How does local government receive a Governor's Disaster Proclamation?
Local officials, through the County Emergency Management Coordinator, should contact the state Emergency Management Division with a current assessment of the disaster/emergency. They must identify the resource needs that have gone beyond the capabilities of the local officials responding to the disaster. Please note: Local officials must exhaust their resources and capabilities, including mutual aid, before state resources can be activated through a Governor's Proclamation.
Emergency Management Division will give a recommendation to the Governor for the decision on activating state resources.
What is available to local government when the Governor signs a State of Emergency Disaster Proclamation?
- The Governor can activate state resources such as personnel, equipment, supplies, and essential services to provide assistance in the form of technical guidance, debris clearance, traffic control, levee patrol, security, shelters, potable water, vaccines, transportation, and other emergency response capabilities. AGAIN, local officials must exhaust their resources and capabilities, including mutual aid, before state resources are activated.
- In addition, the Governor can waive certain rules and regulations that hinder the response and recovery activities conducted by local and state authorities. In the past, the Governor has waived regulations pertaining to overwidth, overlength, overweight, required permits, open burning, program restrictions, deadline extensions, etc.
Each time the Governor issues a disaster proclamation, the media, local officials, and the general public have a misconception that the proclamation makes Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants available. This is false and should be communicated whenever a Governor's Proclamation is announced. The Governor's Proclamation triggers such state agencies as the Department of Transportation (DOT), National Guard, Emergency Management, and others. For example, prisoners may help with sandbagging, National Guard may help with debris removal, and the like.
A Presidential Declaration is necessary to activate federal agencies, such as FEMA, which provide dollars for assistance.
Referral Groups for Disaster Services
Red Cross -- emergency home repairs, household items, medicine, tools, groceries, clothes, rent, transportation, free of charge. Contact your local Red Cross.
Iowa Emergency Management -- preparedness, response/recovery efforts, hazard mitigation. Each county has its own County Emergency Management Coordinator as a part of county government. Contact your county coordinator or call 515-281-3231.
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) -- infrastructure assistance; helps communities become disaster resistant. The FEMA hotline number is 800-462-9029.
- FEMA provides federal grant assistance for emergency work and the repair or replacement of public facilities damaged by disaster events which receive a Presidential Declaration. Public Assistance Grants are generally provided through the state on a 75 percent federal cost share basis.
- Eligible applicants include state agencies; any county, city, town, village, or other political subdivision of the state; and Indian tribes within the designated area. Facilities owned and operated by private non-profit organizations also may be eligible for assistance. They must meet the FEMA definition of an education, utility, emergency, medical, or custodial care facility. Other private non-profit facilities may be eligible for assistance if their primary purpose is to provide an essential governmental service such as a museum, zoo, community center, library, homeless shelter, senior citizen center, shelter workshop, or similar facility that is open to the general public.
- Work eligible for assistance is classified as either emergency or permanent work. Emergency work includes debris removal and other essential actions that must be performed immediately in order to save lives, protect public health and safety, and protect property. Permanent work includes the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities such as:
- Roads and streets including drainage structures and safety features (Federal Aid System (FAS) roads are not eligible.);
- Water control facilities including dams, levees, and drainage channels;
- Buildings such as police and fire stations, schools, libraries, and public office buildings; their contents, vehicles, and equipment;
- Utility systems including electrical, water, sanitary sewage, and storm sewer lines; and
- Park and recreation facilities such as playgrounds, swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses, and ball fields.
- Eligible facilities may be restored to their pre-disaster condition and design, subject to applicable codes and standards. Cost-effective hazard mitigation actions also may be funded. Insurance proceeds and salvage are deducted from the grant when applicable. Work eligible through another federal agency program is not eligible for FEMA funding.
- Briefings are conducted for local governmental officials shortly after Public Assistance is designated. The procedures for requesting and obtaining assistance are explained and each entity is asked to submit a Notice of Interest (NOI) form. Applicants also may submit a NOI to the Governor's Authorized Representative at the Disaster Field Office. Applicants have 30 days from the designation of Public Assistance for their area to submit a NOI.
- FEMA will normally set up a state or local headquarters as a contact point.
FSA - Farm Service Agency -- financial help for repair of terraces and other conservation measures through the Emergency Conservation Program; low interest loans also available; livestock feeding programs. Local contact.
Army Corps of Engineers -- flood response teams, levee inspections, flood control projects; assistance with levee repair on streams draining more than 400 square miles.
NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) -- technical help in repairs of terraces and other conservation measures; assistance with levee repairs on streams with less than 400 square miles of drainage area; wetland restoration projects. Local contact.
In addition to the above groups, many others may offer specialized disaster services, including: