Decision-making in Sustainable
Disaster Recovery
Objectives:
8.1 Discuss choices made by stakeholders,
including their implications
8.2 Discuss the politics of recovery
decision-making
8.3 Discuss the process of planning in
sustainable disaster recovery
Decision-making in Sustainable
Disaster Recovery
• The recovery process is shaped by decisions made by
individuals, groups and organizations before and
after a disaster
– Hazard vulnerability
– Basic human needs
– Affect of decisions on stakeholders
• Issues faced in the post-disaster environment
– Equitable distribution of aid
– Speed of assistance
–Power
Discuss the Choices made by
Stakeholders, Including their Implications
•Local governments are usually the most
impacted, yet they are typically the least prepared
to provide technical assistance following disasters
•FEMA, which is typically the best prepared, is the
farthest removed from an understanding of local
needs
•States can play an important role, linking federal
assistance programs with identified local needs
•The effects of these decisions are magnified in
the post-disaster environment
Factors Affecting Recovery Decision-
making
• Intense pressure to distribute aid and take action
• Balancing the need to make rapid decisions with
incomplete information
• Issues surrounding public health and safety
• Decision, which can dramatically affect the future of
a community, are inherently political in nature
Characteristics Shaping Post-disaster
Decision-making
• Framing of issues
• Role of public participation
•Negotiation
• Workplace environment
• Perspectives of individuals, groups and institutions
Additional Factors Affecting Post-disaster
Decision-making
• Political power and policy dialogue
• Pre-existing societal, economic and political
conditions
• Decisions often address a disaster victims most basic
needs (e.g. temporary shelter or housing, food,
safety)
• Complex recovery programs that may contain
competing objectives
• Methods used to shape desired ends
• Influx of state or federal funding that an agency or
organization may be ill-equipped to handle
Additional Factors Affecting Post-disaster
Decision-making
• Decisions that differentially affect varied segments of
society
• Reconstruction alternatives that alter the makeup of
the community
• Costs versus benefits of recovery and reconstruction
• Determining the beneficiaries of public policy
decisions
• Determining who stands to loose or bear a
disproportionate share of the costs
• Determining if decisions result in equitable outcomes
• Determining the appropriate level of public input in
decision-making
Stakeholder Choices and their
Implications
• Choices affecting hazard vulnerability
– Consequences of increased hazard vulnerability
• Choices affecting preparedness
– Consequences of a low level of preparedness
• Choices affecting response capabilities
– Consequences of a low response capability
• Choices affecting recovery capabilities
– Consequences of a limited ability to effectively recover
Choices affecting recovery
capabilities
• Uneven or inequitable recovery
• Hazard vulnerability
• Missed grant program opportunities
• Decreased economic standing
• Increased reliance on state or federal
resources
• Unsustainable reconstruction practices
Post-Disaster Recovery Operations
• Federal and state recovery operations
characteristics
– Codified recovery grant programs
– Stove-piped programs
– Lack of recovery planning
Local recovery operations
characteristics
• Assignment of emergency management duties
• Response orientation
• Post-disaster ad-hoc approach
• Adaptive planning emphasis based on limited
experience
• Limited recovery planning assistance provided by
state or FEMA
• Most governments fail to achieve a sustainable
recovery
• Reliance on existing staff or outside experts
• Local responsibilities and sisaster recovery
Disaster Field Office Characteristics
• Limited privacy and close proximity
• Excessive work loads
• Workspace
• Workplace environment
• Daily field work and evening meetings
• Public meetings
• Physical and emotional impact on staff
• Disaster Recovery Operations Center
• Disaster Assistance Employee’s
Understanding of Risk
• Factors impacting risk perception
– Temporal factors (frequency, magnitude, recent
occurrences)
– The statistical likelihood of natural hazards are frequently
misunderstood
– An understanding of risk affects decisions and behavior
– Inaccurate information can lead an individual to assume a
greater level of risk
– Choices driven by varied options
– The ability to educate individuals, local, state and federal
officials about the nature of risk has significant policy
implications
Disaster Recovery, Public Expectations and
Policy Frameworks
• Disaster recovery is a difficult, confusing and lengthy
process
• Stakeholder expectations regularly exceed the
current design of disaster recovery frameworks
• Frequent disconnect between the recovery of
individuals versus recovery at the community level
• Decisions must be made quickly, sometimes before
victims are ready to assume a more active role
associated with sound participatory planning
• Adroit personnel tasked with recovery must
determine when and to what extent citizens can
contribute to a meaningful dialogue
Disaster Recovery, Public Expectations
and Policy Frameworks
• Following disasters questions are frequently
raised by disaster victims concerning the
length of time necessary to distribute
assistance
• Recovery programs have differing
implementation timelines and methods of
disbursement
• In general, disaster recovery programs are
not designed to make victims whole
Disaster Recovery, Public Expectations
and Policy Frameworks
• The evolution of disaster recovery programs have
significantly raised public expectations
• Increasing federal disaster assistance as an example
of liberalism
• Unless local, state and federal leaders seriously
address land use and institutionalize sustainability
concepts and hazard resilience, communities and
states will continue to seek large federal payouts
following disasters
• Constituent groups involved in receiving and
providing aid carry with them a range of perspectives
