Seven months after Superstorm Sandy, the Red Cross has only spent a third of the $303 million it raised to assist victims. Is this smart planning? “The Red Cross has never been a recovery operation. Their responsibility has always been mass care,” said Ben Smilowitz, executive director of the Disaster Accountability Project, a non-profit group that monitors aid groups. “Stick with what you’re good at.” Kathleen McCarthy, director of the Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Civil Society at the City University of New York, thinks that people could have used more help this winter.

Red Cross says that all the money will eventually be spent on the storm recovery, for instance on a program providing “move-in assistance” grants to displaced families. About 2,000 households have been assisted so far, with an additional 4,000 waiting for an eligibility determination.

That strategy contrasts with the approach taken by the Robin Hood Foundation, which was in charge of distributing more than $70 million raised by a benefit concert. That fund was depleted entirely by April. Robin Hood said they moved as fast as they could because delays in government aid were leaving big gaps in services.

Each time a natural or man-made disaster strikes, Americans demonstrate their generosity. But as Alina Tugend points out in her Shortcuts column this week, while collecting the money can be a relatively straightforward task, handing it out is not. Some donors complain the process can be opaque and too lengthy. But some NGO argue that affected communities often need long-term help, for instance in terms of mental healthcare. Now a group of people affected by school shootings are setting up a National Compassion Fund that would collect money and get it directly to the victims each time a man-made disaster occurs. All the money would be distributed within six months and a corporate donor would pick the administrative tab.

See also: Shortcut column

Jason McNamara served as FEMA’s chief of staff for the past four years and will soon leave the agency to work as a consultant.

He expects damages from the Oklahoma tornado to amount to less than $500 million, with FEMA having already delivered about $4 million in assistance to victims.

In terms of how FEMA has changed during his tenure, McNamara said the agency has worked to strengthen its partnerships with state and local partners. “What I’ve learned is that (…) the best way to address (disasters) is to build the capabilities of your partners — the private sector, the media, volunteer groups, and all the folks that understand the affected communities,” McNamara said. “You have to bring everyone to the table and make it more of a team thing instead of a chain-of-command thing.”

One of the more difficult tests for FEMA in recent years came after Hurricane Sandy, which caused widespread power outages. McNamara admitted that the agency did not anticipate the extent of the problem.

McNamara explained that the agency was able to test new approaches designed to knock down barriers to aid. FEMA also adopted new methods for estimating disaster damages after Sandy, more in line with insurance-industry standards.

He concluded that natural disasters have a tendency to turn political. “Governors recognize it as a defining moment of their tenure, and they don’t want to get blamed when something goes wrong.” McNamara added that the federal government often ends up as a scapegoat in those situations.

The post DAP Disaster News Roundup – June 3d 2013 appeared first on Disaster Accountability Blog.

The GAO had published a report pointing out the specific issues faced by children in case of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear disaster. As much as 40% of the medical countermeasure necessary to face such disasters are not permitted for paediatric use. Moreover, some of the countermeasures have not been approved to treat anyone for the specific indications for which they have been stocked.

Children represent 25% of the US population. The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible at the federal level to develop and acquire countermeasures, and agreed on the findings of the report.

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In a report released in April, The Government Accountability Office (GAO) compared FEMA’s training of reservists with the training provided at agencies with a similar disaster mission – and found similarities and differences. FEMA relies heavily upon these 6,795 on-call reservists (36% of total workforce), but financial planning factors have limited the agency’s ability to train them. FEMA officials agreed with the GAO recommendations and will soon allow up to two weeks of reservist training outside of deployments.

Hurricane Sandy was one of 46 federal major disaster declarations in 2012. More than 2,300 FEMA personnel worked to support response operations.

After Quake, Donors Shun Aid Groups Run by China

The devastating earthquake that struck southwest China in April drew a flood of donations from across the country. But contrary to what happened in 2008, most of the donations went to private charities like Sina Microcharities, which raised $13 million, or The One Foundation.

A state-run organization, The Red Cross Society of China has yet to recover from a 2011 scandal centred on the lavish lifestyle of Guo Meimei, ‘commercial general manager’, suspected to be the mistress of a top executive. The scandal broke out just after the charity had raised $650 million in donations for the Sichuan quake relief effort.

The government is spending way more on disaster relief than anybody thought

A new report from the Center for American Progress finds that Congress spent at least $136 billion on disaster relief between 2011 and 2013, or $400 per household per year. No one in the government could indicate exactly how much Congress had been spending on disaster relief, and the report required a comprehensive investigation form Centre researchers.

A wide variety of agencies have received money to deal with extreme weather events, FEMA ($55 billion) and the Department of Agriculture ($27 billion) being the most important recipients. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the number of severe weather events has risen from an average of two per year in the 1980s to more than ten per year since 2010. This is due to climate change, but also to the growth of the population, with more people settling in risk areas, and the general raise in housing and infrastructure prices.

The post DAP Disaster News Roundup – May 7th, 2013 appeared first on Disaster Accountability Blog.

After a week of shocking events in Boston and Texas, Americans once again demonstrated their overwhelming generosity. But, this time, local foundations stepped up immediately and seem to be getting the lion’s share of donations.

