Main federal disaster relief law has fallen behind modern threat levels

Terra Daily: In new research published in the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, New York University Professor Mitchell Moss explains that the cornerstone Federal disaster relief legislation, the Robert T. Stafford Act, is dangerously out of date, and must be reformed to provide for rapid relief after a catastrophe.

….Moss, professor of urban policy and planning at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU, faults the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act for:

• Not recognizing 21st century threats such as chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological attacks or accidents as legal grounds for a major disaster declaration by the President;
• Failing to establish a difference between the scale of rural and urban disaster - the Stafford Act offers the same level of aid for a blizzard in a rural community as it does for a major earthquake in a metropolis.

Moss recommends that Congress:

• Amend the definition of a "major disaster" to recognize 21st century threats such as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attacks and accidents;
• Create a level of disaster specifically for "catastrophes" to cover incidents such as Hurricane Katrina and September 11 and to provide increased levels of aid beyond that provided at the "major disaster" level…..

Damage from Hurricane Kathleen in 1976