High-performance infrastructure can not only mitigate the severity and cost of damages incurred from natural disasters, but it also attracts more diverse funding sources such as green bonds, catastrophe bonds, resilience bonds, and social impact bonds. This HUD fact sheet provides governments of all levels with a basic overview of innovative financing mechanisms available to… Read more
The Government of Puerto Rico is taking advantage of the opportunity to build back stronger and more resilient in the wake of Hurricane Maria’s devastating impact. Less than one year after Hurricane Maria made landfall in September 2017, the Government of Puerto Rico published this economic and disaster recovery plan to provide a framework for… Read more
A group of 10 International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and IBTS volunteers conducted service and governance assessments of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities after Hurricane Maria. The assessment results were performed as part of the Puerto Rico Municipal Assessment Project and were published in RAND Corporation’s report, “Transformation and Innovation in the Wake of Devastation: An Economic and… Read more
IBTS Economic Development and Disaster Recovery (EDDR) subject matter experts provided a webinar on innovative procurement options as part of the Florida Housing Coalition’s July 2018 Hurricane Member Update webinar. The IBTS portion of the webinar focused on using bid books in procurement, a practice frequently used by IBTS when administering CDBG-DR programs. Bid books… Read more
Disaster can strike out of nowhere. Tornadoes touch down with little warning. Earthquakes do not announce themselves before they rumble underfoot. Days of pounding, persistent rain create overwhelming floods. These emergencies are only weather events—large vehicle crashes and other man-made crises can happen in a split-second. To make matters worse, a delayed or deferred response… Read more
The response phase of a disaster lends itself to the most media attention, while the long-term recovery operations can extend for years. Elected officials can assist with publicity management and set the stage for an efficient recovery. Knowing how to handle difficult decisions when a disaster strikes can aid in effective implementation of the emergency… Read more
The Resilient Counties Forum was an opportunity for county leaders to gain a better understanding of how they can help meet county disaster management, energy cultivation and protection, resource recycling and infrastructure financing goals. The day was split into two with presentations in the morning, and a “conversation café,” or round table discussion, in the afternoon. PRESENTATIONS:… Read more
Hurricanes, wildfires, economic collapse, and other disasters can be natural or man-made, acute or long-term, foreseeable or unpredictable. Preparation for and recovery from such events requires both long-term planning and immediate action. NACo works to strengthen county resiliency by building leadership capacity to identify and manage risk, and allow counties to become more flexible and… Read more
is one of the most difficult aspects of federal disaster recovery funding for both local stakeholders and citizens to grasp. It is a federal law that applies to all federal disaster assistance, including from , the , , and the , among others. applicants are more likely to have a DOB because they’ve already received funding… Read more
policies and procedures are critical to program success but can be challenging to develop, especially for smaller communities who might be working with these types of federal policy requirements for the first time. Although they can be daunting, they should be viewed not just as another program requirement, but as a tool for helping your… Read more
Stay up to date with all the latest IBTS news.