Talking It Over

The summer of '98, with its record-breaking heat, has seen disaster strike every part of the country. Residents of Texas endured 29 straight days of temperatures over 100 degrees, killing more than 100 people. Wildfires consumed over half a million acres of land in Florida, and tornadoes wreaked havoc in Minnesota, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania.

Last week, I traveled to Milwaukee, where devastating floods have caused millions of dollars in damage for the second year in a row. There, I spoke with victims and saw firsthand the destruction inflicted on homes and businesses.

If you think natural disasters today are taking a greater toll on the country than in the past, you're right. Between 1988 and 1992, there were an average of 44 major disaster declarations each year. Since then, that number has risen to 60, in part due to El Nino, La Nina and the effects of global warming.

Since 1992, when Hurricane Andrew devastated parts of southern Florida, the United States has suffered disasters unprecedented in scope and cost, including the Midwest floods in 1993, the Northridge earthquake in 1994, Hurricanes Marilyn and Fran in 1995 and 1996, and the Red River floods in 1997.

When Hurricane Andrew tore through 50 miles of southern Florida on Aug. 24, 1992, it left nearly 200,000 residents homeless and 1.3 million without electricity. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency, charged with responding to disasters, was fighting another battle altogether.

Most of FEMA's activities were focused on planning for nuclear attack. It took three days before FEMA representatives arrived on the scene of Andrew's devastation, and when they did, bureaucratic bungling kept victims frustrated and unable to get the help they so desperately needed.

Who can forget Dade County's Director of Emergency Management, Kate Hale, pleading, "We're doing everything we can. Where in the hell is the Calvary on this one?"

Besides being geared to civil defense, the agency lacked experience at the helm. Until my husband appointed the current head, James Lee Witt, no FEMA director had ever had any emergency-management experience. James Lee was in charge of Arkansas' Office of Emergency Services before coming to Washington, and Bill knew that if anyone could turn FEMA around, he could.

Since taking office, Witt has cut bureaucratic red tape and focused on getting aid to victims and communities.

Tom Feuerborne, director of Oklahoma's Civil Emergency Management Department, remembers FEMA's response on April 19, 1995. At 9:02 a.m., a truck bomb shattered the Murrah Federal Building. At 9:30, Feuerborne called FEMA. By 2:05, its advance team was on the scene, and by 8:10 that night, Witt himself had arrived to survey the devastation. Feuerborne declares, "My office is very happy with the quick response."

But James Lee Witt has not been satisfied merely to respond to disaster. One of the most important initiatives that he has undertaken at FEMA — Project Impact — is shifting the agency's focus away from picking up the pieces AFTER a flood or hurricane to taking steps to reduce losses BEFORE disaster strikes.

Project Impact helps local communities form a partnership of government leaders, business representatives and individuals to arrange funding, in-kind services, technical support and labor to undertake disaster-resistant activities. FEMA offers seed money and technical assistance to get these projects started.

Last April, as part of Project Impact, AmeriCorps volunteers fanned out across the country to help five communities prepare for future natural disasters. In Oakland, Calif., students spent their spring break helping residents make their homes more resistant to earthquakes by bracing bookshelves and water heaters and moving heavy objects to prevent injuries.

In Pascagoula, Miss., high school volunteers helped the homebound and the disabled prepare their homes for potential disaster. Jim Young, Pascagoula's City Manager, sums Project Impact up best: "It's good economic sense and good common sense."

Witt explains: "It takes years for people, businesses and communities to recover emotionally and financially from even the smallest disasters. But there are actions that we can take to reduce these costs."

He estimates that every dollar spent in mitigation before a disaster will save $2 in the future. And, given that we spend an average of $2.5 billion every five years on disaster relief, Project Impact does make good sense.

As we grieve for the victims of disaster around the country this summer, we should all remember the hard-working men and women of FEMA and thank them for the great job they're doing.

For more information about how FEMA can help you and your community become disaster resistant, you can call 1-800-480-2520 or visit its website at www.fema.gov.

To find out more about Hillary Rodham Clinton and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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