Recovery – NY Style

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Here are some useful examples of what “snap back” and resilient recovery plans look like. It remains to be seen how the conflicts and tradeoffs between the two will be addressed.

Short-Term Recovery:

Winter looming, New York rushes to repair homes hit by superstorm Sandy: Hiring private contractors to repair homes quickly, New York responds to disaster relief in its own entrepreneurial way. Will the city be able to get people back in their homes before year’s end? [This article is based in part on the testimony that NY Congressman Nadler gave at a House Committee Hearing on Dec. 4th, part of which was the basis for my posting yesterday.]

This article covers the inherent conflicts in the recovery process: how to get rapid action on repairs and recovery for homeowners  — in this case in the winter time, in a location where the usual types of temporary housing are not an option. What remains to be determined are ways to mitigate the likely future storm damage.

Long-Term Recovery Plans:

Bravo to Mayor Bloomberg for his understanding of and commitment to a recovery process that results in a more resilient NYC in the future.  On Dec. 6th the Mayor spoke out about long-term recovery intentions:

Resilience After a Disaster – Rhetoric and Reality

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THE RHETORIC: Earlier this week, I posted some information about the lengthy study process and new book from the National Academy of Sciences re Resilience.  See earlier posting  here, including details about their Nov. 30th workshop.

From an intellectual standpoint, the study and the presentations at the NAS this past week are commendable and credible. But my concerns have been practical ones — how will local officials and others responsible for the front lines of emergency management actually adopt the philosophy and apply it in their communities?

Also, of concern is how the federal emergency management agencies (not just FEMA, but EPA, NOAA, HHS, USGS and others)  will champion the cause of resilience and include resilience actions and measures into their work. Note:  FEMA is one of the 9 federal agencies that support the work of the NAS on resilience.

THE REALITY: This week the  FEMA Administrator testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure e Committee on Dec. 4th.  At the hearing, when pressed about some of the longer-term considerations for the eastern states recovery from H. Sandy, Fugate took the short/narrow view. Some excerpts:

… when legislators asked FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate about these kinds of infrastructure issues, such as developing a long-term strategy for safer housing on the shorelines, he insisted that such issues, while important, were beyond the scope of his agency.

“Again, this goes far beyond what FEMA does, it goes far beyond the Stafford Act,” said Fugate, referring to the law that created the federal disaster relief system that is in place today.

Speaking about long-term housing solutions in New York and New Jersey, Fugate said, “The Stafford Act is a key part of this initial fix … but it does not get to pre-existing conditions, (and) it doesn’t get to some of the regional challenges that we have in that dense population area.”

Fred Tombar, a senior adviser to the HUD secretary for disaster recovery, noted that his agency is developing plans to provide rebuilding assistance – to be made available to communities that qualify for the Community Development Block Grant Program. The rebuilding assistance would help communities “build back in a way that is smarter and safer than what has been done before,” he said.

The source for these quotes is the coverage of the questions and answers from the House Committee Hearing  in this article: House Committte Grills FEMA chief on Long-Term-Fixes in Wake of Sandy.

Scientific Lessons Learned from the Deepwater Horizon Spill

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English: Platform supply vessels battle the bl...

In an article titled Responding to Future Oil Spills: Lessons Learned from Deepwater Horizon, the HSWire (Dec.3) mentioned an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The NAS issue includes a 10 page article titled Science in Support of the Deepwater Horizon Response.  A copy is available here: Deepwater Horizon Paper-Dec 2012

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Evacuation of Nursing Homes – a very difficult call

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Here is a story that will  give you nightmares: Behind a Call That Kept Nursing Home Patients in Storm’s Path; NYT, Dec. 2, 2012.  During Hurricane Sandy, the Mayor of NYC decided not to order an evacuation of nursing homes. Here are some details about the outcome of that decision:

The recommendation that thousands of elderly, disabled and mentally ill residents remain in more than 40 nursing homes and adult homes in flood-prone areas of New York City had calamitous consequences.At least 29 facilities in Queens and Brooklyn were severely flooded. Generators failed or were absent. Buildings were plunged into a cold, wet darkness, with no access to power, water, heat and food.

While no immediate deaths were reported, it took at least three days for the Fire Department, the National Guard and ambulance crews from around the country to rescue over 4,000 nursing home and 1,500 adult home residents. Without working elevators, many had to be carried down slippery stairwells.

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Disaster Preparedness for Yuppies

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The WSJ has this fascinating article titled Kitting Up for Disaster. (Nov. 24). It is quite fascinating to see what some New Yorkers consider essential for a disasters.

The part I like best is that apparently you can make a living advising people on preparedness.  Count me in as a consultant if  if you need help and are willing to pay for advice!!  I have been doing that for no pay for a couple of years now.

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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The High Cost of Rebuilding in High Flood Risk Areas

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The high cost of  insurance for reconstruction is the theme of this article in the NYTimes, Nov. 28, 2012: Cost of Coastal Living to Climb Under New Flood Rules. (Also titled Post-Storm Cost May Force Many from Coast Life.) Some excerpts follow:

New York and New Jersey residents, just coming to grips with the enormous costs of repairing homes damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, will soon face another financial blow: soaring flood insurance rates and heightened standards for rebuilding that threaten to make seaside living, once and for all, a luxury only the wealthy can afford.

Homeowners in storm-damaged coastal areas who had flood insurance — and many more who did not, but will now be required to — will face premium increases of as much as 20 percent or 25 percent per year beginning in January, under legislation enacted in July to shore up the debt-ridden National Flood Insurance Program. The yearly increases will add hundreds, even thousands, of dollars to homeowners’ annual bills.

The higher premiums, coupled with expensive requirements for homes being rebuilt within newly mapped flood hazard zones, which will take into account the storm’s vast reach, pose a serious threat to middle-class and lower-income enclaves.

The heightened financial pressure has emerged as an unintended consequence of efforts to stop the government subsidization of risk that has encouraged so many to build and rebuild along coasts increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather. Supporters of the effort acknowledged that it would squeeze lower-income residents but said it was vital for the insurance program to reflect the risk of living along the shore.

“The irony is, if we allowed market forces to dictate at the coast, a lot of the development in the wrong places would never have gotten built,” said Jeffrey Tittel, director of the Sierra Club’s chapter in New Jersey. “But we didn’t. We subsidized that development with low insurance rates for decades. And we can’t afford to keep doing that.

[Thanks for Jude Colle for calling it to my attention.]

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