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The threat of natural disasters has again gripped the nation. In Texas, more than 120 people are dead after horrific flooding, and at least 170 are still missing. Tragically, young children and counselors from a camp are among those lost. In New Mexico, houses have been washed down a river. And in North Carolina, more than 10 inches of rain flooded entire communities.
The scenes from these disasters are horrific and all too familiar. My state of Vermont faced catastrophic flooding two years ago, on July 10-11. Homes, farms and businesses were destroyed. Roads and bridges were washed away. The damage was shocking, and the recovery was painful. Then, exactly one year later, another flood devastated our state. Communities were left reeling — two once-in-a-generation floods, back-to-back.
After two consecutive floods, Vermonters know firsthand how essential local volunteer responders and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were to our state’s immediate recovery. Without question, the victims of flooding in Texas, North Carolina and New Mexico are experiencing this too.
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When disaster strikes, it is an all-hands-on-deck moment. The federal government has the unique ability to surge resources and personnel, and it’s critical they show up.
As long as there is destructive weather, there must be a fully functioning FEMA. Communities from Vermont, to Texas, to North Carolina, to New Mexico know this reality.
But, the agency is far from perfect. FEMA must be reformed.
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FEMA is too slow, too bureaucratic and too bloated. Administrative costs outweigh direct disaster assistance. Recovery is hindered by red tape.
Thats why I introduced new legislation July 10 to fix FEMA’s broken long-term recovery process.
The “Disaster Assistance Improvement and Decentralization (AID) Act” has a simple premise: local leaders know their local community best. They should be empowered to make decisions.
Local leaders know what size culvert they need, what size stones to use in grading a road, and what bridge to replace first.
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Local leaders have the best understanding of the needs of their local communities and their neighbors. Too many communities across Vermont have wasted invaluable weeks debating with FEMA over inconsequential details or submitting and re-submitting paperwork every time they’re assigned a new recovery officer.
Final decisions on recovery projects weren’t even made in Vermont. The FEMA employee overseeing Vermont’s disaster recovery was located in Puerto Rico.
Time and time again, I heard these frustrations from flooded communities in Vermont. And time and time again, we got excuses from FEMA.
In early July, I visited five communities still recovering from the Vermont floods — Killington, Ludlow, Weston, Barre and Montpelier — and in the coming weeks, I’ll visit the state’s Northeast Kingdom. I spoke with leaders and recovery workers in every town who were exhausted and frustrated.
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Their recovery has been set back by constant staff turnover, endless paperwork and waiting, and now the threat of funding freezes and other uncertainty. Local leaders need the system to change.
Disaster-stricken towns and cities need to be empowered and need more authority to make decisions in the recovery process. Bureaucracy needs to take a backseat.
The AID Act helps local communities tailor recovery solutions to their unique needs by cutting through red tape in FEMA’s public assistance program and easing burdensome requirements that slow recovery.
It will get federal funding out faster once a disaster hits, so our communities don’t waste time or overextend their budgets on repairs.
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It will provide more training and technical assistance to towns and cities. Many rural towns have only one or two full-time employees. They have little-to-no capacity after a storm hits to begin the complicated recovery process.
It allows FEMA to cover the cost of relocating a government facility that has been damaged, such as a wastewater treatment plant. It allows counties and regional planning commissions to work with local towns in submitting FEMA applications and paperwork.
The “Disaster Assistance Improvement and Decentralization (AID) Act” has a simple premise: local leaders know their local community best. They should be empowered to make decisions.
Frequent staff turnover at FEMA only sets recovery back. The Disaster AID Act would make it easier to bring back experienced current and former FEMA employees and help limit this staff turnover, rather than force them out by compromising their pensions.
The Disaster AID Act protects FEMA’s pre-disaster hazard mitigation funds, so communities can better prepare for disasters. These funds are currently frozen, and many communities in Vermont and across the United States have been forced to pause or stop these projects as a result.
Like any reform effort, details matter. Accountability will be crucial, and this bill includes safeguards to avoid waste and fraud. But accountability cannot come at the expense of efficiency. I know we can find a workable solution that protects taxpayer dollars while fixing these broken processes.
Washington tends to think that more federal control is better. But I believe that we need to trust and empower the people working every day to improve their communities. This is a policy I can find common ground on with my colleagues across the aisle, and I look forward to working with them to help disaster victims from Vermont to Texas. We all want to improve FEMA, and we’ll need to work together to make it happen.
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