Obama declares record number of federal natural disasters
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Nov 11, 2010, 2:59:31 AM11/11/10
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Perilous Times and Climate Change
Obama declares record number of federal natural disasters
Lee Bowman/Scripps Howard News Service
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency passed a mayhem milestone late last month -- issuing a record number of presidential disaster declarations for any calendar year, with nearly two months to go.
President Barack Obama's Oct. 26 determination that Puerto Rico needed federal aid after a tropical storm was the 76th major disaster declaration issued this year. Two more followed in the first week of November.
The previous high mark for major disaster declarations was 75, set in 2008 by President George W. Bush and in 1996 by President Bill Clinton. Nearly half of the presidential disaster declarations issued since 1953 came from the three most recent White House occupants -- a trend many observers say has as much to do with government policy and politics as it does with more bad weather or even community vulnerability to a stormier climate.
FEMA and government weather scientists agree that 2010 has so far lacked signature disasters like a major hurricane or big outburst of tornadoes. The bulk of the declarations resulted from epic snowstorms that hit the Mid-Atlantic states last winter and numerous severe storms that spawned tornadoes and flooding from Texas to Tennessee to Minnesota.
"The two biggest things about severe weather this year was that there were a lot of winter storms, with some brutal cold associated with them, and then during the spring and summer there were a lot of places that really got pounded by flooding, and those both tend to affect larger areas," said Harold Brooks, a researcher at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla.
FEMA officials said many of the storms each impacted several states, resulting in separate declarations for each jurisdiction.
There also have been major incidents this year that weren't declared disasters, most notably the BP oil spill. FEMA also turned down declaration requests from Texas Gov. Rick Perry related to flooding from Tropical Storm Hermine and from California Gov. Arnold Schwarznenegger after the natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno in September.
Governors typically ask for federal help with a disaster when it appears that emergency response and recovery needs will overwhelm the capacity of state and local governments. FEMA reviews the state request and has assessment teams do damage estimates before making a recommendation to the White House. The president has complete discretion to make a declaration or not.
The president has other emergency powers that he can use to deploy the military and other federal agencies to help in disasters even before they strike.
But it takes a declaration of a major disaster to trigger most relief programs through which the federal government picks up 75 percent or more of the tab for repairing roads, bridges and other infrastructure, debris removal, and more. Often, FEMA also offers individual disaster grants to families.
The first disaster relief bill was passed in 1803 to aid Portsmouth, N.H., merchants after a fire burned the town's main street. From then until the 1950s, Congress enacted more than 100 pieces of legislation responding to calamities.
The system was updated in 1950 to give the president power to issue disaster declarations and provide direct assistance to governments. It has been reformed and expanded several times since.
A 1998 update expanded the list of disasters to include crop losses; freezes; nuclear, biological and chemical incidents; civil unrest; and terrorism.
Over the years, governors' requests have increasingly been granted.
"It used to be that governors' requests were turned down about a third of the time, but those odds have increased to 75 percent being approved since 1988," said Richard Sylves, who has analyzed disaster aid requests as a professor at the University of Delaware and George Washington University. "There are a lot of marginal requests and some are turned down, but a lot get through."
Some researchers have found evidence that partisan alignment or being a battleground state with a lot of electoral votes can tip the scales on disaster requests. But Sylves said he and colleagues found politics makes a difference only "in recent years when sitting presidents (were) running for re-election -- Clinton in 1996, Bush in 2004." Recent presidents have become much more aware of the need to appear responsive when a disaster strikes.
Both Bush presidencies were dogged by disasters to which the federal response appeared insufficient: Hurricane Andrew in Florida in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush was in office, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 during the younger Bush' s second term.
"With the 24-hour media cycle, the spotlight is on every event, every storm, and this creates tremendous pressure for the White House to act. I've heard reports of the White House calling governors and asking why they haven't asked for a declaration," Sylves said.
But he also notes that state emergency managers and governors can more quickly map and assess damage and "have gotten smarter in terms of what's likely to qualify," which may have increased the approval rate.
Others suggest that state and local budgets are less able than the national government to absorb disaster costs. "A lot of times local and state governments really can't afford to respond in the ways that are necessary without having federal expertise on the ground and reimbursement of costs, particularly in the tough economic times of the past several years," said Audrey Heffron-Casserleigh, director of the Center for Disaster Risk Policy at Florida State University.
Federal disaster costs have soared with the growth in disaster declarations: -- $29 billion under Clinton;
-- More than $88 billion under Bush, including $40 billion for hurricanes Katrina and Rita alone in 2005. His administration's final tab won't be known until all relief operations started on his watch wind down.
-- More than $2 billion so far under Obama, plus a $5.1 billion supplemental appropriation approved by Congress last summer to meet holdover obligations from Katrina and other incidents while also preparing to pay for the still-growing list of 2010 disasters.
