaten to fracture the United States itself? 

Note: JCC (Joint Crisis Committee) will consist of two committee rooms representing the two sides of the conflict, though not directly pitted against each other: the Federal Government bloc and the State-Municipal bloc.