what is fema’s role in responding to natural disasters

NCSL Public-Private Partnership on Disaster Mitigation and Recovery

Catastrophic events are by nature unpredictable and emergency management can await very different across states and disaster types. Withal, one consistent reality is that disasters affect every facet of a community. From housing, transportation, health, economic evolution and beyond, natural disasters acknowledge no boundaries and don't fit neatly into existing jurisdictional lines. As a result, successful emergency management is a complex team effort betwixt a diversity of public and private-sector entities. This guide will talk over the role of the state legislator in natural disasters—both within and beyond their legislative sleeping accommodation and across disaster stages.
At that place are 4 different stages of a disaster—mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery—and they lend themselves to slightly dissimilar key players. Straight following a disaster, communities volition enter the response and recovery phases, which so alloy into mitigation and preparedness in anticipation of the next event.

Response

For a time immediately following a disaster, time-sensitive policy adjustments tin be accomplished with an executive order from the governor. An executive gild might adjust existing laws or statutes that could interfere with or help expedite recovery, create a special role or commission to enable an inclusive recovery process, or grant statutory say-so to an agency to oversee certain recovery functions. Emergency executive powers vary by state so legislators may do good from reviewing the scope of these powers in their country.

Aside from policy actions, showtime responders and emergency management personnel take the lead on immediate disaster bear on. They are trained in emergency assistance, from engaging in search and rescue and deploying emergency supplies to disseminating emergency communications and more. However, residents may reach out to their state legislator for assistance in navigating their firsthand needs, identifying the services that may help and locating those specific contacts.

To be prepared when constituents call, land legislators can:

Know the services available in or near their commune.

• Have on hand the local and regional assistance programs/services/offices to which they can refer a constituent for immediate needs. Obtain names, phone numbers, physical and email addresses, and any other available contact information. Brand sure this information is kept upwardly to date.
• Establish relationships with central leaders and personnel in state and local regime emergency direction offices to identify and compile contact information for these resources. Initial outreach should occur before a disaster strikes (discussed under "preparedness" below) and relationships sustained and strengthened over fourth dimension.
• Institute relationships with utility leadership in their districts, so they tin can connect constituents with appropriate utility personnel to assistance them with restoration information, equally well as be bachelor to help utility restoration teams maneuver any circumstances unique to a specific emergency.
• Proceed both a digital and hard re-create of this vital information in their district and capitol offices in case mobility or connectivity is limited due to the event.

Communicate. Employ existing district communications channels—either through webpage postings, email apportionment lists or social media platforms—to amplify the emergency updates, contact data and resources in their state. Legislators accept a unique connection to their constituencies and can take reward of these existing communication pathways.

Help. Many times, neighbors are the very first responders in disaster-impacted communities. Depending on the need, simply having some other gear up of hands nearby can go a long way in emergency situations, peculiarly if emergency personnel are limited by damage to transportation, electric grid or other critical infrastructure impairment. It will be essential to keep in listen at what bespeak professional person assist is needed, however.

Accept notes.

• Personal anecdotes from disaster-impacted communities can provide an of import basis and back up for policy changes or funding allocations afterwards on. Legislators volition benefit from learning equally much every bit possible from the disaster'due south affect and response in their district.
• Site visits to the most affected areas alongside emergency direction officials, besides equally private sector or nonprofit partners, volition provide opportunities to hear and larn from constituents and understand the telescopic of the disaster's impacts. Feedback on the state of housing, food and water, emergency medical services, displacement, transportation infrastructure, electrical and other utilities, and general extent of damage will prove vital in afterwards stages.

Recovery

While executive orders provide some immediate policy responses, they tend to focus more on the curt term. Country legislatures typically produce longer-term and more than comprehensive solutions to the lasting challenges of a natural disaster. The function of the country legislator in disaster recovery ranges from legislative reform and supplemental appropriations to continued district-level constituent casework and outreach.

