Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act - Criticisms

Criticisms

There are many criticisms of the Stafford Act. The Institute for Southern Studies has stated that the Act needs to give greater latitude to FEMA on how it responds to disasters that are extraordinarily devastating such as Hurricane Katrina. This is especially true for FEMA's ability to provide financial assistance in the form of grants to states and localities suffering after such a disaster. The Institute for Southern Studies has also noted the red tape that has been associated with the Stafford Act in the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. In an article for Frontline, many others agreed that the process of handing out aid was hindered by bureaucratic red tape. This leads to a rather slow response from Washington to diagnose and resolve issues with recovery efforts. Another criticism levied by the authors of the Frontline article included the provision in the Stafford Act that requires buildings that are destroyed to be rebuilt the same way that they were standing before the disaster occurred. For example, if a 50 year old hospital was destroyed during a disaster, the Stafford Act would require the building to be constructed exactly how it was without any updates to the building.

Other criticisms of the Stafford Act focus on human rights issues that are present during emergencies and recovery efforts. The Stafford Act does not require that the federal government ensure displaced persons have the ability to participate in governmental decisions that affect the recovery efforts. This includes not only access to public forums about recovery planning and management, but the Stafford Act also does not address voting rights or civic participation issues for those who are displaced during a disaster.

Many people argue that while the Stafford Act allows the government to step in and provide housing and medical assistance, it does not require it to do so. Any housing, education, or healthcare provided during an emergency and the recovery efforts are provided at the sole discretion of the Federal government. Even the rebuilding of medical facilities is discretionary.

While the Stafford Act does give special detail and instruction about the needs of the disabled and animals during an emergency, it does not specify any requirements for children or the elderly. These groups should be given more consideration during an emergency due to extenuating circumstances that could prevent them from following the same emergency protocol as an average adult.