In an area such as ours, it’s not so ‘if’ another flood comes, but ‘when’ we get our next flood, that is most accurate. As with most things, being prepared is the best remedy to avert the next crisis.
A month ago, we watched with some horror the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian. While this year has been mostly quiet (Hurricane season doesn’t officially end for another week) when it comes to hurricanes, Ian roared into Florida as a dangerous Category 4 storm. From Florida’s experience, we know that preparation once the Presidential Disaster Declaration is issued was key to activating assistance for survivors and the overall recover efforts.
Assistance can be broken down into three main categories:
Individual Assistance - Individual assistance is a wide-ranging category of aid or relief provided at the individual or household level for various damages and expenses not covered by insurance.
Public Assistance - FEMA provides public assistance through supplemental grants to entities such as state and local governments, as well as non-profit organizations that provide critical services such as electricity/power production, water, or medical care. This category of assistance is especially common in the wake of a disaster for debris removal, assistance to repair roads, bridges, water control facilities, public buildings, utilities, parks, and other emergency protective measures.
Hazard Mitigation Assistance - This last category of standardized assistance is unique in that it applies to longer-term recovery and mitigation efforts, providing funding for eligible mitigation efforts that reduce future disaster losses, including long-term solutions that reduce the risk and impact to both people and property.
Understanding how to navigate disaster recovery after an event can be overwhelming. The National Center Disaster Preparedness has developed a series of free, web-based disaster recovery trainings to help guide you through this process.
Please visit ncdpcourses.org for more information, to register, and to be prepared for whatever comes our way.
A Presidential Disaster has been Declared…Now What?
