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Q&A on Planners and Disasters What can planners do to help those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and mitigate disaster in their own communities? APA Executive Director and CEO Paul Farmer hosted a two-hour Q&A on that topic on January 5, 2006. Below is a transcript of the questions answered live during the event.
Can you suggest some related practical resources for planners to use? A comprehensive list of resources is available online at: www.planning.org/katrina/resources.htm. This fall, I participated in an international disaster conference at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and the proceedings of that conference will be issued this year through Cal Poly. Last year, APA co-sponsored six workshops on Nation on Edge which explored why America builds and rebuilds on the edge of disaster. A book on this topic will be issued later this year. These are just some of the resources available.
This is very contextual, it depends on the specific disaster, the quality of your local and state agencies. Today in Florida, for example, the Department of Community Affairs is quite effective in pre-disaster hazard mitigation efforts, as well as in post-disaster responses. They do a very good job of integrating emergency management into planning. This is just one example. Overall guidance is provided in APA's PAS report 483/484, Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction.
We have to remember that this problem has been created through numerous actions over almost 200 years and, as in the Everglades, it is going to take a long time to figure out how our natural environment can better coexist with our economic needs and human settlements. Restoring the Gulf Coast wetlands, removing MR GO (the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet) and rebuilding levees (at least in the near term) are likely to occur. More widespread levee removal is not even being seriously discussed at this time.
As a Louisiana native, with many relatives still living in both Louisiana and Mississippi, I have a pretty good idea of both the financial realities and the political realities planners face. Planning is not well funded and general purpose government, too often, is not well-supported. It is very important that funding come from local sources and state sources but these face enormous demands at this time. Support for planning in the short term must come from the Federal government and the not-for-profit sector. APA's Planning Foundation has been accepting donations that are targeted for Katrina efforts. This is also an opportunity to engage the for-profit sector in planning efforts and, historically, that sector has been a leading source for planning support throughout the last century.
Actually, we do have examples of planners' warnings being heeded as well as examples of how we can learn from disasters. In the latter category, I would place the significant improvements to buildings in San Francisco and throughout California, as well as significant improvements in building codes in Florida.
In any planning process there are many many stakeholders. This is the case in the Gulf Coast. We can already see institutions, such as Tulane University, taking the lead in creating their own post-Katrina vision both for themselves and for the larger community. I don't think we'll see any one entity that will or even could assume the responsibility for creating a new vision for the entire Gulf Coast. That should not be troubling to us because visions that can be implemented always come from widespread participation, leadership and partnerships.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated an area larger than the entire United Kingdom. New Orleans alone suffered more damage than any major U.S. city since the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906 and the Chicago fire in 1871. More recently, 9/11 affected a portion of lower Manhattan but did not leave New York City's economy devastated nor did it have a major impact on the State of New York's economy. New Orleans' economy has, in fact, been devastated and the State of Louisiana's economy has been similarly affected. Additionally, Hurricane Rita struck areas of southwestern Louisiana that had been relatively unaffected by Hurricane Katrina. In fact, some evacuees had to flee a second time. In Mississippi, the coast has been affected but its cities beyond the coast were not impacted nearly as severely. There is probably a political reason as well. For example, the monies appropriated by Congress just before the holidays give four times as much money per capita to those impacted by the hurricanes in Mississippi than those in Louisiana. I suggest that these are but some of the reasons why you may have the perception that recovery is proceeding more quickly in Mississippi.
Make sure that your comprehensive plan has a hazard mitigation element. When I was in Oregon, we had to be prepared for volcanos, earthquakes, landslides, floods, wildfires, tsunamis (on the coast), and eco-terrorism. For some hazard-specific assistance go to recent PAS reports on Planning for Wildfires, Planning for the Unexpected, and Landslide Hazards and Planning.
Ray Burby of UNC has been carrying out some very interesting research that shows that losses per capita are minimized where states mandate comp plans, hazard elements of such plans, and building codes. Where some of these are not mandated, losses per capita increase, and where none are mandated losses are at their highest. Pre-Katrina, Louisiana did not mandate any of these and per capita loss rates were far higher than any other coastal state in the country. We have good evidence that good planning saves money. In fact, it saves lots and lots of money. In Congress, we hear planning being spoken about more favorably on both sides of the aisle, because Katrina provided such a lesson in terms of what happens when we don't have good planning.
Many universities are already offering opportunities. The University of Pennsylvania planning program, with several graduates already working in the Gulf states, is holding a conference next month. Ohio State University, through its planning program, just took students to the area for 10 days. Planning programs at Jackson State and the University of New Orleans are also providing opportunities for student involvement. Your question suggests to me that we at APA could provide a useful matching role between institutions and students. Why don't you check back on our website in a week or so and also send any specific ideas you have to us at getinvolved@planning.org.
