DisastersFEMA urges greater public-private cooperation in disaster response

Speaking at the International Disaster Conference and Exposition, Craig Fugate, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), urged emergency planners to take a broader view of disaster response and include the private sector.

“Why is it one minute after the disaster, we think government is going to do everything?” Fugate asked the audience of public and private sector emergency mangers. “The more goods and services that the private sector is able to provide to meet the needs, then (government) can focus on the most needy and vulnerable areas.”

To illustrate his point, Fugate discussed what he called the “Waffle House indicator.” Prior to serving as FEMA’s chief administrator, Fugate was the director of Florida’s emergency  management agency, which is where he and his staff noticed that whenever they visited an area hit by a disaster a Waffle House diner would always be open for business while other businesses would still be crippled.

Upon further examination, Fugate learned that the Georgia-based chain had a robust emergency plan in place, immediately sending in generators, food, water, ice, and staff from areas outside the disaster zone to ensure no discontinuity in service. The diner’s policies are all done regardless of the government’s response efforts, a key lesson Fugate said other emergency planners should take into account.

Instead of trying to handle every aspect of emergency response, the government should focus on a few key areas like public safety, rescuing the injured, and collecting the dead.

“I think this is a hard lesson for us to learn in government: The bigger the disaster is, the less likely you’re going to control much of anything,” he said. “It takes a team. It doesn’t take a dictator.”

Fugate also said local officials should do all they can to make it easier for retailers to resume operations as businesses and the community will benefit. To that end, officials should relax curfews so stores can restock at night or temporarily suspend zoning rules so businesses can operate in parking lots. Such policies will help the entire community ease back into a normal routine.

Meanwhile in the long term, officials should work with local businesses to build an economic base and tax structure to ensure a sustainable recovery.

“FEMA ain’t going to be there forever,” Fugate said.