Essay Sample on Guiding Disaster Alleviation Plans: The Role of Laws and Regulations

Introduction

Laws, policies, and regulations have a role to play in guiding the development of alleviation plans by state, tribal, local, and state governments. The rise of natural disasters in most parts of the world has prompted the designation of legislation and laws that facilitate successful mitigation measures. The various government authorities adopt plans aimed at lessening the impact of a disaster, which is one of the condition outlined for non-emergency disaster assistance. Therefore, this paper identifies three acts of legislation that explain threat detection and how the identification procedure adds value to risk management.

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Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act

The act bestows the legislative guidelines for state and territorial government to assume methods aimed at lowering threats from likely risks through measures of mitigation planning ('Hazard Mitigation Planning Laws, Regulations & Policies | FEMA.gov,' 2018). The act has four programs that include the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) that aids societies to execute measures of hazard alleviation following a declaration of a major disaster. The second program is the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program (PDM) that awards planning and grant funds to states to aid in mitigation planning. The other two programs are Public Assistance Grant Programs (PA) and Fire Management Assistance Grant Program (FMAG), which allow fast response to disasters while the latter controls fires that would cause destruction that would constitute a major disaster. The act explains mitigation planning immediately after the announcement of a significant emergency. Thus, the identification of a natural disaster is paramount for mitigation planning measures.

Sandy Recovery Improvement Act (SRIA) of 2013

The law sanctions transformations to the way the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) delivers assistance under various programs ('Hazard Mitigation Planning Laws, Regulations & Policies | FEMA.gov,' 2018). The law defines a hazard-based on the extent of damage caused to people and property within an area. The scope of damage determines the assistance provided hence providing guidelines to how the authority will implement the mitigation plans. Also, the implementation procedures are dependent on other metrics, such as tools and processes for assessments.

Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act

The act modifies the Homeland Security Act, particularly on the structure of an organization, authorities, and responsibilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ('FEMA Outlines a Decade of Progress after Hurricane Katrina | FEMA.gov,' 2018). The act provides guidelines for the coordination of a risk-based crisis administration system by enhancing vigilance, mitigation, fortification, response, and revitalization measures as well. Hazard identification, based on this law, is critical since it allows the relevant authorities and emergency response persons to prepare and design mitigation guidelines to avert the harmful consequences of a natural disaster.

Importance of Hazard Identification in Risk Management

Risk management, as Gan (2019) defined, is the process of identifying hazards and determining the risks based on their likelihood and severity to people's lives and their properties. Importantly, a hazard is a situation that causes potential harm to persons. Risk control is effective after threats have been identified successfully. According to Gan (2019), risk control means taking the desired action with the intent of eliminating health and safety risks. After a threat has been assessed, minimizing its impact is the only reasonable step. For natural disasters, for instance, it would be hard to prevent the risk from taking place. After a threat such as a hurricane has been identified, the only perfect solution that persons, community, and state actors could undertake includes minimizing its impact. As seen in the legislations given above, one can see that risk management is a requirement for the United States and other like nations.

Consequently, Gan (2019) argued that hazard identification is the first step in the management of risks. Mainly, this signifies that hazards that have not yet been identified are not likely to undergo the process of risk management. In effect, this leads to the non-identification of preventive and mitigation measures successfully. The lack of identification of hazards is one of the leading causes of unnecessary injuries and destruction in the event of natural disasters. The role of weather and meteorologists departments is to identify and analyze risks such as storms and hurricanes that cannot be prevented. After identification, community and government actors take the necessary measures to mitigate the risks by preventing further damage to properties. Thus, this shows the importance of hazard identification in the designation of risk management approaches. Also, the identification of risks helps in creating awareness among community members. It helps to identify the people and regions at risk of natural disasters. With this in mind, people are likely to take personal approaches to save their lives and properties from impending damage from a disaster.

Conclusion

Mitigation of risks is paramount in the world today, considering the surge of natural disasters in the world today. Disasters such as hurricanes and storms could cause intensive destruction to lives and properties. The three legislations discussed are the Stafford's Act, SRIA, and Post Katrina Emergency Reform Act. The three regulations advocate for the need for identifying dangers to allow for easy mitigation measures and techniques. Detecting risks and hazards allow for effective mitigation plans. More so, it helps in increasing awareness, which in turn, prompts all actors in the community and states affected to take the relevant actions towards safety and minimal destruction.

References

FEMA Outlines a Decade of Progress after Hurricane Katrina | FEMA.gov. (2018). Fema.Gov. https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2015/07/30/fema-outlines-decade-progress-after-hurricane-katrina

Gan, S. L. (2019). Importance of hazard identification in risk management. Industrial Health, 57(3), 281-282. doi: 10.2486/indhealth.57_300

Hazard Mitigation Planning Laws, Regulations & Policies | FEMA.gov. (2018). Fema.Gov. https://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-planning-laws-regulations-policies