Rebuild Iowa Office
- 115 pages
- May 18, 2009
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The State of Iowa encountered disastrous weather events throughout spring and summer 2008. These incidents have since been recognized as the worst natural disasters in Iowa’s history. In response to these incidents, Iowa Governor Chet Culver established the Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO) through Executive Order 7 on June 27, 2008. RIO was established to coordinate statewide recovery efforts. In addition to RIO, the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division (HSEMD) of the Iowa Department of Defense serves to coordinate activities before, during, and after emergencies through partnerships with Federal, State, local, and private entities. The Iowa Recovery Analysis Workshop is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Integration Center in partnership with the State of Iowa and RIO. The following objectives were developed for the workshop:
1. Document Iowa’s recovery efforts and analyze efforts that have been successful as well as those that need improvement.
2. Develop recommendations to address current recovery efforts and improve future planning efforts.
3. Analyze Iowa’s recovery process to identify best practices and areas for improvement to aid future Federal, State, and local disaster recovery efforts, programs, and policies. The purpose of the workshop was to conduct a midcourse analysis of actions and processes in Iowa’s disaster recovery that work best, could be improved, should be continued, and can be shared with other jurisdictions throughout the Nation. The workshop also identified potential changes needed in national disaster recovery policy.
To conduct a midcourse analysis, FEMA and RIO used three methods to solicit responses from affected communities: the Iowa Recovery Analysis Workshop, an online survey, and interviews. This report will analyze the State’s recovery efforts using information gleaned from these three sources, quarterly reports published by the State, and press releases released by the State and FEMA regarding the storms and recovery efforts. The purpose of this report is to:
- Identify strengths to be maintained and reinforced
- Identify potential areas for further improvement
- Identify best practices that can serve as models for future disaster recovery efforts
The Iowa Recovery Analysis Workshop resulted in many useful findings, including strengths, areas for improvement, and best practices. The general results are summed up below.
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PURPOSE
The Iowa Recovery Analysis Workshop is sponsored by the DHS/FEMA National Integration Center in partnership with the State of Iowa and RIO. The purpose of the workshop is to conduct a midcourse analysis of actions and processes in Iowa’s disaster recovery that work best, could be improved, should be continued, and can be shared with other jurisdictions throughout the Nation. The study also identified potential changes needed in national disaster recovery policy.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the workshop were as follows:
1. Document Iowa’s recovery efforts and analyze efforts that have been successful as well as those that need improvement.
2. Develop recommendations to address current recovery efforts and improve future planning efforts.
3. Analyze Iowa’s recovery process to identify best practices and areas for improvement to aid future Federal, State, and local disaster recovery efforts, programs, and policies.
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