The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended in a new report that the Secretary of Homeland Security direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to create a mechanism that’s focused on sharing information and lessons learned regarding disaster recovery, including good collaborative practices.

The Department of Homeland Security concurred with GAO’s recommendation.

GAO reviewed five catastrophic disasters - the Loma Prieta earthquake (California, 1989), Hurricane Andrew (Florida, 1992), the Northridge earthquake (California, 1994), the Kobe earthquake (Japan, 1995), and the Grand Forks/Red River flood (North Dakota and Minnesota, 1997) - to identify recovery lessons. GAO also interviewed officials involved in the recovery from these disasters and experts on disaster recovery, and reviewed relevant legislation, policies, and the disaster recovery literature.

“In the wake of the 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes, coordination and collaboration challenges created obstacles during the government’s response and recovery efforts,” GAO noted in the report, Disaster Recovery: Experiences from Past Disasters Offer Insights for Effective Collaboration after Catastrophic Events. “Because of the many stakeholders involved in recovery, including all levels of government, it is critical to build collaborative relationships.

Building on GAO’s September 2008 report which provided several key recovery practices from past catastrophic disasters, the new report presents examples of how federal, state, and local governments have effectively collaborated in the past.

GAO reported that “ FEMA has taken steps to support collaboration through planning and sharing recovery lessons” and “has assisted state and local governments in developing post-disaster recovery plans in various ways, which in turn can help facilitate collaboration among stakeholders.”

“FEMA, along with other federal agencies … provided technical assistance for post-disaster recovery plans for several of the disasters we reviewed,” GAO reported. “Second, FEMA developed guidance for conducting the long-term recovery planning process. More specifically, the agency created a Long-Term Community Recovery Self Help Guide that offers communities step-by-step guidance for implementing a recovery program and planning process. Third, FEMA created the Long-Term Recovery Assessment Tool to help communities analyze the impacts of a disaster while taking into consideration the local government’s capacity to assist in promoting its own long-term recovery.

“The assessment tool helps federal and other decision-makers identify the type and level of supplemental long-term community recovery assistance that may be needed for full recovery from a disaster. The tool also includes processes and procedures for assessing long-term recovery needs, community evaluation protocols, standard planning templates, staffing strategies, and timetables for various levels of effort.”

In addition, “FEMA has also taken actions to encourage collaboration among state and local officials to share experiences and expertise related to disaster recovery.”