One practical step that the Louisiana governor has taken is to hire a respected accounting firm to audit how every single dollar from the federal government is spent. The governor has hired a second accounting firm to review the work of the first in order to demonstrate the seriousness of Louisiana's intentions, and, hopefully create the confidence that good government can become a reality in the state. I think that it's important that planners everywhere emphasize the AICP Code of Ethics as our own standard that governs planning practice. Perhaps this is one way in which planners can show leadership in this area.
As is often the case, there are appropriate roles for each level of government. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and the Stafford Act since its inception, have roles for each. According to FEMA, unfortunately, only three counties in Mississippi and only seven of 39 parishes of Louisiana had approved local hazard mitigation plans pre-Katrina. It's necessary that the roles of each be spelled out, but it's vitally important that the roles also be effectively carried out. This is a responsibility for planners and I believe that disaster planning should be part of every good comprehensive plan and every effective planning process.
One of the most intriguing suggestions has come from several members of Congress who have suggested creating a BRAC-type process so that Army Corps projects would be less susceptible to political influence. The Base Realignment and Closing Process requires that an independent commission develop the list of closures. Congress can only approve or reject the entire list. If Army Corps projects over a certain dollar value went through a similar process, local politicians presumably would have a significantly-reduced role in Army Corps projects. For example, the Army Corps had recommended a decade ago that gates be developed where some of the canals in New Orleans meet Lake Pontchatrain, and those gates would probably have eliminated the flooding from the 17th and London canals, but this project was not supported by local politicians.
Since the hurricane, we have been encouraging people to donate to recognized charities as the best way of providing support to victims. Information online at: www.planning.org/foundation.
Our approach has been to provide solid advice and information and not get into grandstanding. Soon after Katrina struck APA was the most quoted professional organization. During this year, we've been quoted in The New York Times, USA Today, and been interviewed on the BBC, NPR, ABC, and NBC just to name a few. I've also testified before Congress on a panel that included Louisiana Governor Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Nagin so I think our policy team in our D.C. office has been very effective. Early in the process we worked with our chapter leadership in both Mississippi and Lousiana and we held a very effective press conference in the Press Club in D.C. that was widely covered. With AIA, APA sponsored a conference in New Orleans in November at the request of Louisiana's governor. That conference was also covered in the media. Many of our own members of course have been involved in planning efforts in both Mississippi and Louisiana.
Number one, have a hazard-mitigation element in your comprehensive plan. Number two, make sure that your local community leaders, including key planners, are part of the local disaster response and recovery team, including participation in both table-top exercises and field exercises. Number three, PAS report 483/484 (available online at www.planning.org/katrina/resources.htm) has a model of a post-disaster recovery ordinance. Buffalo, New York, has adopted such an ordinance, for example.
We are asking all planners who are interested in either pro bono or compensated work to register on our website at www.planning.org/katrina/volunteering.htm. In pro bono work, expenses are covered.
In December 2005, APA and ULI sponsored six town hall meetings (in Atlanta, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Memphis and Baton Rouge) the six cities with the largest number of evacuees. Our Chapters have also provided meetings that have brought together fellow professionals. We're likely to see a use of online surveys and, perhaps, technologies such as this one as participation tools.
Planners have been participating in the building review process, which, in many counties from Alabama to Texas that were affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, are well underway. If you're interested in volunteering, please go to www.planning.org/katrina/volunteering.htm.
First, prohibition of building or rebuilding on all floodplains would require relocation of much of the population of California and much of the population of many other states. The issue of reform of Federal flood insurance laws is certainly one that should be addressed by Congress. Additionally we should look at other changes in Federal laws. For example, currently the tax break provided for mortgage interest deductions is available if one builds even a second home in a known hazard area. Repeal of this tax break ought to be a no-brainer.
APA has participated in the Stafford Act coalition which was successful in reauthorizing the pre-disaster mitigation program, which aims at reducing the cost of recovery, by using natural systems. And it includes money to do planning for environmental restoration and recovery. We have encouraged the bill proposed by Rep. Baker to put language specific to wetland and coastal systems in the establishment of the federal corporation for recovery. I might add that more and more students who are entering planning today are interested in environmental issues and in careers in environmental planning. We have been increasing APA's educational offerings in this area in response to those interests.
