Federal Disaster Assistance Research Articles

Disasters and Social Capital: Exploring the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Gulf Coast Counties

ObjectiveThis article examines the impact of disasters on social capital in the context of Hurricane Katrina.MethodOne hundred eighty‐two counties affected by Hurricane Katrina are included in the study. Disaster‐related data, social capital, and community characteristics of these counties three years before and three years after the disaster are analyzed using a longitudinal fixed‐effect model.ResultsHurricane Katrina slowed down the growth of social capital, but growth gradually recovered following the disaster. After controlling for community characteristics, areas that received more federal government assistance experienced stronger growth in social capital post‐Katrina. Additionally, metropolitan areas with a higher percentage of senior population, higher ethnic diversity, more per capita housing units, and lower population density appear to have had higher levels of social capital.ConclusionDisasters could hinder the growth of social capital and federal disaster assistance could potentially alleviate the negative impact.

Economic analysis of the costs of flooding

The pecuniary and non-pecuniary social costs of flooding are analyzed, and are illustrated with results from a simple macroeconomic model calibrated to have damage and other characteristics similar to those observed in recent Canadian flooding. Pecuniary costs include relief and cleanup, capital damage and net output loss. Net output loss tends to rise in relative importance with the length of recovery and, as a result, also increases with capital damage if it causes recovery to take longer. Capital damage is larger than output loss here, as in previous studies. Distributional and insurance aspects are also examined. Reliance on federal disaster assistance creates moral hazard both for individuals and lower levels of government. Wider private insurance coverage and the introduction of a significant premium for public flood insurance are recommended.

Long-term family firm survival and growth considering owning family adaptive capacity and federal disaster assistance receipt

Natural disasters are expected to increase in number and severity. This study initiates a stream of research on effective family business strategies to address the threat of natural disasters to long-term survival and growth of family firms. The purpose of this study was to analyze the mitigating effects of the owning family's adaptive capacity and federal disaster assistance on long-term survival and growth of family firms. Data for 282 family firms in the National Family Business Panel were merged with data on federal disaster assistance from the Public Entity Risk Institute. Indicators of family adaptive capacity had both more numerous significant effects and larger effects on survival and growth than did business characteristics. Experiencing fewer negative family stressors meant a greater likelihood of remaining open from 1997 to 2007 and increasing revenue from 2000 to 2007. Consistent family leadership in times of stability and change and resource focused-management practices decreased the likelihood of survival. Family firms benefitted indirectly from federal disaster assistance to the county and directly from federal disaster assistance when a natural disaster hit their own family firms.

Political Economy of Presidential Disaster Declarations and Federal Disaster Assistance

Billions of dollars have been transferred to state governments for disaster recovery. Owing to the discretionary authority of the president in these decisions, moral hazard may influence approval of such requests. We test within a model of recursive choice the hypothesis that the sequential executive decisions to grant disaster declarations and the conditional amount of aid allocated are affected by political incentives. We combine expenditure and approval data from FEMA with state-level census and political data for the period 1969 through 2005. After accounting for the severity of flood damage in the state and the ability of the state to recover, an incumbent president is more likely to grant disaster declarations when facing reelection, particularly in states with a larger number of electoral votes and in states with a governor from the same political party as the president. We also find Democratic presidents award more disaster aid than their Republican counterparts.

Politics, diversity and the distribution of federal disaster assistance

Using a database of natural hazard events and costs that have struck the U.S. since 1964, this paper evaluates the distribution of federal disaster assistance in light of state electoral politics, population diversity, and other demographic factors. The results of the analysis indicate that electoral politics does appear to affect the distribution of federal disaster aid. More to the point, it tends to show that Republican leaning states receive less federal aid than Democratic leaning states.

