Response for Local Government

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Introduction

Section 106 Flowchart (click to enlarge)

Credit: 1000 Friends Of Florida/Florida SHPO; adapted from FEMA

Local governments, planning and preservation departments own major challenges in the aftermath of natural disasters.  In addition to coordinating local responders and getting city services and protocols back online, they must interface with state and federal agencies.  While the single greatest disaster response tool is undoubtedly a preservation-integrated disaster plan, it is possible to manage a response effort in an ad-hoc fashion.  This document is designed to help local officials, planning and preservation departments understand how they can and should respond to natural disasters.

The most critical resources relating to this topic are marked below with a check.

Critical Organizations

• Federal Emergency Management Agency

Web Resources

• Heritage Emergency Task Force Rapid Building and Site Condition Assessment Form(FEMA/NPS/NCPTT).  This form is intended to provide public officials with a tool to rapidly assess the condition of buildings and sites within a disaster area.
• Preserving Historic Resources Impacted By Flooding (National Trust for Historic Preservation). 
• Disaster Planning for Florida's Historic Resources (1000 Friends of Florida/Florida SHPO, 2003)
• A Guide to the Disaster Declaration Process (FEMA)
• Planning for Post Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction; Chapter 5, A Planner's Tool Kit (American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service, 1998)
• Treatment of Flood-Damaged Older and Historic Buildings(National Trust For Historic Preservation)
• Coping With Water Damage(Heritage Preservation) is an informative video on how to re-enter flooded buildings and deal with damaged contents and collections. 
• Brief Guide to Understanding Repairs to Historic Homes Damaged By Hurricane Katrina and Other Related Floods(Preservation Trades Network) provides information on caring for masonry foundations and roofing, enhancing ventilation, all while keeping preservation in mind.
• Information For Owners of Damaged Buildings Following A National Disaster(North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office [SHPO]).  A series of fact sheets on dealing with the immediate and longer-term work associated with caring for a building after a disaster.
• Mold Removal Guidelines For Your Flooded Home(LSU Ag Center) is relevant to non-residential buildings as well.
• Field Guide to Emergency Response, published by Heritage Preservation.  Geared toward cultural institutions, this publication is a step-by-step guide to deal dealing with disaster scenarios.
• After The Flood: Rebuilding Communities Through Historic Preservation, a video produced by Georgia Public Broadcasting, talks about the state response mechanisms that acted to save historic resources after the historic 1996 floods in south Georgia.

Print Resources

• Information for Owners of Buildings with Earthquake Damage (East Bay Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, 1989)
• The Loma Prieta Quake: What One City Learned (International City Management Association, 1991)

For Further Reading

• Rebuilding Historic Communities Through Historic Preservation(Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division [SHPO])
• Hurricane Hugo and Historic Charleston: Damage Recordation and Retrieval (American Society for Testing and Materials, 1996)