State of Play | Disaster Resilience Is a State-Federal Balancing Act

State of Play | Disaster Resilience Is a State-Federal Balancing Act

With the frequency and severity of natural disasters on the rise, states seek federal recovery aid that's easier to apply for and spend.

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency distributed nearly $12 billion to state and local governments to rebuild infrastructure damaged by natural disasters in 2023.

Problem is, the U.S. experienced 28 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters that year. With the frequency and severity of natural disasters on the rise, is that recovery aid enough?

"The short answer is no," Washington Rep. Cindy Ryu (D) says. "Part of it is because, most disasters, they do not qualify for FEMA assistance, most of the assistance is on a reimbursement basis, which can take years. And that, as you can imagine, compounds the problems for the state and local governments trying to recover from disasters."

In this month's installment of "State of Play," a bipartisan video series created by A Starting Point and NCSL, Ryu is joined by Hawaii Rep. Lauren Matsumoto (R) to discuss the critical issue of disaster resilience in the United States.

Complicating the importance of federal assistance is a state's location.

"It really is a balancing act," Matsumoto says. "We need that federal assistance to fill the gaps as necessary, but really the states need to be more resilient. As we saw here in Hawaii, we need to be able to respond quicker ourselves. Because we're so geographically isolated, it took a long time for FEMA to be deployed."

So, how can the federal government make it easier for states to access disaster relief and recovery funds. For starters, Ryu and Matsumoto say, it could provide more flexibility and reduce confusion.

"We would love to have the assistance dollars up front," Ryu says. "And we'd love to be able to use the assistance dollars to not just rebuild but also to mitigate and to reduce risks for the future."

Recovery from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 involved 60 programs run by 19 different federal agencies.

"The thing I hear the most, especially after the Maui wildfires, for the federal government is really cutting the red tape and streamlining the grants," Matsumoto says. "Making it a lot easier to navigate that system is something that I think would be extremely helpful."

Watch more installments of "State of Play."