The horrific earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023 called on the world for assistance in their efforts to recover from this disaster. President Joe Biden released a statement through the White House later that day that expressed the condolences of the United States, and how the country is prepared to help a NATO ally such as Turkey.
In the statement by the White House, Biden assured that “senior American officials reached out immediately to their Turkish counterparts to coordinate any and all needed assistance. Our teams are deploying quickly to begin to support Turkish search and rescue efforts and address the needs of those injured and displaced by the earthquake.”
The recovery climate of both Turkey and Syria is still undetermined. However, Turkey and Syria’s cost effects are analogous to previous natural disasters within the U.S.
Hurricane Katrina has led to the most expensive recovery relief assistance, as around $190 billion was given for relief. Hurricane Harvey is ranked second with $151.3 billion, and Hurricane Ian is ranked third with $112.9 billion given for aid, according to a report from the National Centers for Environmental Information.
However, the United Nations’ secretary general, António Guterres, has launched a plan for a humanitarian appeal that would give Syria $397 million over a three-month period. An article in The New York Times said the Syrian government is still in need of more relief efforts and blames the U.S. sanctions for not targeting humanitarian aid and denying their appeals to change them.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a government agency dedicated to responding to natural disasters in the United States. In order to receive FEMA assistance, you need to be approved by the agency.
FEMA determines this approval by a scheduled inspection, then an additional 10 days of analysis to determine if assistance is needed. FEMA can then provide rental assistance for up to 18 months.
When looking at Hurricane Ian which struck on September 2022 in Florida, FEMA worked with residents in Florida to find temporary shelter.
As reported by FEMA’s official website, FEMA has provided assistance to 26 counties and has provided housing to 1,323 households with 3,225 members.
While FEMA has been making sufficient development efforts in helping those affected by recent natural disasters in the U.S., they have learned from their errors of low supply count, miscommunication and lack of warnings.
In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit, there was a lack of direction in recovery efforts by the political appointees of FEMA.
According to disastersrus.org, “FEMA lacked the tools to track the status of shipments, interfering with the management of supplying food, water, ice, and other vital commodities to those in need across the Gulf Coast.”
After the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina intertwined with the lack of FEMA direction, there were major changes made in the FEMA program.
Former President George W. Bush signed and enacted the Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act on October 4, 2006. This act was a step made in the right direction by recognizing the mistakes FEMA made when dealing with Hurricane Katrina’s recovery. This act led to the reorganization of FEMA and offered the program more authority in response efforts.
According to FEMA’s Disaster Authority, as of late February, the United States has offered total humanitarian assistance of $185 million to Turkey and Syria.
It has been 17 years since the disastrous Hurricane Katrina. While America’s relief efforts and programs have continuously changed for the better, there is still a great deal of work that remains undone.