Legislative Solutions

Legislative solutions tin fall into three wide areas—instruction, funding and reform.

Pedagogy

As state legislatures consider a range of disaster recovery policies and appropriations, legislators who correspond disaster-affected districts or sit on related committees of jurisdiction could benefit from prioritizing their own familiarity with the right contacts and the key bug. Specifically, land legislators could:

Appoint the correct people. Legislators tin engage state officials and other experts by inviting them to testify before their commission, conducting regular update calls during certain times of the year, and scheduling site visits to highly damaged areas or to view available resources. These individuals can include:

• State officials. Emergency management director, public safe commissioner, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) state disaster recovery coordinator, the governor's homeland security advisor, public health director, the country main data officeholder, state hazard mitigation officeholder, edifice and fire officials, and other key executive co-operative personnel.

  • These players vary from state to country so information technology may have some outreach to sympathize this picture. For example, in Texas, the Division of Emergency Management oversees the use of most FEMA grants while the General Land Office oversees the utilize of Community Evolution Block Grants – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and sure subsets of FEMA funding.

• Local officials. City and county emergency management directors; local 911 center directors; local leaders of first responder entities, such as burn down chief, police chief and sheriff; building lawmaking officials; and other central local government personnel.

• Community assistance organizations. These will as well vary widely between legislative districts but might include local nonprofits such as the American Red Cantankerous, Habitat for Humanity or Goodwill; organized religion-based organizations; private-sector entities pursuing innovative emergency management solutions; or community hubs, such equally schools and churches, that might operate as emergency operations centers.

• Disquisitional infrastructure personnel. This tin can include utility executives who tin speak to each utility's disaster recovery procedures as well equally personnel for both distribution, transmission and generation operations.

• Issue surface area experts. In that location are myriad research organizations, national associations, universities and others producing game-changing research and resources every 24-hour interval that are central to identifying data-driven solutions in the disaster space. Some examples include:

  • The National Found of Edifice Sciences' recent reports detailing render on investment for mitigation measures.

  • The Pew Charitable Trust's 2018 report that tracks state disaster spending, and its 2020 report and policymaker fact sheet on how states can pay for natural disasters.

  • National consensus-based codes and standards from recognized organizations like the American Society of Ceremonious Engineers and the International Lawmaking Council.
    All legislatures are members of the National Conference of Country Legislatures (NCSL) and have admission to issue-expanse experts, nationwide state emergency management legislation, and representation in Congress and the administration.

• Consult constituents. Legislators can acquire first-mitt from their constituents the true extent of a storm'due south bear upon. This perspective is central to developing effective state policy that benefits their detail district.

Know the cardinal problems.

• It can exist helpful to have a base understanding of emergency direction 101, the different stages of a disaster, the Incident Command System (ICS) used by emergency management professionals during a disaster, the National Response Framework and Emergency Back up Functions, Community Lifelines, and the Stafford Human action. It may likewise be beneficial to understand the specific catastrophic events repeatedly affecting their country or district, how state systems interplay with local and federal levels, their state'south Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP), and the latest research or successful country examples of effective disaster policy.
• Consider after-action reports. State and local offices that were centrally involved in the recovery effort can result an after-action report following major disasters. They assess the effectiveness of the response and recovery effort and frequently include specific policy recommendations that span issues of public safe, emergency direction, appropriations, economical development, infrastructure, health, instruction and many others. Consider similar reports equally well—similar that of the North Carolina General Associates's Program Evaluation Sectionalisation that detailed lessons learned from Hurricane Matthew and informed a new bill in 2019 from the Due north Carolina congressional delegation.

