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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and
Risk Management
Crisis and Emergency Management
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NOTICE: The ICDRM's monthly emergency managment forum, held at the GWU |
| February
2003
Volume 4 - Number 1 |
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Links:
Current events
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An Update of September 11th Assistance and Recovery
Programs
By: Whit Chaiyabhat
Widely publicized individual and business disaster assistance does not provide the masses an understanding or gauge for the relative costs associated with the response and recovery activities for such a catastrophic incident. To begin to grasp the full scope of the effects on our national economy, a full economic impact assessment is necessary. A small glimpse of the associated costs, from debris removal, emergency response, business sector response and recovery to medical and mental health services for those affected is provided herein, but only begins to touch on the true costs of September 11th on our nation. Assistance Programs Nearly sixteen months after the attacks of September 11th, and after four extension periods provided by FEMA during the course of the recovery process, the last day for FEMA and SBA assistance registration is scheduled for January 31, 2003. The FEMA MRA and SBA’s low interest loans have been supplemented by numerous private donations, such as the September 11th fund and the Liberty Disaster Relief Fund (American Red Cross) The Liberty Disaster Relief Fund (American Red Cross as of September 2002) § Nearly $1 billion (B) in charitable donations § An additional $200 million (M) was appropriated by the end of 2002 § At the one year anniversary of the attacks, the Red Cross distributed $643M § Three thousand families of the deceased will have received an average of $115,000 per family § Remaining $133M will be provided to assist families with long term needs Response and Recovery Programs The impacts of September 11th are widespread at the local level and continually visible on a larger economic degree. FEMA recently released funding projections for the response and recovery cost associated with the WTC disaster. The $8.8B allocated to FEMA from the $20B provided by President Bush and Congress, has been allocated for specific activities in NYC. Projected commitments include the following: § Over $4.2B towards public assistance projects, including debris removal, emergency protective measures and the repair or restoration of damaged public facilities § $2.75B to repair and revive Lower Manhattan’s transportation infrastructure, including $142.4M to the Port Authority for tunnel work and alternative transportation services § Projections for structural mitigation projects equal approximately $425M § Additional FEMA grants include $132M for Regular Services Crisis Counseling Grant for Project Liberty and $500,000 towards the Children’s Mental Health Grant. Funding demands also address costs associated with the reimbursement for services during the response phase of the disaster. § NYPD received approximately $25M for overtime costs related to response and recovery activities and equipment use § NYC Department of Sanitation was given over $1M for repairs performed for the maritime transfer stations required for the removal of debris § NYC Department of Transportation was provided nearly $1.5M for overtime labor costs and fringe benefits for debris removal and $5.7M for emergency response and debris removal at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills landfill § NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner received $2.5M for costs associated with temporary morgue facilities at the WTC site § NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications received nearly $3.5M for voice and data recovery efforts for the NYC interagency communications network § Other agencies receiving reimbursement for services and equipment associated with the response and recovery at the WTC site include: The Metropolitan Transit Authority ($12M); FDNY ($6.5M); NY Emergency Management Office ($2.5M); and many others. For further information on the economic effects of September 11th, visit the following websites: http://www.fema.gov http://www.september11fund.org/fundfacts.php http://www.redcross.org/press/disasters http://www.sba.gov |