Dedication: A Tribute to Professor Mary Therese Wolf Law Clinic Director

clinical legal education was in its infancy. By 1987, while continuing to teach in the Civil Practice Clinic, Professor Wolf was appointed Director of Clinical Programs. Over her tenure as Director, Professor Wolf oversaw expansion of the Law Clinic to include creation of the Disability, Criminal Defense, and Wrongful Conviction Clinics. Professor Wolf was the law school’s first full-time, real-client, clinician. She came to the school well-equipped for the task. Awarded the Juris Doctorate in 1974 from the University of Iowa College of Law, with distinction, Mary Wolf served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert Downing of the Illinois Appellate Court immediately after law school. Her professional career thereafter included work with the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration. When she applied for the newly-created visiting faculty position at the law school, Mary Wolf was working as a managing attorney of a local legal service office covering six counties in northern Illinois and representing low-income clients with a range of civil problems. Mary Wolf led the efforts at the law school to expand clinical opportunities to better serve our students, our state, and the concept of equal access to justice for all. This focus resulted in the creation of a number of new course offerings, including Law and Poverty, multiple health law externship placements, and the Advanced Clinical Experience course. One of Professor Wolf’s long-held goals—that of crafting a multi-disciplinary approach to client representation— resulted in the approval of a JD/MSW: Doctor of Jurisprudence/Master of Social Work dual degree in 2007. In addition to teaching and advocating in the Civil Practice Clinic, Mary Wolf’s course load regularly included Interviewing and Counseling, Law and Poverty, and Professional Responsibility. She also supervised numerous externships and is credited with elevating the externship opportunities as a whole. In 2010, she was appointed the Director of Externships. Professor Wolf created the Desk Book for the Civil Practice Clinic, numerous simulated materials teaching lawyering skills, and The Jay Jones Case video, which became the basis

Influence of Federal Disaster Assistance on Family Business Survival and Success

This study examines the impact of federal disaster assistance on the survival and success of small family‐owned businesses with fewer than 500 employees from 1996 to 1999. Small family‐owned business owners were defined as those who had been in business at least a year, had spent a least 6 hours a week or a minimum of 312 hours annually working in the business, had lived with at least one family member and had fewer than 500 employees. This study suggests firms located in counties receiving more disaster assistance are not more likely to survive, however these firms are more likely to realize positive changes in revenue than firms located in counties receiving less disaster assistance. Businesses located in an economically vulnerable rural county, those engaged in family to business resource intermingling and those transferring more business income to the household were more likely to survive. Larger businesses, those headed by women and those transferring more income from the business to the family were most likely to succeed.

Determinants of rural and urban family firm resilience

Data from 311 rural and urban family firms from the National Family Business Panel (NFBP) were used to investigate the relative contributions of human, social, and financial capital resources, normative and non-normative disruptions, and federal disaster assistance on family firm resilience. Results indicate that the sets of social capital and disruption variables were significantly and negatively related to firm resilience for rural firms, while perceiving the business as a way of life was significantly and positively related to firm resilience for urban firms. Federal disaster assistance was negatively related to firm resilience for both rural and urban firms. Additional findings, conclusions, and implications of findings are discussed.

DETERMINANTS OF FAMILY BUSINESS RESILIENCE AFTER A NATURAL DISASTER BY GENDER OF BUSINESS OWNER

Using National Family Business Panel data combined with national natural disaster and federal disaster assistance data, the purpose of the study was to investigate relative contributions of human, social and financial capital; natural disaster exposure; and federal disaster assistance to business-owning family resilience over time for male and female family business owners. With a theoretical foundation of Sustainable Family Business and Conservation of Resources theories, the study examined 311 small family firms from the National Family Business Panel. Federal disaster assistance explained a significant amount of variance in firm-owning resilience. Higher levels of federal disaster assistance were associated with lower family firm resilience for male-owned businesses and higher family firm resilience for female-owned businesses. This study advances knowledge of firm sustainability after natural disasters by adding to the conceptualization and measurement of family firm resilience; by having baseline firm financial data prior to disaster exposure; by utilizing a national, representative, longitudinal family firm sample; by including a range of natural disasters and federal disaster assistance; and by including family resilience over time.

