ABSTRACT

National policy is clear: local government is expected to take the lead in community recovery. That seems entirely appropriate because local government is closest to the disaster and is really the only unit of government that can piece together the assistance from the outside into a cohesive and coherent approach to community recovery. Unfortunately, it turns out that local governments are often hard hit themselves by the disaster, making it difcult to reestablish themselves to undertake the often challenging responsibilities for recovery. Local government facilities and local government employees are part of the community, and therefore as likely to be affected by the disaster.