Obama declares record number of federal natural disasters
Lee Bowman/Scripps Howard News Service
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency passed a mayhem milestone late last month -- issuing a record number of presidential disaster declarations for any calendar year, with nearly two months to go.
President Barack Obama's Oct. 26 determination that Puerto Rico needed federal aid after a tropical storm was the 76th major disaster declaration issued this year. Two more followed in the first week of November.
The previous high mark for major disaster declarations was 75, set in 2008 by President George W. Bush and in 1996 by President Bill Clinton. Nearly half of the presidential disaster declarations issued since 1953 came from the three most recent White House occupants -- a trend many observers say has as much to do with government policy and politics as it does with more bad weather or even community vulnerability to a stormier climate.
FEMA and government weather scientists agree that 2010 has so far lacked signature disasters like a major hurricane or big outburst of tornadoes. The bulk of the declarations resulted from epic snowstorms that hit the Mid-Atlantic states last winter and numerous severe storms that spawned tornadoes and flooding from Texas to Tennessee to Minnesota.
"The two biggest things about severe weather this year was that there were a lot of winter storms, with some brutal cold associated with them, and then during the spring and summer there were a lot of places that really got pounded by flooding, and those both tend to affect larger areas," said Harold Brooks, a researcher at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla.
FEMA officials said many of the storms each impacted several states, resulting in separate declarations for each jurisdiction.
There also have been major incidents this year that weren't declared disasters, most notably the BP oil spill. FEMA also turned down declaration requests from Texas Gov. Rick Perry related to flooding from Tropical Storm Hermine and from California Gov. Arnold Schwarznenegger after the natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno in September.
Governors typically ask for federal help with a disaster when it appears that emergency response and recovery needs will overwhelm the capacity of state and local governments. FEMA reviews the state request and has assessment teams do damage estimates before making a recommendation to the White House. The president has complete discretion to make a declaration or not.
The president has other emergency powers that he can use to deploy the military and other federal agencies to help in disasters even before they strike.
But it takes a declaration of a major disaster to trigger most relief programs through which the federal government picks up 75 percent or more of the tab for repairing roads, bridges and other infrastructure, debris removal, and more. Often, FEMA also offers individual disaster grants to families.
The first disaster relief bill was passed in 1803 to aid Portsmouth, N.H., merchants after a fire burned the town's main street. From then until the 1950s, Congress enacted more than 100 pieces of legislation responding to calamities.
The system was updated in 1950 to give the president power to issue disaster declarations and provide direct assistance to governments. It has been reformed and expanded several times since.
A 1998 update expanded the list of disasters to include crop losses; freezes; nuclear, biological and chemical incidents; civil unrest; and terrorism.
Over the years, governors' requests have increasingly been granted.
"It used to be that governors' requests were turned down about a third of the time, but those odds have increased to 75 percent being approved since 1988," said Richard Sylves, who has analyzed disaster aid requests as a professor at the University of Delaware and George Washington University. "There are a lot of marginal requests and some are turned down, but a lot get through."
Some researchers have found evidence that partisan alignment or being a battleground state with a lot of electoral votes can tip the scales on disaster requests. But Sylves said he and colleagues found politics makes a difference only "in recent years when sitting presidents (were) running for re-election -- Clinton in 1996, Bush in 2004." Recent presidents have become much more aware of the need to appear responsive when a disaster strikes.
Both Bush presidencies were dogged by disasters to which the federal response appeared insufficient: Hurricane Andrew in Florida in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush was in office, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 during the younger Bush' s second term.
"With the 24-hour media cycle, the spotlight is on every event, every storm, and this creates tremendous pressure for the White House to act. I've heard reports of the White House calling governors and asking why they haven't asked for a declaration," Sylves said.
But he also notes that state emergency managers and governors can more quickly map and assess damage and "have gotten smarter in terms of what's likely to qualify," which may have increased the approval rate.
Others suggest that state and local budgets are less able than the national government to absorb disaster costs. "A lot of times local and state governments really can't afford to respond in the ways that are necessary without having federal expertise on the ground and reimbursement of costs, particularly in the tough economic times of the past several years," said Audrey Heffron-Casserleigh, director of the Center for Disaster Risk Policy at Florida State University.
Federal disaster costs have soared with the growth in disaster declarations: -- $29 billion under Clinton;
-- More than $88 billion under Bush, including $40 billion for hurricanes Katrina and Rita alone in 2005. His administration's final tab won't be known until all relief operations started on his watch wind down.
-- More than $2 billion so far under Obama, plus a $5.1 billion supplemental appropriation approved by Congress last summer to meet holdover obligations from Katrina and other incidents while also preparing to pay for the still-growing list of 2010 disasters.
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