Category Archives: Agencies and Actions

Another Call for Safe Rooms and Mitigation

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Shortly after the tornadoes in Moore, media from all over the nation, as well as many professional associations, are adamant in their call for some mitigative measures so that the repetitive losses of life and property are reduced.  Since the means to do so are known, what is needed is the political will– something lacking so far in OK  None of us wants to watch while children are trapped in their schools and people buried in their homes, if it can be avoided.

From the Post Gazette (Pitsburgh), an editorial of interest: After the Storm; Safe Rooms Need to be mandated in Perilous Places. A few excepts follow; my favorites are highlighted in red:

As always in times of disaster, the humanitarian response of the American people was heart-warming. But the heart must now heed the head. There are obvious lessons that need to be taken if the wells of sympathy are not to be depleted.

Some 24 people were killed by the tornado, including seven 8- and 9-year-old students at Moore’s Plaza Elementary School — a school that had no safe room, just as most of the 1,200 homes damaged and destroyed did not. That is stupid to the point of scandalous. Oklahoma is situated in Tornado Alley and people are accustomed to the danger. According to the National Weather Service, Moore and its environs have seen at least 22 tornadoes killing more than 100 people since 1893.

The state is conservative and fear of overreaching government power is part of the culture. That’s fine as far as it goes, but it goes only as far as it affects other Americans whose tax dollars go to help places like Moore recover.

It rankles that Oklahoma’s U.S. senators, James Inhofe and Tom Coburn, have voted against federal funding for other disaster relief, including for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Yes, they had their reasons — concerns for wasteful federal spending and deficits — but a day of reckoning comes for ingrate behavior. In Moore, it came in a terrifying funnel cloud.

Political ideology should have been blown away in this storm. State and local governments in areas at risk should insist on safe rooms, at least in all new construction. The cost might be high, but so is the cost of repetitive tragedy. It is said that God helps those who help themselves; federal aid ought to be predicated on it.

Federalism at work – for better or for worse

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Some days you just have to wonder about our federal system and how ponderous it can be when it comes to serving its citizens after a disaster. This story highlights the role of NJ state government in its role as recipient of a presidential disaster declaration and the federal funds that flow from it.  In my view, the victims of  Superstorm Sandy, not to mention the general public, might expect a quicker pace from state government. Superstorm Sandy occurred in October 2012, yet this article is dated April 21.

$1.8B in post-Sandy federal grants might not reach homeowners until July

Victims of Hurricane Sandy, expecting federal grants of up to $150,000 to help them rebuild their battered homes, will have to wait until summer before they see any money, the governor said Thursday.

Gov. Chris Christie said he hopes the federal government next week approves the nearly $1.8 billion earmarked for a massive New Jersey rebuilding program. Some $600 million of that will be reserved for homeowners to repair and elevate their houses.

But that money might not reach homeowners until July, Christie said in Long Branch Thursday.

Richard Constable, commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs, said earlier this week his department still has to build the framework for administering the funds. And Christie said the application process for homeowners will require environmental approvals.

Business owners, meanwhile, may get grants sooner, Christie said. Nearly $500 million of the $1.8 billion fund would go to small-business grants, community revitalization programs and a tourism marketing campaign.

“The business side will happen much more quickly because the application process on the business side is much easier ….

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Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force – precedents

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Ever since the H. Sandy Task Force was formed, with the HUD Secretary named as the lead, I have been trying to figure out where this idea came from. I think I have part of the answer.

After the Deepwater Horizon-B.P Oil Spill (2010), Pres. Bush issued an Executive Order that created the Gulf Coast Reconstruction effort.  The organization was headed by then Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mobus, who was the former governor of MS. His mission was to create the Long-Term Gulf Coast Restoration Support Plan.

Then to implement the plan, the president asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to chair the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task. Force. This was an advisory body whose purpose was “… to focus on efforts to create more resilient and healthy Gulf Coast ecosystems, while also encouraging support for economic recovery and long-term health issues.” This group was formed by Executive Order #13554 on October 5, 2010.

For more information, see the Restore the Gulf website.

If anyone has any more information, or knows of other precedents, please let me know.

