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

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The Nation’s Responses to Flood Disasters: A Historical Account
parts of the country, Congress enacted legislation that made loans available to victims of
all natural disasters, including floods.
Congress established the foundation of a national natural disaster relief program
in 1950. 153 Instead of enacting relief bills for victims of specific disasters, Congress
enacted legislation to provide “an orderly and continuous means of assistance by the
Federal Government to the States and local governments in carrying out their
responsibilities to alleviate suffering and damage resulting from major disasters.” The
legislation authorized the President to determine what constituted a major disaster, and
after making this declaration, to direct federal agencies to provide aid to the victims.
This law formally took notice of the fact that natural disaster relief was a local
responsibility, but some disasters would be of such severity that relief and rehabilitation
would be beyond the financial capabilities of state and local governments. State
governments had to formally request the President to declare a major disaster. If granted,
the federal government would then provide disaster assistance “to supplement the efforts
and available resources of States and local governments in alleviating the disaster.” 154
Following the 1964 “Good Friday” earthquake in Alaska, Congress ushered in
the direct subsidy or grant as a federal disaster relief policy. One year later, following
Hurricane Betsy, which struck southern Florida and the Mississippi River delta, Congress
enacted further legislation that permitted the forgiveness of loans for the reconstruction of
homes, small businesses, and farms damaged by natural disasters. Since then, some form
of grant provision has been included in virtually every subsequent disaster relief act.
The Disaster Relief Act of 1974 consolidated and reorganized disaster assistance
provided by federal agencies. Initially, HUD coordinated disaster relief but coordination
transferred to FEMA when the agency was created in 1979.
Post-disaster recovery assistance aids mitigation. In 1980, the OMB directed that “all
Federal programs that provide construction funds and long-term recovery assistance must
use common flood disaster planning and post-flood recovery procedures.” 155 In response,
twelve federal agencies signed an interagency agreement to provide technical assistance
to states and communities for nonstructural, flood damage reduction measures in flood
recovery efforts. The agencies formed an Interagency Flood Hazard Mitigation Task
Force charged with carrying out the agreement. The task force representatives were to
ensure that personnel from their agencies were available to participate on post-disaster,
interagency hazard mitigation teams. They were also to review agency programs and
policies to identify and remove obstacles to implementing flood hazard mitigation
measures recommended by the interagency teams.
153 Disaster Relief Act of 1950, P.L. 81-875.
154 Mitler, p. 19.
155 “Nonstructural Flood Protection Measures and Flood Disaster Recovery” (memorandum, Office of Management and Budget, July 1980).