Recovery

Purpose of Post-Disaster Recovery Planning

The purpose of pre-event disaster recovery planning is to anticipate what will be needed to restore the community to full functioning as efficiently as possible following a disaster. Successful and timely recovery takes time.

Horry County Emergency Management has developed a plan to be utilized following a disaster. Guidelines and policies have been designed to minimize delays in recovering from natural or manmade disasters. However

Phases of Post-Disaster Recovery

Recovery begins before a disaster occurs and continues while response actions take place. When response actions begin to wind down recovery transitions from emergency efforts to reestablishing community systems and services. Unfortunately there is no clear delineated line between response and recovery. Some of the activities that take place during this time include, but are not limited to, continued damage and needs assessments, evaluation of road conditions, and the process of repairing or replacing damaged infrastructure both commercially and residentially. Debris removal begins and eventually community redevelopment occurs.

• Short-Term Recovery (typically Days/Weeks)

  During the short-term phase of recovery generally actions to open roads, restore power and water, and the early stages of debris removal are at the forefront. The immediate needs following the initial response both for residents and businesses is the focus of this phase. It is critical during this time to evaluate mitigation measures to ensure that opportunities that are presented in the disaster can be taken to build a more sustainable and resilient future.

• Long-Term Recovery (typically Weeks/Months/Years)

  Long-term recovery is more complex and includes continued debris removal efforts, replacement of critical infrastructure damaged from the disaster. During this phase coordination between public, private and non-profit sectors drive this phase as community goals and strategies are presented and ranked in priority to accomplish and implement actions leading to resiliency. Continued economic restoration and community redevelopment defines this phase and could take months to years to finalize.

• What is a Recovery Support Function (RSF)?

  Recovery Support Functions have been created to help guide the recovery process. They act much like Emergency Support Functions (ESF) in the response phase but their missions are geared more toward short-term recovery objectives to assist in aiding the recovery phase. They are developed to support the longer-term recovery activities that mirror those efforts made through the National RSFs.

  In the Horry County Short-Term Recovery Plan (STRP) we have identified five (5) RSFs. They are as follows:

  • Temporary Housing RSF
  • Disaster Permits and Inspections RSF
  • Natural and Cultural Resources RSF
  • Community Redevelopment RSF
  • Economic Restoration RSF

What is VOAD?

VOAD stands for, Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters and is composed of nonprofit, nonpartisan volunteer agencies and organizations that come together to assist residents impacted from a disaster. The share their knowledge and resources throughout the disaster cycle – preparation, response, recovery and mitigation, to help communities prepare for and recovery from disasters. We have an active VOAD organization who have assisted residents of Horry County.

The Declaration Process

The Stafford Act required that “All request for a declaration by the President that a major disaster exists shall be made by the Governor of the effected State”.

The request by the State for a declaration is made through the regional FEMA office. State and Federal officials conduct a preliminary damage assessment (PDA) to estimate the extent of the disaster and its impact on individuals and public facilities. This information is included in the Governor’s request to show that the disaster is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the local governments and that Federal assistance is necessary. Normally, the PDA is completed prior to the submission of the Governor’s request. However, when an obviously severe or catastrophic event occurs, the Governor’s request may be submitted prior to the PDA. Nonetheless, the Governor must still make the request.

Based on the Governor’s request, the President may declare that a major disaster or emergency exists, thus activation an array of Federal program to assist in the response and recovery effort. However, not all programs are activated for every disaster. The determination of which programs are activated is based on the needs found during damage assessment and any subsequent information that may be discovered.

Types of Declarations

FEMA disaster assistance falls into three general categories. Individual Assistance (IA) which is aid to individuals and households; Public Assistance (PA) which is aid to public (and certain private non-profits) entities for certain emergency services and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities; and Hazard Mitigation Assistance which is funding for measures designed to reduce future losses to public and private property. Understand that some declarations will provide only individual assistance or only public assistance. Hazard mitigation opportunities are assessed in most situations.

What is Individual Assistance? More Information

Disaster assistance is financial or direct assistance to individuals and families whose property has been damaged or destroyed as a result of a federally-declared disaster, and whose losses are not covered by insurance. It is meant to help you with critical expenses that cannot be covered in other ways. This assistance is not intended to restore your damaged property to its condition before the disaster.

While some housing funds are available through the FEMA individuals and Households Program, most disaster assistance from the Federal government is in the form of loans administered by the Small Business Administration. Additional forms of assistance offered by the Federal government can be found on disasterassistance.gov

What is Public Assistance? More Information

The mission of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program is to provide assistance to State, Tribal and local governments, and certain types of Private Nonprofit organizations so that communities can quickly respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies declared by the President. Through the PA Program, FEMA provides supplemental Federal disaster grant assistance for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and the repair, replacement, or restoration of disaster-damaged, publicly owned facilities and the facilities of certain Private Non-Profit (PNP) organizations. The PA Program also encourages protection of these damaged facilities from future events by providing assistance for hazard mitigation measures during the recovery process.

What is Hazard Mitigation Assistance?

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) provides grants to states and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration. The purpose of the HMGP is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster. The HMGP is authorized under Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.

Eligible Applicants and/or Subapplicants include: State and local governments and some private non-profit organizations.