In Boston, local community leaders such as Governor Deval Patrick and Mayor Menino created The One Fund, which has already raised more than twenty million dollars for people most affected by the marathon bombings. Supported by The Boston Foundation and business leaders, The One Fund started with a simple press release posted online and was immediately recognized as the most legitimate recipient of donations by the public, as well as big corporations such as John Hancock and AT&T. Perhaps most notably, the fund will be administered by Kenneth Feinberg, the attorney who managed the compensation funds for victims of the September 11th attacks and the Virginia Tech Shootings.

In addition to The One Fund, a number of direct fundraising efforts were launched to support impacted families and survivors with serious injuries. Many are listed on this CNN Page but make sure to verify the legitimacy of any donation page before sending money.

Following the fertilizer plant explosion in Texas, three local community organizations – the Cooper, Rapoport and Waco foundations – decided to unite their efforts and created ‘The West, Texas Disaster Relief Efforts Fund’, which is housed by the Waco Foundation. As of April 23d, $161,000 had been raised by this fund, which co-exists with several other local initiatives. In fact, the community of West created two smaller recovery funds, including an initiative by a local bank, Pointwest, which would not disclose the amount of cash raised.

Disaster Accountability Project is committed to maximizing the impact of disaster relief. If you think that disaster relief charities are not looking after your community the way they should, please reach out.

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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report last week warning that in the event of a disaster at one of the 65 U.S. nuclear power plants, frightened residents outside the standard 10-mile evacuation zone may also choose to evacuate, potentially blocking evacuation routes and preventing others from escaping.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requires plant operators and local and state governments to plan for evacuation and educate residents within a 10-mile radius of nuclear power plants. However, little planning is required to account for those living between 10 and 50 miles of nuclear plants.

In response to the GAO report, Bill Borchardt, NRC’s Executive Director for Operations maintained that the current 10-mile zone recommendations and shadow evacuation estimates are sufficient. (GAO report, page 32). The NRC defends this approach based on their belief that even in the event of the worst nuclear plant disaster, “immediate life-threatening radiation doses would generally not occur outside the 10-mile zone.” (GAO report, page 23).

This assumption directly contradicts the NRC’s own guidance following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster in March 2011.  In the NRC’s guidance to the White House and U.S. Embassy in Japan, Borchardt stated, “If this happened in the U.S., we would go out to 50 miles… That would be our evacuation recommendation.”

And it seems the U.S. public may not have full confidence in the NRC’s 10-mile policy. In its report, the GAO found that residents outside the 10-mile zone are likely to evacuate regardless of official orders from government officials and in greater numbers than the NRC anticipates.  These “shadow evacuations” can obstruct official evacuations if they are not properly accounted for.

For example, Los Angeles County officials worry that rumors following an incident at nearby San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station would lead to clogged highways and significant delays on the only two evacuation routes- Interstate 5 and the Pacific Coast Highway. (GAO report, page 23 and San Onofre website)

Many groups also question whether the 10-mile zone is sufficient to protect residents.

Disaster Accountability Project is beginning to ask state and local jurisdictions in areas surrounding plants about their current education and evacuation plans for those living between 10 and 50 miles from nuclear power plants.  Do you live near a plant?  Join our effort!

The post Are evacuation plans for U.S. nuclear disasters adequate? appeared first on Disaster Accountability Blog.

2012 was the least deadly year for natural disasters in the past decade, says the Natural Hazards Risk Atlas, a report published by Maplecroft. This could be because preparedness and emergency response to natural disasters have improved worldwide. But the report points out that equivalent measures to protect economies have lagged, notably in Indonesia, where the main city, Jakarta, stays very exposed to flooding.
According to the IMF, damages from natural disasters rose from US$20 billion per year in the 1990s to around $100 billion per year between 2000 and 2010. Asia-Pacific was the hardest hit, with 80 percent of the global losses in 2011 located there, according to a UN report. Last year, the economies of Samoa, Haiti, Fiji, Pakistan, Madagascar and the Philippines’ were the most destabilized by natural hazards.

Sweeping earthquake safety rules imposed in San Fransisco – LA times

San Francisco formally adopted a new law requiring owners to retrofit thousands of pre 1978 buildings deemed prone to collapse during an earthquake. This is the most sweeping seismic regulation in California in years. City officials estimate the cost of the retrofitting will be $60,000 to $130,000 per building, with owners required to carry the cost but able to pass it on to tenants. A Los Angeles official declared that his city should have the same rules, but doubted that landlords and property owners would allow such a legislation to go through.

Evacuation estimates criticized in nuclear disaster planning for N.J. plant – CourierPost

Residents near a nuclear complex in Delaware voice their concerns as the Government Accountability Office warns that officials might have badly underestimated traffic congestion and evacuation times in the event of a radiation threat. The public plan assumes that as much as 80 percent of those living within 10 miles of the nuclear plant will stay put despite the nearby risk. Greater numbers of evacuees could fatally clog roads. Moreover, nobody has taken into account how the public outside the 10-mile radius will react. During the Fukushima disaster in 2011, American citizens were advised to evacuate as far as 50 miles.

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The overwhelming demand for food aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac has caused Louisiana to request the U.S. Department of Agriculture to extend filing deadlines for residents in Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parish.

The announcement came after several residents were turned away from long application lines. Disaster food stamps are available after a natural disaster occurs to residents who meet the guidelines for family income and amount spent in anticipation of the disaster.

• LaPlace family struggles to navigate FEMA system after Isaac destroys their home – NBC 33

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