After the Disaster: Simplifying the Municipal Recovery Effort

The series of recent major disasters seems extraordinary. During a disaster, the community often comes together as never before, and years of emergency management training are put to use handling the disaster as it happens.

Once the actual disaster has passed, the long road to recovery begins. In cities and counties, this process is managed by the very people exhausted by the actual disaster. Recovery takes many months, and depending on the situation, can take years. This article gives municipal leaders a basic organizational structure to use during the long recovery.

I first used this structure as chairman of the Poinsettia Fire Recovery Committee, while assistant city manager in Carlsbad, California. The fast-moving fire destroyed residential and commercial structures, damaged city parks and infrastructure, burned hillsides thereby threatening slope stability, and unfortunately caused the loss of a life. The municipal recovery process took an entire year of cross-departmental meetings, action and follow through.

Purpose

This article is a guideline for enacting a recovery effort designed for a city or other municipality by using a cross departmental disaster recovery team. An organized recovery effort establishes a framework for considering all aspects of a recovery related to the municipality, improves coordination, and can increase the speed and efficiency of the recovery.

The purpose of a Disaster Recovery Team is to:

Organize and implement the municipal recovery effort
Coordinate with non-municipal recovery efforts
Ensure that the municipality takes advantage of funding reimbursement opportunities
Troubleshoot future community issues related to the disaster
Make sure nothing falls through the cracks

Organizational Structure

A Disaster Recovery Team is an organized committee of cross departmental city employees.

The committee should be established and supported by the city manager. It is likely that all or most city departments will need to participate in the committee.

The chairman of the committee should be the city manager, a high-level employee in the manager’s office or a direct report to the manager. If the city has a strong mayor form of government, then the committee should be based in the mayor’s office. If the recovery team chairman is not the city manager, the committee needs to understand that the recovery team chairman acts on behalf of the city manager. The chairman should be a decision-maker in the organization who is expected to direct department heads, is responsible for the results of the recovery and works hand-in-hand with the committee secretary.

The committee secretary should, in most cases, be a high-level public safety employee. It may make sense for the incident commander to transition to this position. If the disaster was caused by a fire, then it would be either the fire chief or deputy fire chief. If the disaster is a mass shooting, then the committee secretary would be the police chief or deputy chief. Because of the public safety issues raised by disasters, it is critical to have a strong public safety representative serve as the disaster recovery team secretary.

The chairman and secretary run the meetings. They are responsible for publishing a comprehensive agenda that includes tasks that need to be addressed. During the meetings, these tasks are tracked until the task is completed. The chairman and secretary are also responsible for ensuring that committee reporting tools, such as spreadsheets, are available and regularly updated by staff. While lower level staff may be responsible for typing agendas, the chairman and secretary must make sure that the tasks of the committee are documented, and that staff acts on them in a timely manner.

The Recovery Development Team also consists of a variety of staff members representing city departments. The employees chosen for the team must be high level and capable of demanding action from others in the department. The department representative is responsible for updates at team meetings and for ensuring that the department has accomplished its tasks from the prior meeting. There are times when a department will need more than one representative. This is common in departments such as public works, where representation from utilities, transportation and environmental divisions may be needed.

While there will be many instances where coordination is needed with community organizations and other government agencies, the city’s Disaster Recovery Team should be limited to city employees. The committee is specifically tasked with managing the recovery effort for the city, and this requires the efforts of a large, cross-departmental team. Limiting the meetings to city employees makes the best use of their time. As part of the duties of the Disaster Recovery Team, specific city representatives will meet with outside organizations and the public to optimize recovery efforts.

PARTICIPANTS

Representatives in the following areas are likely to be needed on the city’s Disaster Recovery Team. Depending on how a city is structured, department titles will change. Representation will also change depending on the type and extent of the disaster. In addition, departments such as parks and libraries should be represented if they have facilities damaged by the disaster or were the location of the disaster. If city employees are directly affected by the disaster, such as a shooting at a city facility, human resources will need to be represented. The list will change slightly with each disaster, so customize it to fit your needs.

