Declared Disasters & Assistance

A Guide to the Disaster Declaration Process and Federal Disaster Assistance

Please visit Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) website to get a copy of the Guide to the Disaster Declaration Process and Federal Disaster Assistance.

Local and State governments share the responsibility for protecting their citizens from disasters, and for helping them to recover when a disaster strikes. In some cases, a disaster is beyond the capabilities of the State and local government to respond.

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 93-288, as amended (the Stafford Act) was enacted to support State and local governments and their citizens when disasters overwhelm them. This law establishes a process for requesting and obtaining a Presidential disaster declaration, defines the type and scope of assistance available under the Stafford Act, and sets the conditions for obtaining that assistance. This paper explains the declaration process and provides an overview of the assistance available.

The Declaration Process

The Stafford Act (§401 and 501) requires that: "All requests for a declaration by the President that a major disaster or emergency exists shall be made by the Governor [chief executive] of the affected State." A State also includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The Governor's request is made through the regional FEMA office. State, local, and Federal officials conduct a preliminary damage assessment (PDA) to estimate the extent of the disaster and its impact on individuals and public facilities. The information gathered during the PDA documents the severity and magnitude of the event and is included in the Governor's request. 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 and damage assessments are still conducted.

As part of the request, the Governor must note that the State's emergency plan has been implemented and the situation is of such severity and magnitude that the response is beyond State and local capability and Stafford Act assistance is necessary. The Governor shall furnish information on the nature and amount of State and local resources that have been or will be committed to alleviating the results of the disaster, provide an estimate of the amount and severity of damage and the impact on the private and public sector, and provide an estimate of the type and amount of assistance needed under the Stafford Act. In addition, the Governor will need to certify that, for the current disaster, State and local government obligations and expenditures (of which State commitments must be a significant portion) will comply with all applicable cost-sharing requirements.

Based on the Governor's request, the President may declare that a major disaster or emergency exists, thus activating an array of Federal programs to assist in the response and recovery effort.

Assistance Available Under A Major Disaster Declaration

Not all programs, however, are activated for every disaster. The determination of which programs are activated is based on the needs found during the joint preliminary damage assessment and any subsequent information that may be discovered.

Federal disaster assistance available under a major disaster declaration falls into three general categories:

• Individual Assistance - aid to individuals, families and business owners;
• Public Assistance - aid to public (and certain private non-profit) entities for certain emergency services and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities;
• Hazard Mitigation Assistance - funding for measures designed to reduce future losses to public and private property. In the event of a major disaster declaration, all counties within the declared State are eligible to apply for assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
• Some declarations will provide only individual assistance or only public assistance. Hazard mitigation opportunities are assessed in most situations.