Funding

The cost of disasters at all stages is shared to varying degrees by federal, state, private and nonprofit sectors alike. There are many sources of federal funding available for communities impacted by a disaster. Key examples for states include Public Assistance grants from FEMA and CDBG-DR grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. However, states frequently also find information technology necessary to pass their ain comprehensive economic recovery packages, peculiarly when a presidential disaster announcement is non granted. Disaster funding mechanisms vary land to state but post-disaster appropriations bills often:

• Allow the use and disbursement of existing coin from rainy day funds or disaster accounts.
• Grant a state agency or office the authority to transfer existing funds as needed.
• Deliver new funding via supplemental appropriations. This might include large sums to refill disaster accounts or targeted funds for certain populations, sectors or purposes such equally:
  • To repair infrastructure for roads, bridges, water systems, levees, dams, etc.
  • To provide housing assistance, such as temporary housing for displaced populations or grant programs for housing repair costs.
  • To mitigate the effects of public safety ability shutdowns.
  • To support building departments in damage assessments, permitting, and program review and inspections to support recovery.
  • To provide matching funds for federal grants. For instance, FEMA Public Assistance grants by and large require a 25% state match while Emergency Management Functioning Grants require 50%.

Reform

Across appropriating recovery funds, some states may consider more comprehensive reforms to their approach to disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery. These reforms can be broad, structural changes or targeted improvements. Some examples include:

Preparedness planning.

• Require comprehensive preparedness planning between cardinal stakeholders at multiple levels of government besides as the private sector. For example, the Electric Subsector Coordinating Council outlines how the public and private sector tin coordinate to meliorate electric grid preparedness.

Structural reorganization.

• Create public offices that facilitate disaster response and recovery, and community resiliency, such every bit through the creation of "ane-cease centers" that enable disaster victims to more efficiently seek information or obtain help. Legislators could also establish a state master resilience officer or an interagency working group.
• Create new or repurpose existing staff positions that enable expertise, professionalism and institutional knowledge.
• For example, after Hurricane Matthew, North Carolina passed legislation creating the Due north Carolina Office of Response and Recovery (NCORR) in 2019 that operates nether the emergency direction director and is the designated grantee of CDBG-DR funds.

Mitigation measures.

• Revise/increase edifice codes and standards for floodplain development, wildland-urban-interface, convulsion and current of air resistance measures, etc. These might characteristic resiliency all-time practices for homeowners and critical infrastructure.
• Implement programs and create financial incentives for acquisitions of properties from flood-decumbent areas, restoration or creation of nature-based solutions or green infrastructure, home retrofits or insurance plans.
• Plant state revolving loan programs to provide a cocky-replenishing source of funding for a range of risk-reduction projects. The state revolving loan fund program run past the Indiana Finance Authority can serve as an example.

The scenarios above are intended to exist examples only, not recommendations. NCSL's Public-Private Partnership on Disaster Mitigation and Recovery expects to release a comprehensive report on policy best practices and recommendations in autumn 2020.

Elective Casework and Outreach

State and federal assist programs can be incredibly complicated and legislators should exist prepared to be a elective'south commencement call. Through constituent outreach efforts—such as campaigning, answering calls and emails, boondocks hall meetings and other gatherings— country legislators are in a groovy position to know how their item district's constituents are weathering the disaster.

During the recovery phase, constituents may seek assistance:

• Understanding what resources or programs may help them with temporary housing, personal finance, resources for displaced students, food and nutrition needs, health services, etc.
  • Navigating federal grants. FEMA's Individual Help grants are a key example, but assistance is available across many federal agencies for a range of populations. Procedures for federal grant awarding, disbursement, use and related reporting are complicated and alter periodically. Information technology will be helpful to know the right contacts at FEMA and the FEMA regional office serving your state.
• Navigating state help, whether existing or newly created postal service-disaster programs.
• Identifying private or nonprofit sources of aid.
• Regarding consumer protection in rebuilding.

