Documenting Disaster Recovery Costs

Quinn, Gerard J., Shheets, Robert E., Stalberg, Christian E., Government Finance Review

Good record keeping is the basis for successful cost recovery from federal and state disaster assistance programs. Some points to consider.

Large disasters such as Hurricane Hugo, the Loma Prieta Earthquake and Hurricane Andrew have a major impact on individuals, governmental and nonprofit organizations, and the impacted areas' economic activity and base. Governments expend resources in preparing for, responding to and recovering from a disaster event. As an event progresses from preparatory activities to response and repairs to postevent recovery, the last thought of those caught up in the long list of unanticipated activities is record keeping. Good record keeping, however, is the basis for successful cost recovery from federal and some state disaster assistance programs. Failure to produce adequate expenditure records of disaster-related activities will severely limit an affected jurisdiction's ability to recover disaster-related costs from these programs. Participation in federal disaster assistance programs is long term and detail intensive.

Federal Relief

When a disaster event is beyond the response capability of a state and impacted local government(s), the President may declare an emergency or major disaster upon a governor's request. This makes a variety of federal resources and programs available, one of which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA is the lead …

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Publication information: Article title: Documenting Disaster Recovery Costs. Contributors: Quinn, Gerard J. - Author, Shheets, Robert E. - Author, Stalberg, Christian E. - Author. Magazine title: Government Finance Review. Volume: 8. Issue: 6 Publication date: December 1992. Page number: 13+. © 1999 Government Finance Officers Association. COPYRIGHT 1992 Gale Group.

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