A National Disaster: Definition, Declaration, and More

As the Earth gets older, natural and man-made disasters occur more frequently than before. They happened on varied scales and affect communities and the environment differently. Therefore, not all of them can be categorized as a national calamity. What is a national disaster? 

Presidents or other heads of government must assess a disaster before they can declare it a national catastrophe. Moreover, they must ensure the hazard meets the criteria of a national calamity. Therefore, they can take the best measures to respond to this catastrophe.

The Definition of a National Disaster

The term ‘national calamity’ makes some people think that it is a grave disaster that affects the whole country. However, it is not always the case. Sometimes, a country declares a national calamity after a natural or man-made catastrophe affects a few counties or local governments.

A national calamity is a catastrophic event that causes extreme financial loss and numerous casualties in more than one province or state, depending on the country’s policy. A country typically will declare a national calamity when affected provinces or states cannot cope with the disaster.

1. Process of Declaring a National Calamity 

Countries may follow different sets of rules when declaring a national calamity. In the US, the process of proclaiming a national disaster is as follows. 

• Assessment by Local Government: Before the declaration, the local government assesses the effect of the catastrophe. The assessment aims to find out the severity of the disaster and the federal assistance required by the local government to respond to this emergency.

• Declaration of State Emergency: The local government can declare a state emergency if the assessment shows that the disaster is severe.

• Request for Federal Assistance: Moreover, the local government can request federal assistance if it has difficulties coping with the calamity.

• Evaluation by the Federal Agency: After receiving the request, FEMA will evaluate the damage and what the local government needs to respond to or recover from the disaster. FEMA will then advise the president based on the findings.

• Presidential Decision: The President will use FEMA’s recommendation to decide whether or not the disaster is a national calamity. 

• Declaration: The last step is declaring a national calamity. During the declaration, the president will also specify the assistance given by the federal government to the local government.

2. What are the Criteria for Declaring a National Disaster

Governments will not declare a national calamity when the disaster doesn’t meet specific criteria. These criteria may be different from one country to another. Below are several criteria for declaring a national catastrophe.

• Property and Infrastructural Damage: A national hazard is typically a disaster that destroys many homes, businesses, buildings, and infrastructure in several regions. 

• Number of Victims: The government will use the number of injuries and deaths as consideration when deciding whether or not a disaster is a national calamity. The president will make the declaration if those numbers are exceptionally high.

• Financial Impact: Before declaring a national calamity, the government will assess the damage caused by a disaster. There will be a declaration if the destruction and the recovery costs trigger a massive financial loss.

• Disaster Mitigation: Another criterion is disaster mitigation. The government will declare a national calamity if the disaster has a high risk of occurring and causing other severe damage in the future.

  
  

  3. National Disaster Recovery Framework’s Key Features

After the declaration of a national calamity, the federal or central government will follow a recovery framework to assist local governments in coping with the disaster. The recovery framework has several key features.

• Recovery Assistance: The federal or central government provides comprehensive and effective recovery assistance for local governments. Therefore, the latter will get full support from the former in recovering from the disaster impact.

• Flexible and Unified Structure: The central government provides a flexible and unified structure. By following this structure, disaster recovery managers can work collaboratively through different recovery environments. 

• Recovery Planning for Communities: Another key feature of the disaster recovery framework is recovery planning for communities. This plan helps communities to recover and become more resilient to disasters.

• Focus on Recovery Challenges: Local governments will likely struggle to manage recovery challenges coming from a severe catastrophe. Therefore, the central government focuses its work on managing recovery challenges.

National Disaster Examples

Throughout history, many countries have declared several national disasters. They make those declarations because the disasters cause a large number of casualties and extreme damage to properties and businesses. 

One of the most famous national calamities is the COVID-19 pandemic. Many countries declared this pandemic a national hazard due to the severity and magnitude of its impact. According to the report, this pandemic killed approximately 110 billion people in the world.

Another national disaster example is the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. This catastrophe affected many countries and killed more than 200,000 people. Other national disaster examples are cyclones, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and drought.

A national disaster is a man-made or natural hazard that kills many people and causes severe damage. Today, governments can mitigate national calamity risks by constructing an early warning system (EWS). Visit smsbroadcaster.com now if your government needs effective and resilient communication tools for your EWS.