City Manager’s Office - While surviving the disaster is primarily managed by public safety staff, recovery is an organizational issue. When the public is no longer in immediate danger, the city needs to focus on how to physically and financially recover in the aftermath of a disaster. It is critical that the city manager’s office lead this effort. Ultimately, the manager’s office is responsible for the overall success of the disaster recovery effort.

Public Safety – Public safety representatives such as police and fire departments usually manage disasters on behalf of a city. They are also an important part of the recovery effort and have the following responsibilities:
Serve as secretary to the Disaster Recover Team – This usually entails keeping the agendas and minutes of the meetings and can include running the meetings.
Report on the aftermath of the disaster – Keep the committee updated on the extent and effects of the disaster.
Minimize future threats related to disaster - Troubleshoot near term and future issues related to the disaster. An example of this is the fire department reporting on remaining fire-related public safety issues such as structures at risk of collapsing and trees at risk of falling. Other examples are the police department determining how to increase security after a mass shooting, or officials evaluating risks caused by hazardous chemicals stored in the community after a flood.

Finance – The recovery effort will demand city financial resources. There is also the possibility for reimbursement of city expenses, therefore it is critical to have high level financial involvement in the recovery effort. The finance representative will:
Account for city resources used in the disaster and recovery - Coordinate efforts to track employee time and other resources dedicated to managing the disaster and the recovery effort. This information will be used for reporting and reimbursement purposes.
Identify and apply for post-disaster financial recovery options - The finance department needs to coordinate with agencies providing aid, grants and reimbursements as well as follow up with the city’s insurer as needed. Their job is to make sure the city takes advantage of all financial recovery opportunities.
Identify short term and long-term funding for the disaster recovery – Identify immediate and long term internal funding for the disaster recovery. City facilities and infrastructure may need immediate and/or longer-term repairs and improvements. If there are not outside sources to fund this work in a timely manner, the city may need to consider internal funding options.

Public Works – There are a variety of ways that public works may need to be represented on the committee as they may be responsible for city facilities, roadways, water and sewer service, and open space. The public works department must:
Evaluate city infrastructure, facilities and land for damage and the need for repair and replacement.
Determine if specialized consultants are needed for further evaluation and/or implementation - Evaluate what work can be done with internal staff and what should be outsourced. After many natural disasters, public works employees will be severely taxed by the amount of work required, and cities should either bring on outside contractors or have other departments lend them staff on a temporary basis. Regular city operations will continue while the disaster recovery is underway, and you don’t want human resources stretched so thin that mistakes are made or people leave, creating an even larger deficit. In addition, city employees may not have the skills needed for some tasks and these will need to be outsourced.
Estimate costs and prioritize repair and replacement of city facilities and infrastructure.
Issue Bids and/or RFPs and manage projects.

Environmental – Many natural disasters make other disasters more likely to happen. In California the worst thing to follow a fire is a heavy rainy season. The burned hillsides are unable to hold water, resulting in mudslides that may take an additional toll on lives and structures. Evaluating the potential of future environmental dangers is critical to the disaster recovery effort. Evaluation, monitoring and repair may be needed as part of the city’s disaster recovery.
Assess the risk of future environmental damage related to the original disaster.
Where needed, determine how to proceed with BMPs (best management practices), work with private property owners and perform other tasks to minimize post-disaster environmental risk.

Building Inspection – Determining the viability of buildings in the community falls to cities. Because of this, building officials must:
Determine the viability of buildings - Damaged buildings need to be inspected and catalogued, and a course of action must be established for each damaged building.
Provide property owners with a clear path forward (demolition, repair, etc.) – A damaged building may need anything from minor repairs through demolition. It is critical that clear communications pieces are developed to explain to the owners of damaged buildings what their responsibilities are and how they can bring their buildings into compliance.

