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From The Hill: Why America Needs Disaster Reform Now.
Author is Brock Long. Some excerpts:
“As FEMA administrator beginning in 2017, I witnessed the agency stretched thin by one crisis after another — a pattern that has only intensified since I left office five years ago. Today, FEMA is managing more than 100 active disaster recovery efforts nationwide and that does not account for the other crises they have been called to support other federal agencies with, like the COVID-19 pandemic and the southern border.
Originally designed to be adaptable, our nation’s disaster management system has become bogged down by bureaucracy. Nearly 90 different recovery programs span 30 federal agencies, creating delays and confusion at the very moments when survivors and communities need swift, clear support. Small, incremental policy changes are no longer enough; we need reforms that accelerate recovery, eliminate roadblocks and equip communities to prepare more effectively for what lies ahead.”
From PBS: In North Carolina, Trump attacks FEMA and repeats false claims about its response to Helene.
“Surveying storm damage in North Carolina, former President Donald Trump on Monday blasted federal emergency responders whose work has been stymied by armed harassment and a deluge of misinformation, but he said he was not concerned that the aftermath of Hurricane Helene would affect election results in the battleground state.
Trump was asked whether it was helpful to criticize hurricane relief workers after the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently paused its work in the area because of reports they could be targeted by militia. He responded by again attacking the agency and repeating the falsehood that the response was hampered because FEMA spent its budget helping people who crossed the border illegally….”
From Inside Climate News: After Hurricane Helene, Therapists Dispense ‘Psychological First Aid’
By helping storm victims process their trauma early, psychologists hope those harmed can move through this disaster without developing post-traumatic stress disorder in the months and years ahead.
From the WashPost, this opinion piece: As hurricane seasons worsen, taxpayers subsidize people to live in risky areas. Helene and Milton spotlight a federal flood insurance program drowning in debt.
“The upshot is that FEMA flood hazard maps that determine coverage today rely on outdated information so inaccurate that more than 40 percent of NFIP claims made from 2017 to 2019 were for properties outside official flood hazard zones or in areas the agency had not mapped at all.”
From CNN: A full economic recovery in areas ravaged by Milton and Helene may happen faster than you think. The author cites a 2020 GAO report on economic recovery from past major disasters in the U.S.but did not give a citation.
Although the article did not provide a citation, I think this is it: https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-633r.pdf
From the Congressional Research Service, this 21 page report:
Emergency Relief Program for Disaster-Damaged Highways and Bridges
From the NYTimes: How Climate Disasters and a Housing Crisis Are Shattering Lives
Millions of Americans, many poor and vulnerable, live in mobile homes. When catastrophe strikes, they’re often on their own.
From the WashPost: Federal flood maps underestimated risk in areas hit hardest by Hurricane Helene.
“The federal government’s flood maps, which are used nationwide to signal areas vulnerable to inundation, vastly underestimated the flood risk faced by properties in the parts of North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene, according to data analyzed by The Washington Post.”
From the Congressional Research Service: Hurricane Milton Recovery: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources (4 pp)
Recovery Diva 