Governmental Disaster Management Agencies

• Local Disaster Management Agencies
  • B.C.‘s Cowichan region creates shared emergency management service (AVERT, March 22, 2023): This article explains how several municipalities came together to create a shared emergency management capacity.
  • Jamaica’s local governments commit to a resilient future (UNDRR, October 29, 2021): “Jamaica has become the first country in the world to have all of its local governments committed to strengthening disaster resilience after all 14 municipal corporations joined the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative.”
  • These are the hotshot firefighters leading attacks against California wildfires. And they’re quitting (CNN, June 26, 2021): This article describes how the changing nature of wildfire, combined with traditionally low pay and benefits, is making some wildland firefighters reconsider the career choice – thereby leaving communities more at risk for future wildfire events.
  • Is Your Fire and EMS Department Ready for Climate Change? (US Fire Administration, June 30, 2021): “From training for nontraditional incident response to migrating populations to technology used on the job, climate change is having an increasingly significant all-hazards impact on the fire and emergency medical services (EMS).”
  • Study on Localization of Disaster Management During Pandemic (Insight, June 2021): “Localisation is a process of recognizing, respecting and strengthening the independence of leadership and decision-making of local actors in humanitarian and disaster response. Local actors include national actors, sub-national actors, local authorities, local communities and local civil society organisations.”
• Other Resources
  • Australia Press Release: The Morrison Government will establish a new national agency to help support local communities respond to large-scale natural disasters and undertake new initiatives to manage the impact of future events and the changing climate. (Prime Minister of Australia, May 5, 2021): The National Recovery and Resilience Agency will provide support to local communities during the relief and recovery phases following major disasters.
• Government EM Case Studies / Examples
  • Canada to pilot options for national emergency response agency in 2024: Sajjan (AVERT, December 15, 2023)
  • The U.S. Forest Service’s morale crisis (LA Times, June 17, 2022): “Morale, several current and former firefighters told [the journalist], was at an all-time low — the byproduct of low pay, mental trauma and the exhaustion of battling ever more destructive fires.”
  • A California town refused to help its neighbors with water. So the state stepped in. (Los Angeles Times, October 30, 2021): “The plight of Tooleville, with wells running dry, inspired a new law that gives the state power to mandate water consolidation with a neighboring town.”
  • New Vic agency to help disaster survivors (Perth Now, October 14, 2021): “A dedicated emergency recovery unit will be established to help Victorians get back on their feet after disasters such as the black summer bushfires. The Victorian government has agreed to establish the entity after it was recommended by an Inspector-General for Emergency Management inquiry into the 2019/2020 fire season.”
  • Why Germany’s disaster management works from the bottom to the top (DW, July 21, 2021): ” Unlike many other countries, Germany’s civil protection and disaster management system is deeply rooted in communal and municipal structures. The current flood catastrophe has disclosed major shortcomings.”

Form of Government as a Factor in Disaster Management Capacity

• How rigid government, state neglect hobbled Morocco‘s earthquake response (Washington Post, September 12, 2023)

Bilateral Disaster Management Assistance

• US military to deploy helicopters to Japan’s earthquake-hit peninsula (Reuters, January 16, 2023)
• US readies aid as Japan earthquake death toll nears 100 (Reuters, January 5, 2024)
• US announces $100 million in earthquake relief funding for Turkey and Syria (CNN, February 19, 2023)
• US ‘turning the corner’ on pandemic but pressure grows to help other nations (The Guardian, May 9, 2021)

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Emergency Call Numbers

• Major 911 outages in 4 states leave millions without an easy way to contact authorities (NBC, April 18, 2024)