Interstate Partnerships in Emergency Management: Emergency Management Assistance Compact in Response to Catastrophic Disasters

The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) is a mutual aid agreement and partnership that allows states to assist one another in responding to natural and man‐made disasters, often in advance of federal disaster assistance. This article examines EMAC’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in order to address the significant need for analysis of emergency management at the state level. A content analysis of news reports, government documents, and reports from a number of institutions was performed to determine the volume and direction of EMAC’s performance and its transactions during the response operations. The authors find a lack of EMAC training among responders, potentially reducing communication and coordination and the efficiency and effectiveness of response operations. A network analysis assessed the relationships among the responding organizations to coordinate their emergency response operations.

National Flood Insurance: Crisis and Renewal

While the magnitude of 2005's hurricane-related flood losses may have been improbable, the eventual bankruptcy of the NFIP was not. The program was never designed to charge full risk-based rates or to build the reserves necessary to meet its financial commitments. By failing to charge prices that reflect the value of the flood insurance in-force, the NFIP has been accumulating unfunded liabilities that eventually would have to be financed by taxpayers, and eventuality that has arrived. If the NFIP is to remain in operation without exposing taxpayers to undue burdens, then dramatic programmatic reforms are necessary. In the process of designing a sustainable NFIP, Congress should also look at other problems with the program, including its potential to induce commercial and residential development in areas prone to flooding, its low participation rates, and its often contradictory interaction with other federal disaster assistance programs. Specifically, Congress should phase out explicit subsidies, expand mandatory flood-insurance purchase requirements, grant FEMA more flexibility to increase NFIP rates, and investigate ways to increase property owners' compliance with mandatory purchase requirements.

Discretion without Accountability: Politics, Flood Damage, and Climate

Federal disaster assistance is one component of U.S. policy for coping with damaging floods. The president ultimately determines whether or not federal relief is provided to states and local communities following a disaster. Yet, guidelines governing the president's discretion are vague and the total federal cost of disaster assistance is extremely difficult to determine. This study analyzes flood-related presidential disaster declarations from 1965 to 1997. It compares the annual number of flood-related declarations to measures of precipitation and flood damage, finding that presidents have differed significantly in disaster declaration policy. Annual differences in declarations during seven presidential administrations do not correspond to the president's political party affiliation. In addition, a state's ability to pay has not been a major consideration in presidential decisions about whether a disaster warrants federal assistance. However, presidential decisions are related to whether or not the president is running for reelection. Declarations are also related to changes in legislative and administrative policy. This paper discusses the significance of these findings in the context of national policies governing floods and other disasters.

Utilization of Military Support in the Response to Hurricane Marilyn: Implications for Future Military-Civilian Cooperation

The past decade has been a period of evolution for the Federal disaster response system within the United States. Two domestic hurricanes were pivotal events that influenced the methods used for organizing Federal disaster assistance. The lessons of Hurricane Hugo (1989) and Hurricane Andrew (1992) were incorporated into the successful response to Hurricane Marilyn in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1995. Following each of these storms, the Department of Defense was a major component of the response by the health sector. Despite progress in many areas, lack of clear communication between military and civilian managers and confusion among those requesting Department of Defense health resources may remain as obstacles to rapid response. This discussion is based on an unpublished case report utilizing interviews with military and civilian managers involved in the Hurricane Marilyn response. The findings suggest that out-of-channel pathways normally utilized in the warning and emergency phase of the response remained operational after more formal civilian-military communication pathways and local assessment capability had been established. It is concluded that delays may be avoided if the system in place was to make all active pathways for the request and validation of military resources visible to the designated Federal managers located within the area of operations.

Welfare at ground zero: having to fly without a safety net.