NY State Plans to Overhaul its Emergency Preparedness & Management Capabilities

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Bravo for the pro-active and far-reaching scope of the 3 new commissions created by Governor Cuomo of NY.  All three of them are comprised of top flight members, whose mission is to  “undertake a comprehensive review and make specific recommendations to overhaul and improve NY State’s emergency preparedness and response capabilities, as well as examine how to improve the strength and resilience of the state’s infrastructure to better withstand major weather incidents.”  Interestingly, the word recovery does not show up anywhere.

The three organizations are:

  1. NYS 2100 Commission;
  2. NYS Respond Commission; and
  3. NYS Ready Commission.

More details about the commissions and their members are in THIS ARTICLE (Nov. 29, 2012)

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Bold Move: HUD Secretary to Manage Recovery Process After Sandy in NY & NJ

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In an interesting departure from tradition, the HUD Secretary will manage the long-term recovery in NY and NJ. See: Obama Visits Storm-Ravaged Areas in New York, Nov. 15.

President Obama said Thursday that he was assigning Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and a former New York City official, to oversee the New York area’s longterm recovery from Hurricane Sandy.

The press release from the White House on Nov. 15 can be accessed here.

See also CQ on Nov. 15th: “HUD Secretary to Head Long-Term Sandy Recovery. ” This service is copyrighted so I cannot link it.  A few excerpts:

… Obama announced Thursday that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun  onovan will head federal efforts to help state government develop and implement their long-term redevelopment
plans after superstorm Sandy.

Obama said he wanted one person at the federal level in charge of the rebuilding process.  Shaun Donovan … used to be the head of the New York Housing Authority – so he knows a little bit about New York and building….”

Noc. 17th. Donovan may be responsible for all of the north east states with disaster declarations.  It is not clear yet, but there an an article from the L.A. Times on the topic.

Nove. 15: another take today by BusinessWeek.

This is an option that has been discussed in Washington for at least two years that I know of.  It will be an interesting change to watch.  How will the HUD  Secretary relate to the Federal Coordinating Officer who is the lead officials for FEMA?
If anyone out there has more details, please write in.

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GAO’s Assessment of the Dept. of Homeland Security, 10 years after 911

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This posting is a bit off topic, but I thought this massive new GAO report was worth highlighting.  I have not yet read it, but here are the long and short versions:

The title of the GAO report is Dept. of Homeland Security: Progress Made and Work Remaining in Implementing Homeland Security Missions 10 years after 911.  A 30 page version, in the form of testimony given to Congress is provided here.  The full report, which is 226 pages, is provided here.

Legal Conflicts re BP Oil Spill Disaster Plans and Response

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Lawmakers Question Coordination of Federal, Local Responses to Emergencies
by Rob Margetta, CQ Today, September 22, 2010 [Subscription service.]

Two of the major issues that emerged in a recent House hearing on the SP Spill are ( 1) conflicts between state and federal laws, and (2) which federal dept. should have the lead for disaster planning and response.

After hearing descriptions of a disconnect between Louisiana officials and the Coast Guard during the response to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, members of the House Homeland Security Committee said they may have to re-examine the laws that connect the state to the federal government during emergencies. Craig Paul Taffaro Jr., president of St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana, told the committee that his state has different authorizing legislation for response efforts than other Gulf Coast states.
“Louisiana law specifically grants emergency powers to local authorities . . . during times of declared disasters,” he said. “This construct seemed to create a bureaucratic obstacle that has plagued the coordination of the response effort throughout.”

The problem, Taffaro said, is that the Clean Air Act (PL 101-549) and other federal statutes governing emergency response do not recognize or mesh well with the Louisiana system. Local authority was met with “resistance, exclusion and power struggles” after the spill, he said.

The Homeland Security Department (DHS) was expected to take a leadership role after the spill, Thompson said. “Yet, as we all now know, the department did not have a role in reviewing or assessing the plans for the response and recovery of this type of disaster,” he added. Instead, the agency in charge of regulating offshore platforms — then known as the Minerals Management Service, a bureau within the Interior Department — was responsible for the plan. Coast Guard officials testified that their agency had no role in overseeing the Deepwater Horizon emergency procedures.

With regard to which federal agency/department should have the lead role,

Sheila Jackson Lee, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection, said DHS needs to be at the center of all response planning, adding that DHS would have been more appropriate than Interior in the case of Deepwater Horizon. “The backbone of response has to be Homeland Security,” the Texas Democrat said.

