Principles of Emergency Management (Fall 2022)

Week #11: Written Assignment – Recovery Mission Area and Core Capabilities

Overview
This week we focus on Recovery which concludes your study and exposure to the five Mission Areas. For a simple visual of recovery, reference the “ruler” on the opening slide of this week’s lecture PPT. For an emergency manager and local government it is much like the mitigation topic in terms of complexities, unrealistic expectations, feuding, political exceptions, and the ever-changing Congressional direction for the FEMA to implement. But unlike mitigation most aspects of recovery cannot be deferred or ignored.
Beyond the cross-cutting core capabilities the remaining six as noted in this week’s PPT table are about the immediate well-being of people and their communities. Recovery is a hand-off and continuum of response though the players and missions change as the timeline moves from immediate to both short and long-term. The three key focus areas for you this week starts with the declaration process, followed by an introduction into the elements of both public and individual assistance. There is much more of course when one enters into the details of processes and procedures which you will see in the readings.

At first glance the reading materials will appear to be voluminous but they really aren’t as bad as they look if one refers to the last 11 inches on the “ruler” again. Of all the related topics, recovery is likely the most complicated in terms of rules and regulations that when implemented the disagreement can be intense and many expectations left unmet. Important this week will be your exposure to the President’s Justice40 Initiative and how it will impact recovery for many we consider vulnerable and underserved when disasters occur.

Other than the required reading this week, the rest is up to each of you to explore and read about those areas that may be of interest. The Supplemental Reading this week is only official references and other guidance that can be downloaded if you like for a personal library if you keep one. I don’t expect you to read everything but my goal is to expose you to a glimpse of real life in the recovery stage as well as the official resources for future reference

Week #11 – Recovery Mission Area Written Assignment Topic

For your written work this week we are going to step away totally from Colorado and wildfires though there will be some related recovery reading on both this week including the discussion. Your focus instead will be on selecting and researching a disaster event that resulted in a significant recovery effort in relation to cost, effects on infrastructure and more importantly on people both in the short and long term.

You should start your work this week by selecting an event from the following list to focus your efforts on in terms of research and addressing the questions noted. In some cases the event may overlap numerous states and may have separate declarations. If this is the case then attempt to contrast each state if you see significant differences in how the event impacted them.

Once you have made your selection then go to: https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations ff> and find it by year. This will give you the formal declaration and brief information on the amount of both public and individual assistance.to date. At this point you begin your formal inquiry about the event (FEMA sites, state emergency management recovery sites, media coverage, etc.) to address the following in your paper.

1. Briefly describe the type of event, its location, duration, communities impacted, when the declaration was made, and first observations of severity. What are the general demographics of those affected, (income, etc.?)

2. Briefly share any response issues related to alerts/warnings, evacuations, initial sheltering, etc. Generally was the initial response appropriate?

3. Through investigation describe the types and amounts of damage to infrastructure (utilities, roads, bridges, government buildings/property and other) that would give an indication of the type and amount of Public Assistance that will be required. Use public assistance reading materials as a basis.

4. Through investigation describe the types and amounts of damage to homes and businesses, amount of civilian displacement, amounts and types of Individual Assistance being requested, and a brief description in your own words how the assistance process went or continues to go.

5. Describe any issues you find related to the recovery efforts in terms of the assistance process both now and into the future. What is the most current amount of assistance being provided?

6. Lastly, what are the most significant issues in your own estimation related to the overall recovery in both the short and long term?

Additional Writing standards for this assignment include:

  • Your work should easily be a minimum of 2 pages to address all the details required.
  • Do not use writing space at the beginning of your paper to re-state the assignment description.
  • Use spacing and headers where appropriate to separate your responses to the six investigative questions. Do not just respond with bullets