Tornado-scale winds tore through the Upper Midwest the weekend of June 5, devastating whole communities without warning, obliterating the town of Spencer, South Dakota. In its aftermath businesses and governors immediately requested millions of dollars in federal disaster assistance. That terrifying storm was similar to another sobering event on June 1, held right on our campus, offering abundant warning - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's first conference on welfare reform: What Have We Learned so Far? Wisconsin has received inordinately positive national and international publicity for its putatively phenomenal achievements in reducing its welfare rolls, the costs of which never came close to those of that tornado. This issue of Health & Social Work marks two years since the groundbreaking Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104193) was signed by President Clinton, implementing Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grants. This column presents a preliminary assessment of Wisconsin's, and particularly Milwaukee's, experiences with this 1990s version of new federalism. Reforms, just like tornadoes, hit localities and real people: landlords, grocery stores, frontline social workers, administrators, local officials, neighbors, schools, businesses, and citizens in general. As in every community affected by recent welfare changes, social workers in Wisconsin, and especially Milwaukee, have found themselves coping with unprecedented complexities and frustrations. Having to adjust our mindsets to revere employment as the panacea it is touted to be, many of us struggle, knowing too well the problems with local implementation and therefore the hollowness of its moral messages about work. The changes in welfare provisions for any local community must be seen in context. Wisconsin has a population of about 5 million people, of whom fewer than 7 percent are people of color and not quite 2.5 percent are foreign born. Milwaukee is the largest county in Wisconsin with 959,275 residents; and the city of Milwaukee has a population of 628,088, of whom 36.6 percent are people of color, as are 58.7 percent of the children. Nationally, 20 percent of children are living in poverty, twice the rate of adults. Milwaukee ranks 43rd among the United State's 50 largest cities in child poverty at 38 percent (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 1997). A 1995 labor market study found unemployment in central city Milwaukee at 21.5 percent (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Employment & Training Institute, 1995), whereas unemployment for the city as a whole was 4.8 percent and only 3 percent for the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Statewide unemployment this year reached a 30-year low. Such disparities set the context in which human services are delivered. The mid-to-late 1990s have seen a number of significant changes in Milwaukee County's human services infrastructure. At the end of 1995, the state eliminated general assistance, leaving 5,500 adults in Milwaukee County with no visible means of support. In 1996, after operating it for three-quarters of a century, Milwaukee closed its only public hospital, transferring care and an annual county subsidy of about $60 million in 1996 and 1997 to the adjacent private Froederdt Hospital. In late 1997 the county devised a plan to disperse about $30 million worth of care through the General Assistance Medical Program (GAMP) throughout the county. GAMP-eligible consumers, who must be sick and have incomes of less than $800 per month, must now register with one of 12 community-based clinics, five of which are sites for the homeless, each supported by a different hospital. In addition, in 1995 the county closed its major inpatient mental health complex, contracting out the bulk of care to several outstationed Community Support Teams. And in 1996, in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, the state passed legislation to turn over operation of the Milwaukee County child welfare system to the state Department of Health and Family Services in January 1998. …

Disaster Gipsies: The Role of Informal Relationships in Administering Disaster Assistance

The importance of interpersonal relationships for affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency management practices is examined in this paper. A case study of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) reservists, part time FEMA employees called to kelp administer federal disaster assistance programs, illustrates the significance of an informal organization in augmenting formal bureaucratic procedures. Interview and survey data come from a pilot study conducted in the aftermath of tornadoes which swept through North and South Carolina in 1984. Nicknamed “disaster gypsies,” FEMA reservists develop a strong sense of community or camaraderie among themselves as a result of their intense disaster involvement. This sense of community or informal organization is an unintended consequence of four factors: organizational demands, physical setting, sense of mission and a post-disaster altruistic community. The informal organization has implications for emergency management practices. It facilitates needed organizational flexibility and improvisation, helps train and integrate new personnel, provides an additional channel of communication and lessens job related stress. Future research should systematically examine the role informal relationahips have on affecting delivery of emergency services. Such research would complement and provide a missing dimension to present efforts to conceptualize group and organizational emergence.

Urban Design and Hazards

"Urban Design and Hazards." Journal of Architectural Education, 33(4), pp. 9–10 Additional informationNotes on contributorsHenry J LagorioHenry J Lagorio is Associate Dean for Research at the Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley. Karl V Steinbrugge (University of California, Berkeley) and Ugo Morelli (Federal Disaster Assistance Agency) contributed statistical and other information.

Federal disaster assistance in the United States of America

Federal disaster assistance in the United States of America