Government's Role in Disaster Assistance
Who Will Bail You Out When A Disaster Happens?
Another valuable bit of knowledge from John Vollmer of
Dear Reservists:
The following comes from a series of training newsletters I sent out a year or so ago. This is the first one. With our first major windstorm possibly on the horizon, I felt now would be a good time to revisit some key points relative to disasters.
Understanding Government's Role in Disasters
When disaster strikes no matter how big or how small the public immediately wants to know what government is going to do to bail them out. The fact is most disasters are so minor that government assistance is not available.
So what is a disaster anyway? The term disaster means different things to different people. If your house has damage and you do not have insurance to cover it, you would say you have a disaster. However, federal law defines disaster much more broadly. To get federal assistance the damage must be very serious and widespread affecting a number of people. A foot of water in your home is serious to you, but it does not meet the criteria for a federal disaster. A disaster as defined by the federal government occurs when hundreds of homes, or more, are destroyed or have sustained major damage.
When disaster strikes the state cannot help because Washington State's Constitution says: " The credit of the state shall not, in any manner be given or loaned to, or in aid of, any individual, association, company, or corporation." Essentially this means that state taxpayer dollars cannot be spent to help an individual with disaster related losses. That means the only help for individuals must come from the federal government.
Many people think that the federal government, namely FEMA, responds automatically to disaster, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Governor is the only person who can initiate federal assistance by submitting a formal request to the applicable federal agency. But first, the Governor's request must include damage reports from counties affected by the disaster that clearly show there has been "significant damages." Generally speaking, the number of uninsured homes that have been destroyed or with major damage must be in the hundreds for the disaster to be considered "significant."
The first step in getting outside help for disaster victims rests with the local jurisdiction. They are responsible for collecting/collating damage information within their communities and forwarding it to Washington State Emergency Management for analysis. This is often the single biggest obstacle in getting federal assistance. Our local jurisdictions have minimal staffing and are initially consumed with the coordination of emergency services. For most of them, they are unable to get to the damage assessment until after response activities subside. Second, you must be able to talk with disaster victims in order to fully assess the extent of the uninsured loss. This is best done when people call in to report the damages. Unfortunately, people are not always anxious to report their damage to the local jurisdiction or just plain don't know where to call. The delay in doing the assessment and getting information from the public slows the process considerably.
If the local damage reports appear significant, the state will call for a Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) as the final step before writing the request for assistance. It is a process we must go through for several different declaration/designation processes. The President can declare a "Major Disaster Declaration (the one you are most familiar with) or an "Emergency"; the Small Business Administration (SBA) can declare a disaster; and the Secretary of Agriculture can "designate" an agriculture disaster area. Which federal program we apply to depends on the type and extent of damage.
If the preliminary damage assessment proves the damage is very substantial and the need for federal assistance is great (hundreds of homes destroyed/seriously damaged with no insurance) then we will recommend and prepare the paperwork for the Governor to request a major disaster declaration for the President's consideration. Approval is then in the hands of the President of the
If the damages are serious but not overwhelming and meet certain specified minimum criteria, the Governor may submit a request for a Physical Loss Disaster Loan Program to the SBA when a major disaster declaration may not be appropriate. Or, this could be the fall back position if the President denies our request for a major disaster declaration. If the disaster results mostly in economic injury to businesses, then the Governor will request an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program from the SBA.
One final point, all disasters are defined by a start and an end date. This is called the "incident period" and is a crucial component of any declaration. In a request for assistance, the Governor will state when the incident began and if possible provide the ending date as well. Sometimes providing an end date in the request to the federal authority is not possible because the event may still be on-going. However, soon after the disaster declaration is rendered, the state and federal agency will negotiate an end date for the disaster. Anything that happens before or after the incident period is not eligible for assistance.
This pretty much sums up the declaration process.
Batten down the hatches the wind is moving towards WA State.
John
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