concerning what constitutes acceptable assistance
Decision Making and the Media
• Public perceptions are shaped by technical experts and the
media
• During recovery, stories are frequently framed in a negative
context
• Stories that attempt to explain the recovery process are not
typically deemed newsworthy
• This, in turn, limits the breadth of discourse and possible
opportunities to improve what are chronic problems in the
current design of the recovery system
Decision Making and the Media
• Antagonistic relationships limit the ability of
the media to assist in the identification of
tangible evidence of problems in the recovery
system
• Those tasked with recovery often become
defensive when confronted
• Local, state and federal officials must become
more adept at utilizing the media to assist in
the formulation of positive change
Use of Data to Shape Policy and Decision-
making
• Information available in the post-disaster environment is limited
or incomplete, yet decisions have to be made rapidly given the
dire and immediate consequences of inaction
– Recovery plan allows decision makers to take time to assess
differing disaster scenarios, their potential impact, and develop a
range of measures to address them
• Pressure on federal, state and local officials to provide aid
quickly
• Short-term strategic planning and capitalizing on short policy
window
– Opportunity to reduce vulnerability, improve housing and
infrastructure, enhance the economy and environment and improve
recreational opportunities
Use of Data to Shape Policy and Decision-
making
• Examples of tasks requiring detailed information
– The deployment of resources post-disaster
– The assessment of long-term recovery needs
– The rapid disbursement of funding to individuals and local
and state governments
• Balancing needs with programmatic rules
• Scrutiny of federal and state dollars
– State and federal audits
• Speed of disbursement
• Use of data to help identify community needs
Politics of Recovery Decision-making
• Political factors
– Differential balance of power and the allocation of scarce
resources
• The ability to alter local budgets to meet the needs of disaster
victims
• The ability to lobby state or federal emergency management
agencies
– The equitable distribution of assistance
– The pressure to act quickly, often with incomplete
information
– The allocation of state and local assistance in non-declared
events
Politics of Recovery Decision-making
• The federal disaster declaration process can be highly
politicized
• The fallacy of federal assistance supplementing state
and local capabilities
• Rising disaster costs and the continued reliance on
congressionally appropriated supplemental funding
See Disasters and Democracy (Platt 1999)
Politics of Disaster Recovery Decision-
making
• Disasters can shape political careers
– Visiting disaster areas
– Opportunity to directly impact the lives of citizens
(voters) via the provision of disaster assistance
•Local
• State
•Federal
Process of Planning in Sustainable
Recovery
• Disaster recovery as a complex process
– Post-disaster planning is essential
– Pre-disaster planning is not a guarantee of
success nor does it accurately describe the actions
of most communities, states or the federal
government
– Adaptive planning
– US recovery is a loosely knit array of programs,
many of which run counter to one another
The Planning Process
• Elements of planning
– Mission statement
–Goals
– Objectives
– Policies
Planning Benefits
• Engaging in a process
• Developing a strategic approach to achieve desired
ends
• Developing an action oriented framework
• Involving stakeholder groups
• Identification of complimentary objectives
Recovery Planning
• Recovery planning problems include
– Plans do not place sufficient emphasis on recovery
and reconstruction
– The importance of the planning process is
underemphasized
– Plans are not used during recovery to guide
decision making
– Public officials may not be aware of the plan
See Berke and Beatley (1997)
Recovery Planning
• The results of failing to create a plan
– An ad hoc, uncoordinated approach to solve
complex problems
– Limited stakeholder involvement
– Missed opportunities
– Adaptive planning approach
Adaptive Planning
• Emphasis on the importance of pre-disaster recovery
planning versus the realities of adaptive planning
• Adaptive planning does not preclude a sustainable
recovery, nor does the development of a pre-disaster
plan guarantee success
• Most pre and post-disaster recovery planning does
not go beyond the basic administration of existing
programs
Adaptive Planning and Disaster Recovery
• Planning for disaster recovery must remain flexible, capable of
capitalizing on opportunities that present themselves with little
warning
• Successful recovery necessitates moving beyond the over-
reliance on federal and state programs
– Identifying innovative approaches / recognizing system limitations
• The degree to which adaptive planning is used varies based on
three factors:
– The comprehensiveness of the recovery plan
– The degree to which the plan has been used (e.g. exercise or
disaster implementation)
– The nature or complexity of the disaster
Adaptive Planning and Disaster Recovery
• Organizational structure and the
infrequency of disasters can result in an
adaptive planning approach
– Lack of state and local institutional memory
– Need for sound recovery planning
– Loss of employees during a disaster
Adaptive Planning and Disaster Recovery
• Local and state governments must
adapt to changes in federal and state
policy following disasters
– Post-disaster policy shifts (see Rubin 2001)
• Data-driven change
• Inaccuracies in information
• Altering policy decisions
Adaptive Planning and Disaster Recovery
• Local and state governments must adapt to
changes in federal and state policy following
disasters
– Assigning priorities
– Policy change can significantly disrupt the
recovery process
– State-level leadership and policy change
– Political power and policy change
– Political will and disaster recovery
Class Discussion
• Describe specific steps that could be taken by FEMA
to better educate state and local officials about
recovery planning
