How Planners Can Help LA Recover — And Help After Other Disasters Too. By Robert Olshansky, FAICP, and Laurie Johnson, FAIC, This piece is brought to you free of charge courtesy of the paying subscribers to California Planning & Development Report.

“These observations are based on over three decades of experience—both research and practice—after large disasters in the U.S. and numerous other countries. Olshansky and Johnson’s book After Great Disasters, is available for free download from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.”

From The Conversation: How nonprofits pitch in before, during and after disasters strike. They play a critical role by complementing government efforts and filling gaps in immediate and long-term recovery needs.

“Collaboration is a hallmark of how nonprofits respond to disasters. These organizations often work alongside government agencies and private sector partners in coordinated efforts. This approach ensures that aid is distributed efficiently, directing resources where they are needed most.

Often, national groups lead efforts to establish emergency shelters, distribute food and water, and offer mental health support. In a best-case scenario, these large organizations partner with local nonprofits that are uniquely positioned to mobilize quickly, leveraging their deep understanding of community needs and established trust with residents.

In some disasters, especially large ones like the Lahaina, Hawaii, fire in 2023, nonprofits also act as coordinators. They make sure that volunteers, donations and other resources flow to people who need help.”

From HSToday: FEMA’s National Preparedness Report Focuses on Mass Care, Cybersecurity, and Infrastructure Resilience
“The 2024 NPR addresses the work that needs to be done at all levels – federal, state, local, tribal and territorial – to strengthen national preparedness. While emerging threats and hazards will test us as a nation, our collective efforts across the whole community will drive our progress toward a safer, more resilient future,” said FEMA Administrator Criswell. “Together, we can ensure every individual and community is better prepared to face the uncertainties of tomorrow.”

From ABC News: Disasters don’t discriminate,’ outgoing FEMA administrator says.

Criswell, the outgoing FEMA administrator, sits for an exit interview with ABC. “All disasters start and end at the local level, and our job as federal emergency managers is to enable their ability to be successful, and I’ve been in their role,” she said.

The outgoing administrator said she “never lost sight” of putting herself in the local emergency managers’ shoes and made policy changes based on that thinking.

Former FEMA director to Congress: ‘Give it back its independent agency status,’ direct access to president

Former FEMA director to Congress: ‘Give it back its independent agency status,’ direct access to president

Former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Michael Brown said that Congress should give the disaster relief agency back its “independent agency status,” allowing it direct access to the president which would, in his view, improve its overall operation.

“The smartest thing they could do is to pull FEMA out, give it back its independent agency status, and give the director direct access to the president. If you don’t have direct access to the president, like I had, it’s not going to work,” Brown, who served as the FEMA chief from 2003 to 2005 under former President Bush, said during his Thursday appearance on NewsNation’s show “The Hill.”

New Report from the Congressional Research Service: Disaster Relief Fund State of Play: In Brief (15 pp)

From the conversation: National Non-Partisan Study of the Los Angeles Fires Could Improve Planning for Future Disasters. https://theconversation.com/a-national-nonpartisan-study-of-the-los-angeles-fires-could-improve-planning-for-future-disasters-247198

“The Los Angeles fires are a national disaster of epic proportions. City officials, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President-elect Donald Trump have traded accusations about what caused this crisis. But as an engineering professor who lives in Los Angeles and has studied extreme events and natural and human-caused disasters for over 40 years, I believe an event with so many lives lost and damages estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars demands a more substantive response.”

From the Wash. Post: How will Los Angeles rebuild when fire is ‘part of the landscape’?

“For those who plan to rebuild, a natural question has emerged: What can be done differently to prevent the sort of destruction that has killed at least 24 people, leveled thousands of structures and inflicted untold billions in damage?”

See this notice from the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado: lists of publications, resources, and grant opportunities.

This is a great central location for many useful items.

TFrom the NY Times: Once the Fires Are Out, California Must Remove Tons of Dangerous Debris

Clearing the toxic remnants of burned buildings around Los Angeles will require a complex and expensive mobilization. California has been there before.