AMU Emergency Management Opinion Public Safety

Disaster Declaration Problems Again?

A Look at Response to the Louisiana Flooding

As we watched some of the political bantering occur this past week related to Baton Rouge, the focus of the problem was the lack of federal disaster assistance. 

Many tried to liken the lack of support to the large debacle that occurred during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. While I feel there is likely blame in numerous areas, I find it hard to believe that FEMA failed, based on the very proactive thought process of Director Fugate. Instead, I believe this situation is more of a lack of understanding and proper utilization of the disaster declarations.

The textbook [link url=”http://www.pennwellbooks.com/fire-rescue/fire-strategy-tactics/disaster-planning-and-control/” title=”Disaster Planning and Control”] (2009) provides a flowchart on the progression of disaster declarations, which shows that all incidents begin at the local level and work toward a federal disaster. However, as noted in the flowchart, the disaster damage must rise to a level that the given unit of government cannot handle the disaster from a financial or resource perspective.

Local Control

The premise of the declaration process is that disasters are handled at the lowest level of government possible. This is the basis of our form of government. 

We would not want the federal government to dictate the many parts of our lives that are local to our area such as zoning and school systems. Additionally, as local emergency managers, we would not want FEMA to come to our EOC and take over. We prefer to handle our disasters locally.

Proper Information and Documentation Needed

To qualify for a declaration, the documentation and proof of need must occur. From the moment, the initial incident commander recognizes the event will become a disaster, they must involve the local emergency management agency.

In fact, training with the local EMA will help identify disasters early. It is imperative that the first responders start to collect information ASAP. With the low staffing levels found in many local EMA’s conducting the Rapid Needs Assessment by EMA personnel may be manpower prohibited.

In the case of flooding, local responders are rescuing citizens and have firsthand knowledge of the water level and the number of structures affected. At the least, they have a map of where the flooding is occurring and the GIS specialist can enter this information and derive a calculation of number of structures and the value of the structures.

Data Gathering

Next up, I will discuss the need to enlist a GIS specialist and the information that they can derive.I will also discuss the tasks and training needed to enable data needed for the ICS 209.  By equipping the field personnel with the correct information and practices, data gathering can occur simultaneously.

If the various levels of government do not work together to gather the data that allows a smooth transition in the declaration process, the citizens we serve are the ones who suffer.

What have you done to prepare to process a declaration?

Dr. Randall Hanifen serves as a shift commander at a medium-sized suburban fire department in the northern part of the Cincinnati area. Randall is the CEO/principal consultant of an emergency services consulting firm, providing analysis and solutions related to organizational structuring of fire and EMS organizations. He is the chairperson and operations manager for a county technical rescue team. From a state and national perspective, he serves as a taskforce leader for one of FEMA's urban search and rescue teams, which responds to presidential declared disasters. From an academic standpoint, Randall has a bachelor’s degree in fire administration, a master’s degree in executive fire service leadership, and a doctoral degree in business administration with a specialization in homeland security. He is the associate author of “Disaster Planning and Control” (Penwell, 2009), which provides first responders with guidance through all types of disasters.

Comments are closed.