Analysis: rural disasters get less attention federal funding - Entrepreneur Generations

Major disasters like Hurricane Katrina get the lion's share of headlines and federal funding, but hundreds of smaller disasters actually accounted for more than 60 percent of all federally declared disasters between 2003 and 2018, according to a new data analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funding. But such disasters received at least $57.3 billion less in public assistance from FEMA, Justine Coleman and Isaac Windes report for the Fairfield Sun Times in Montana.

"The federal government provided disaster survivors at least $23.2 billion in individual assistance from 2003 to 2018, but those dollars did not go to communities with smaller disasters or higher insurance coverage, according to FEMA data. Since 1999, 651 declared disasters did not receive individual assistance," Coleman and Windes report. "In addition to public assistance, which pays for restoring roads, bridges and other public facilities, uninsured people whose homes or businesses are damaged by larger disasters also qualify for direct individual assistance to pay for temporary housing, repair costs and replacement costs."

Since 1999, the number of disasters that receive individual assistance has declined sharply. "From 1999 to 2008, almost 60% of disasters met the requirements needed to pay individual assistance to affected survivors, while in the following decade, 29% of all declared disasters met those requirements," Coleman and Windes report. "As more expensive storms become more frequent, these hazards paint a picture of a steady, pervasive and growing threat in areas that are often less prepared for storms and disasters."

FEMA awards individual assistance to survivors who can't afford their needs, but obtaining it is slower and more complicated than getting the community-wide assistance offered after disasters. The individual assistance is often not enough to completely rebuild a home, which can be devastating to those already living in poverty, Coleman and Windes reports.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2KR3UtW Analysis: rural disasters get less attention federal funding - Entrepreneur Generations

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