Earlier this month, heavy rainfall in Louisiana resulted in the worst flooding in the US since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, destroying more than 40,000 houses, forcing more than 10,000 residents to evacuate and leaving 13 people dead. Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, was entirely submerged in water.
And yet US President Barack Obama, playing golf while on vacation at Martha’s Vineyard, only needed to contact the concerned departments, instructing them to employ all resources available and carry out disaster response operations to help all victims without discriminating against any person on the basis of race or color.
In Taiwan, whenever there is flooding after heavy rains, the public expects the president, the premier, the ministers and the mayor to visit the disaster area and personally inspect the relief operations, regardless of whether they have other obligations. If a political leader fails to show up at the affected area or an emergency command center during a disaster, there would be calls for them to step down. Obama’s decision to continue his annual two-week vacation would be almost unthinkable for politicians in Taiwan.
There are a number of reasons why this is acceptable in the US: Americans generally do not rely on the government for most matters and are more used to using their own initiative, a result of their education system. However, more importantly, they have a system in place for disaster declarations. Over the past 50 years, US presidents have issued disaster declarations on 2,019 occasions, with severe storms, hurricanes and flooding accounting for more than 80 percent of these.
In the US, disaster response is carried out primarily at the state level, with assistance from the federal government if needed. When a disaster occurs, if a state governor, after assessing the damage, decides that federal assistance is needed, they can submit a request to the president within 30 days of the disaster for a disaster declaration to be made. This allows for access to more federal resources and extended police powers.
The request, which includes a detailed report on the impact of the disaster on residences, infrastructure and other things, a preliminary damage assessment and an economic impact assessment, must be submitted to a US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional office for approval before being relayed to the president.
State governors would not be able to request a disaster declaration by the president if the disaster has only had a minor impact in the area. With the Louisiana flooding, for a disaster declaration to be made by the president, the following requirements would have to be met: First, a preliminary damage assessment must be completed; second, the situation must be beyond the capability of the local and state governments; third, the state governor must explain why federal assistance is necessary; fourth, the disaster must have caused an economic loss exceeding the qualifying threshold for federal assistance — in the case of the Louisiana flooding, this would be US$6.3 million; fifth, the state governor must issue a statewide emergency and implement state emergency plans; and sixth, the FEMA regional office must approve the request.
In Taiwan, a comprehensive disaster response system would enable central and local governments to provide more efficient and better coordinated disaster relief at all levels of government.
Having all political leaders from local and central governments stationed at the disaster area to assess damage and oversee the rescue effort does not always ensure the optimal outcome in terms of rescue operations.
Su Yu-shou holds a doctorate in city and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania.
Translated by Tu Yu-an
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