The situation reflects other regulatory issues that affect DHS, Thompson said, including the fact that the Federal Emergency Management Agency plays a role in reviewing the nuclear power plant emergency response plans required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. FEMA is unclear on whether it should be working with the NRC, plant owners or local authoritiesThe Homeland Security Department (DHS) was expected to take a leadership role after the spill, Thompson said. “Yet, as we all now know, the department did not have a role in reviewing or assessing the plans for the response and recovery of this type of disaster,” he added.

Instead, the agency in charge of regulating offshore platforms — then known as the Minerals Management Service, a bureau within the Interior Department — was responsible for the plan. Coast Guard officials testified that their agency had no role in overseeing the Deepwater Horizon emergency procedures.

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New Report – Urgent Recommendations re Gulf Coast Resilience

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States that border the Gulf of Mexico are show...

Image via Wikipedia

Before the Next Katrina: Urgent Recommendations for the President & Congress on Gulf  Coast Resilience; Center for National Policy, August 27. In a compelling new report, authors Steve Flynn and Sean Burke address a few new problems, namely, the likelihood of a major hurricane affecting the same Gulf Coast area impacted by the B.P. Oil Spill and how to clarify, coordinate, and reconcile the two federal response systems that pertain.  The Oil Spill response and now the recovery process are proceeding under the authority of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, but a major hurricane is likely to get a Presidential declaration under the Stafford Act.  The authors do an excellent job identifying problem areas and issues that should be address before another big hurricane reaches the Gulf Coast this season, which could be quite soon. See this C-SPAN interview.

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“Unity of Effort” recommended by Thad Allen for major disasters

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Reflecting on his major role after Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill Disaster, Adm. Allen recommends “Unity of Effort.”  Allen says unity is key to tackling natural disasters such as Gulf spill, covered by Theday.com (CT).

Coordination not always easy, but it’s a must… The country needs an “agile and flexible” government to respond to disasters such as the Gulf oil spill and Hurricane Katrina… “The more we can create that unity of effort, the better off we’ll be,” said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad W. Allen…  The problem is, Allen said, it is not easy to get officials in federal, state and local governments to work together, along with players in the private sector and non-governmental organizations. They are organized differently, with diverse responsibilities, jurisdictions and viewpoints.  “Even though it isn’t easy,” …”we have to get better at it.”

Allen said he thinks social media and the Internet can link the parties together to solve seemingly impossible problems.

It would be interesting to know more about his expectations for these new mechanisms to improve unity of effort. NOTE: The two authors of this blog also maintain a new blog on social media and disasters called iDisaster 2.0.

Assessment of FEMA – some positive and negative changes noted

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An invigorated FEMA is on the comeback trail. Do the federal agency’s local partners see any progress? Governing Magazine, August 2010. Among the positive signs the author notes are:

While FEMA may or may not get more power to push federal partners to cooperate in recovery efforts, one very encouraging trend has occurred on the agency’s bureaucracy front. Under President Barack Obama, FEMA regional directors are winning back authority to make rapid, ground-level decisions — latitude that was largely stripped away during the George W. Bush era. That sort of regional-level authority is important, given that the whole emergency management response and recovery game is by its very nature complicated and messy and not given to top-down, one-size-fits-all responses. Dealing with a familiar federal official helps immensely when it comes to communication and coordination around disasters.

As the author noted, FEMA under Craig Fugate has not yet had to deal with any large-to-catastrophic disasters.  The test of fire usually is the most telling.

A more pessimistic account comes from Bill Cumming in his blog posting of August 16, titled, Erosion of FEMA’s Legal Authority. After a lengthy review of executive directives regarding FEMA, Bill notes a constant erosion of authority since the agency was located within the DHS (in 2003).  He concludes by saying:

… I would argue that both TSA and the Coast Guard and all the border security agencies have been badly compromised capability wise by DHS and probably FEMA is the biggest loser in being rolled into DHS. Perhaps this evolution and diminished capabilty is a valid management choice, but given lack of meanngful oversight of DHS by Congress [despite DHS complaints] no more could have been expected. Time will tell whether DHS management choices were correct ones.