Planning and Permitting – Facilitating the repair/rebuilding effort falls to the city’s planning and permitting staff. To facilitate this process they should:
Establish a clear process for repair and rebuilding efforts – This information should be easily understood and available to customers.
Streamline and/or expedite process for building owners to get back into their properties.
Be prepared - The department can go the extra mile by pulling the plans of the buildings damaged in the disaster and having them ready for building owners.
Report - At the disaster recovery meetings, the planning department representative should report on the damaged buildings and which are undergoing repair and replacement. Any major issues with rebuilding should be discussed in the meeting.

Communications – The communications department will assist other departments with their communications needs related to the disaster.
Assist departments with post-disaster recover communication efforts – Make sure information given to the public is well written and understandable.
Tell the story of the recovery and recovery effort – Summarize the recovery efforts as reported in the meetings and communicate this, as appropriate, to the city manager, council and community.

Community Development – The city will likely need to communicate and coordinate with outside agencies on disaster recovery issues. It is important that the city focus on primarily on recovery issues directly within its responsibilities. If a fund is established to raise money for the victims of the disaster, this should not be managed by the municipality, because it takes away from the city’s direct responsibilities for recovery. However, a city can facilitate these efforts by connecting groups confirming information about the disaster. An example of this is when I was the President/CEO of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce. An elderly man drove his vehicle into the local farmer’s market, killing ten and injuring 63 people. The chamber of commerce immediately started a fund that raised money for the victims of this tragedy, and the city helped by confirming that people who applied for the funds were actually victims of the tragedy. Whether coordination with outside agencies involved in the recovery falls to community development staff or other employees, this information should be reported on and tracked as part of the Disaster Recovery Team.

Economic Development – A representative from the city’s economic development department will need to assess the effect of the disaster on businesses and economic opportunities in the area. A mass shooting or a hurricane may disrupt tourism, putting local business at risk. A natural disaster may destroy commercial and industrial properties, resulting in a loss of jobs in the community. Economic development staff can help assess risk, coordinate with private businesses and plan for recovery.

Information Technology (IT) - as needed – IT serves as support to the committee by ensuring that participants have access to shared files for committee agendas, reports, expenditure tracking and other communications. If the city’s IT infrastructure has been damaged or is at risk due to the disaster, or didn’t work properly during the disaster, then IT should have a permanent representative on the disaster recovery team.

Purchasing – as needed – Purchasing staff should work with departments to streamline the purchasing process. It is likely that in the aftermath of a major disaster, cities will need to bring on specialized consultants as well as let bids for infrastructure repair. There will be times when a city cannot function properly until repairs are made. The purchasing department needs to be aware of these demands and find ways to shorten purchasing timelines, while still protecting the integrity of the process.

Legal – It is critical to have the city’s legal department represented on the Disaster Recovery Team. Most of those involved in the aftermath of a disaster have not been through something similar at that city. It easy to unknowingly put a city at even greater risk by overstepping the bounds of what is allowed on private property. The protections available to a city during a disaster are not in place during the recovery. There are many ways that the legal department will end up aiding a recovery, from helping to find ways to shorten the purchasing process to resolving issues with the owners of damaged properties, to helping determine the city’s obligations regarding potential future damage caused by a disaster. The legal team should ensure that all recovery efforts follow the law, and be creative in helping to speed the recovery effort.

Again, the actual representatives to and structure of the Disaster Recovery Team will vary with the needs of each disaster and according to how a city is organized. Customize the structure above and use it as the basis for Disaster Recovery Team meeting agendas.

Tools

Having a complete agenda is one of the best tools in a Disaster Recovery Team meeting. An item should remain on the agenda until it is completed. Meetings should be held regularly, no less than weekly to start, and eventually lengthening to once a month or more until they are no longer needed. The following tools, which can be created with documents and spreadsheets or customized programs, will maximize efficiency in Disaster Recovery Team meetings: