When natural disasters hit, politics and personality conflicts must be set aside to provide the most immediate and effective care to the citizens. To ensure a coordinated and efficient disaster response, Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Subrecipient Leader Todd Gibson, is a strong advocate of building relationships between community leaders and key decision makers ahead of… Read more
Although home inspections and building code enforcement aren’t often top-of-mind for residents and community stakeholders rebuilding from a disaster, they are vital to a successful disaster recovery and rebuilding program. Hiring building inspectors trained in disaster recovery is a must, and what’s more, inspection costs are eligible for reimbursement under ’s program. “What can… Read more
In the chaos of natural disaster response and recovery — or any natural disaster planning, response or recovery activity — it’s important to remember that it is against the law to discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, or economic status in all disaster assistance programs in Presidentially declared disaster areas. This… Read more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) comprehensive “Disaster Recovery Guide for Homelessness” offers a framework for collaboration between local governments and services providers to ensure the needs of the entire community are met. The toolkit provides guides for all three phases of the natural disaster timeline, including a Local Planning Guide, Response… Read more
In disaster recovery, the relationship and interaction between FEMA and the 50 states is critically important and based on state sovereignty concepts defined when the U.S. Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution. Federal disaster assistance is intended to supplement — not replace — state, local, and private-sector resources. In almost all cases, states must formally… Read more
Providing proper documentation is crucial to ensuring that your community will receive and keep funding assistance following a disaster. Yet, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the detailed documentation requirements for FEMA, HUD’s program and other funding programs. It’s always a good idea to enroll in a FEMA or CDBG-DR training course prior to… Read more
You never know who you will need to call on for assistance during a disaster; unforeseen issues will arise, and you may need to call on a neighboring city or county, your state, or even your Congressman for assistance. Although it’s difficult, near impossible, to predict who will be able to provide what your… Read more
Homeowner appeals during the recovery process are inevitable and time-consuming, they should be a last resort for applicants. IBTS has processed close to 2,500 homes for programs receiving funding from the the HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, and been able to mitigate nearly all homeowner appeals — saving the locality and the applicant valuable… Read more
Without a comprehensive debris management plan, the debris removal process can escalate into one of the most difficult and expensive response tasks after a natural disaster. To reduce costs and accelerate the process, FEMA introduced debris removal alternative procedures. Yet despite cost benefits and incentives for quicker debris removal, few localities have taken advantage… Read more
State and local officials responsible for disaster planning and management should always keep abreast of changes in the Stafford Act, especially those related to reimbursement. Debris removal, for example, is one of the most expensive operations in a disaster recovery effort. To keep costs down, FEMA introduced four new alternative procedure pilot projects that… Read more
Stay up to date with all the latest IBTS news.