The Nation's Responses To Flood Disasters: A Historical Account

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92 The Nation’s Responses to Flood Disasters: A Historical Account Management Review Committee. 198 Its content and findings have the potential to alter our thinking about hazards. The International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction A United Nations resolution in December 1989 designated the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. Its objective was to reduce, through concerted international action, especially in developing countries, loss of life, property damage, and social and economic disruption caused by natural hazards. The U.S. Committee for the Decade coordinated national activities and supported a series of scientific studies of the occurrence of natural hazards around the world. It was expected that, during the Decade, average annual losses from all of the world’s disasters would be reduced by about one-half. This obviously did not happen. The Decade achieved little, if anything, of substance in the United States. Few in the floodplain management community were even aware of it. DISASTER ASSISTANCE IN THE 1990S Disaster relief policies and programs are fluid and are subject to public sentiment for the disaster “victims,” often strong political pressure “to do something,” and resultant legislative changes—often more liberalized assistance through federal grants. The number of major disaster declarations almost doubled since the 1980s, from an average of 24 a year to an average of 46 a year in the 1990s. 199 In response, Congress approved an average of $3.7 billion a year in supplemental disaster aid in the 1990s compared to less than $1 billion a year in the 1980s, a boon to people in disaster-prone areas. 200 Nine of the top ten major flood and hurricane disasters, ranked by FEMA costs, occurred during the 1990s. 201 The flood control construction program of the 1930s-1950s era seemed to be replaced by an equally massive federal relief and recovery assistance program for flood disasters in the 1990s. The end of the 1990s saw increased national support for public relief for those who suffer in and after floods 202 as illustrated by the fact that 85 percent of all applications for federal declarations were granted. FEMA became a highly efficient “disaster response and relief” organization. The President promoted FEMA’s Director to Cabinet status in 1996. A 1999 study by Rutherford Platt and others traced the historical evolution of the federal role in disaster assistance during the past century and analyzed disaster 198 Sharing the Challenge, 1994. 199 Data from FEMA.gov web site on the Internet, (http://www.fema.gov; Library, FEMA Facts, January 2000). 200 Allen, Scott, “Storm brewing over disaster relief,” The Boston Globe, 20 September 1999, p. 1. 201 Data from FEMA.gov web site on the Internet, (http://www.fema.gov; Library, FEMA Facts, January 2000). 202 White, 1997.
The 1990s: Disaster Assistance Prevails 93 declarations and federal assistance provided under the Stafford Act 203 since 1988. Titled Disasters and Democracy: The Politics of Extreme Natural Events, 204 it attempted to answer some questions that have plagued officials: Does “federalizing” the costs of disasters help lighten the overall burden of disasters or is it making the matter worse? Does it remove incentives for individuals and localities to protect themselves? Are people more likely to invest in hazardously located property if they believe the federal government will bail them out? Platt believes that politics distort the process of disaster aid as local politicians highballed initial damage estimates in hope of receiving federal aid. If the President doesn’t declare a disaster necessary for federal aid, Platt states, governors apply public pressure and accuse the President of “playing games” with disaster victims. Having no problem with declarations for major disasters such as those that struck the Midwest, Florida, and North Carolina in the 1990s, Platt contends there were also “a lot of smallend disasters that are being declared willy-nilly.” 205 Has disaster assistance now become an “entitlement” as some would contend? Did major disasters become more frequent in the 1990s or has eligibility for federal disaster assistance been significantly liberalized? 203 P.L. 93-288, Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988. 204 Platt, Rutherford H., et al, Disasters and Democracy: The Politics of Extreme Natural Events, (Covelo, CA: Island Press, 1999). 205 The Boston Globe, Sept. 20, 1999.
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The Nation’s Responses To Flood D
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The floodplain management community
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to th
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CONTENTS National Weather Service .
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OVERVIEW The floods of the 1990s an
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1 PRE-20TH CENTURY: ISSUES OF FEDER
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Pre-20th Century: Issues of Federal
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2 THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY: A GROWING
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The Early 20th Century: A Growing F
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The Early 20th Century: A Growing F
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3 THE 1930S TO THE 1960S: BROADENIN
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The 1930s to the 1960s: Broadening
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34 The Nation’s Responses to Floo
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36 National floodplain mapping begi
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