nature driven or man-made. This is evident by the nationally, and globally, declared disaster COVID-19. The best way to recover from a catastrophic occurrence is through preparedness. Responsibility After a disaster strikes, it is the local community’s responsibility to respond. If the response efforts are beyond their capabilities, the state may be brought in to provide assistance. If this collaboration falls short of adequately responding to the disaster, the state can then request assistance from the federal government. Fortunately, our federal government — by authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 93-288, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5121- 5206 — provides assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a component of the Department of Homeland Security. State, local, territorial, and tribal (SLTT) governments and certain types of private nonprofit organizations (PNPs) are eligible to receive federal grants through the Public Assistance (PA) Program that FEMA implements. Once the president declares a major disaster or emergency for a specific location, FEMA — in coordination with the state or “Recipient” — will arrive to work with the eligible SLTT governments and PNPs or “Sub-recipients” to implement the PA Program. Following their standard operating procedures, FEMA and the state will conduct informational meetings and assign PA personnel to work with the affected entities to aid them in submitting grants to recover their costs
310
300 –
250 –
241
200 –
150 –
137
124
112
100 –
103
108
101
95
84 79
50 –
2010
2011 2012 2013 2014
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Y E A R S
As evident from the above graph, the mean average consistency zone from 2010 through 2019 shows that U.S. States and Territories have averaged approximately 105 declarations per year. When weather patterns and other meteorologic conditions such as above average water temperatures converge, storm numbers and intensity increase as we experienced in 2011 and 2020. It’s easy to imagine the number of public entities that have been affected by these changing weather patterns. While some regions might be prone to certain types of disasters, no one community is completely immune from being affected by some sort of disaster, whether it is
“The best way to recover from a catastrophic occurrence is through preparedness.”
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