Restoration of "America's Wetland" is estimated to cost more than the restoration of the Everglades. The latter was undertaken at a time of growing budget surpluses at the Federal level, while current projections show continuing federal deficits. Given the tax-cutting mood of the current Congress, I see little likelihood that a restoration effort will be undertaken that will be anything close to the magnitude of the effort that is necessary.
You're probably thinking of two different things. One, local codes often use a figure such as 50 percent when determining whether non-conforming uses can be rebuilt. Two, the National Flood Insurance Program will require some appropriate mitigation under those circumstances (buyout being one of several options). Other alternatives include floodproofing and elevation of the building above the base flood elevation.
We'll never take politics out of the process. Nor should we advocate taking politics out of the process. Planning is part of the democratic process, and as planners, we strive to make it ever more democratic. The issue of segmentation of the city is one that has been advocated in the past, and is now being looked at once again. Of course, the city is somewhat segmented already by the levees along the Mississippi River and the Industrial Canal. Some additional segmentation could be achieved at relatively modest expense and moderate impact if the segmentation were to follow the Metairie-Gentilly Ridge, a location of an earlier channel of the Mississippi River.
Sorry you learned about it only today. The invitation was actually published in the issue of Planning magazine that was received last month, at the top of the Viewpoint column.
As planners, we know that it's not enough to build housing. We need to build neighborhoods and we need to build communities. Habitat, LISC, Enterprise and others are all involved and need to be involved. But efforts need to go beyond these efforts and need to involve planning at all levels — neighborhood, community and region. This is where APA and our planners can play a unique role and one that is badly needed. If you'd like to support these efforts, please consider a gift to the Planning Foundation: www.planning.org/foundation. APA has provided a great deal of assistance thus far through both our annual budget and the Foundation. Requests for APA's assistance in the coming months can be met only with continued support of our members.
Good comprehensive plans not only have infrastructure elements, but those elements are fully integrated into other elements such as the environment. Planners should actively engage engineers and others in a way that everyone understands that the comprehensive plan is not just for planners but is the manner in which all elements of a community are brought together. I am a strong believer in the value of comprehensive plans and of the comprehensive planning process. It is through these that unintended consequences can be understood, trade-offs discussed and futures chosen. Infrastructure funding allocations should be guided by the comprehensive plan and carried out by a capital improvement program that should be run by the planning department. And finally, comprehensive plans should have the force of law and implementing devices such as capital budgets and zoning codes should be required to be consistent with the comprehensive plan.
We can't prevent the event, but we can minimize the damage. The Security Policy guide that was passed in 2005 provides guidance at the national, state and local level for communities to improve their risk-management both in terms of natural and man made disasters. For the last two years, our Safe Growth initiative has included many activities from publications to workshops, many of which can be downloaded or purchased. Once such example is the Safe Growth checklist which can be downladed from the web free of charge. And our recent Domestic Policy Watch made suggestions on further strengthening funding and legislation related to security. On January 29-30, APA will present a Legislative and Policy conference (www.planning.org/policyconference) that will focus attention on community safety, along with other current issues. Our San Antonio National Planning Conference (www.planning.org/2006conference) has an entire track on Safe Growth America.
We're working with chapter leaders in both states. In December, I met with the Louisiana governor's chief of staff who is also the executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, and will be meeting with similar officials later this month in Mississippi. We are putting together a conference on code implementation and administration and we are also working with members in both states on state enabling legislation. Of course, our Growing Smart guidebook (www.planning.org/growingsmart/) is the starting place for anyone in the country interested in state statute reform. Give me a call and I can give you more details.
We have already been assisting the City of New Orleans directly with their efforts to complete their disaster mitigation plan. We have offered our assistance to the Louisiana Governor's office, the Louisiana Recovery Authority, and FEMA and expect to be assisting other Louisiana communities directly in the near future. We are making the same offer to Mississippi, Texas and Alabama. We also, soon after the disaster, carried out a disaster recovery and reconstruction workshop in Shreveport attended by over 150 people, and over 250 attended an audio conference on the subject, most from Gulf Coast states. APA continues to offer a full-day workshop called Planning for a Disaster Resistant Community which will be available on Saturday, April 22 at the National Planning Conference in San Antonio.
It was snowing here in Chicago earlier in the day, so warm works for us too. With respect to primary education, let me suggest that you go to the Kids & Community section of APA's website. I know some of our chapters also are active in kids' education. It's definitely an area where we would like to see more activity and if you have any suggestions please let us know. I would also like to see planners work more often with their school boards so school board members, planning commissioners, and planning staff better understand the relationship between planning and education. Every year, a National Planning Award is given for planning community education. The website listing past winners may offer some good ideas for education about community planning.
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