Mitigation

Recovery provides a critical opportunity to build communities dorsum stronger and more resilient than they were before the storm. The legislator'due south office at this stage of a disaster centers on policy, as laid out above. Mitigation efforts both save money and make money for states. The National Institute of Building Sciences has reported that for every dollar spent on mitigation measures, communities save $half dozen on boilerplate in disaster costs. Trends in mitigation legislation enacted in 2019 show states are recognizing this reality.
A demonstrated investment in disaster mitigation efforts can also make states more competitive for new federal funds—the Edifice Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. Authorized in 2018 past the Disaster Recovery Reform Deed, BRIC awards funding to states for mitigation activities on a competitive basis at a 75% federal cost share. Eligible activities include:

• Mitigation projects that increase resilience and reduce disaster harm.
• Capability and capacity edifice.
• Administrative costs associated with the grant.
• Technical assistance.

The awarding period is projected to open in the fall of 2020. Yet, there are legislative actions states can take now to be more competitive, such as funding mitigation activities, ensuring their state building codes are up to engagement, and identifying or appropriating funds for the 25% land cost share. For specific examples of constructive flood mitigation policies, run into The Pew Charitable Trust's 2019 Mitigation Matters overview.

Preparedness

Legislators can improve disaster preparedness for the adjacent issue by connecting with key contacts, engaging in constituent outreach and enacting legislative solutions. While it is important to appoint with key experts (referenced above) in some capacity at all stages of a disaster, the platonic time to make that initial outreach is earlier the event. Legislators tin can attain out anytime to identify and go familiar with these important partners, which will enable a smoother transition to a coordinated response and recovery when a disaster occurs.
Ongoing constituent instruction tin assist your district set up for the adjacent consequence and reduce the impacts (including potential costs to the state treasury or overall economy). This tin include:

• Regular messages in constituent mailings on preparedness topics, such as the importance of insurance, preparedness kits, family disaster plans, etc.
• Sponsoring an almanac preparedness off-white, bringing together fundamental mitigation partners. This could be in conjunction with the showtime of hurricane, wildfire or tornado season or as role of Building Safety Month in May.

Country policymakers might consider legislation that requires whole-customs preparedness planning and brings all stakeholders to the table. Legislation of this sort might bring together specified players in the disaster space to talk over and produce a statewide preparedness plan or sustain an ongoing commission to foster this dialogue.

Legislation of this sort can exist informed by:

• Strategic planning specialists, such as emergency management and community development agencies or organizations.
• Professional planning and design organizations, such equally the American Planning Association, American Plant of Architects and American Guild of Landscape Architects.
• Building and community condom organizations, such as the International Code Council and Alliance for National & Community Resilience, providing such resource as resilience benchmarks.

Regulators, such equally zoning and permitting; building, fire and public safety; Americans with Disabilities Human activity coordinators; and utility commissions.

Experts across consequence areas:

• Public information and emergency communications.
• Health and social services, such every bit medical professionals, instruction departments, and consumer and legal service organizations.
• Economic recovery, such as economic and workforce development officials, representatives of community development corporations, major employers and local business owners.
• Housing, such every bit developers, residential construction companies, fair or affordable housing advocates, and homeless organizations.
• Infrastructure systems, such equally public works officials and engineers, including the American Society of Civil Engineers and other similar professional organizations; and disquisitional infrastructure providers, such equally utilities, communications systems, etc.
• Natural and cultural resources, such as historic preservation experts; members of cultural, museum, library and archival organizations; members of landmarks, parks and tree boards; and parks and ecology protection section staff.
• Cross-sector stakeholder organizations that collaborate between individual industry and government.

The NCSL Foundation Partnership on Disaster Mitigation and Recovery convened a steering committee of state legislators, legislative staff and private-sector partners to explore policy considerations and develop policy options for states every bit they face impacts of electric current and future natural disasters. The steering committee'due south in-person and virtual convenings accept informed the contents of this policy brief. The content within is a product of NCSL and does not necessarily reflect the position of our partnering organizations.

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Source: https://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/in-case-of-emergency-the-legislator-s-role-in-natural-disasters.aspx

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