Vicky Hartzler: “In August of 2013, the southern portion of my district experienced a major disaster involving heavy flooding, which…”

“In August of 2013, the southern portion of my district experienced a major disaster involving heavy flooding, which devastated infrastructure and caused significant hardship to many of my constituents. Unfortunately, the Federal recovery efforts to this devastated region added insult to injury. Local officials dealt with multiple teams conducting duplicative site visits due to lost paperwork, inconsistent messages between various survey and evaluation teams, and unnecessarily long delays in recovery and reimbursement. Such a response to any disaster is unacceptable, and change is necessary. Last year I introduced a bill to address the shortcomings of the FEMA response to the 2013 flooding in my district to ensure future disaster recoveries in Missouri and elsewhere are as painless and efficient as possible. My bill, which is included in this reform package, requires FEMA to create an action plan to address inconsistent guidance, inappropriate recordkeeping procedures, and overall mixed assistance to local officials. Additionally, it directs FEMA to issue a forward-looking report to identify new technologies that further aid the disaster workforce in partnering with private nonprofits as well as State and local governments in the wake of a disaster or emergency. FEMA processes need to be streamlined and consistent in order to help those recovering from a disaster feel supported and assured the relief will come in a timely, efficient manner.…”