Counties are on the front lines of emergency management and response when disasters hit - fully 99 percent of counties report having an Emergency Operations Plan and Hazard Mitigation Plan in place. With the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, counties, states and the federal government need to coordinate efficiently and effectively to serve our communities.

In February 2022, federal, state and county officials convened for a roundtable discussion to discuss roles and responsibilities across levels of government and the private sector for disaster resiliency efforts and identified top challenges in intergovernmental coordination and collaboration.

Findings from Intergovernmental Roundtable

This brief features a summary of takeaways and priority challenges in achieving disaster resilient communities across the country. Key takeaways include:

• Disaster response is led by local governments and the disasters they face are increasing in frequency and severity.
• Counties, especially small ones, may lack the capacity to take on an increasing demand for emergency management and recovery services.
• Disasters are variable and expensive, and spending is spread across multiple levels of government and private sector; this makes them both difficult to forecast and to afford.
• Federal disaster support is fragmented and in need of interagency coordination.
• The federal award and reimbursement processes are not designed for equitable allocation of resources, are complex and time-intensive to apply and sometimes awarded 3-4 years after a disaster event (requiring many localities to pursue private loans that incur interest).
• Emergency management practices that focus on mitigation produce a greater return than those focused on recovery, but uptake of mitigation-oriented practices is slow.
• Community engagement and education is important for increasing disaster preparedness.
• State and local leaders need reliable and actionable data for decision-making.

Coming Soon: State and local leaders convene on defining and building capacity for disaster mitigation

In February 2023, federal, state and county officials convened for a second roundtable event to focus on solutions for the capacity gap and to identify key strategies to fund and staff disaster mitigation efforts. The agenda can be accessed using the link below.

2023 Intergovernmental Roundtable Agenda