Microsoft Word - Document1

Table of Contents

Disaster Cycle .................................................................................. 3

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning.................................................... 4

The Community Forum ................................................................... 5

Task 1: Build the Forum Organizing Team ..................................... 6

Task 2: Identify and Invite Forum Participants ............................. 8

Task 3: Collect Community Based Data........................................ 10

Task 4: Facilitate Forum Session 1................................................ 12

Task 5: Develop Draft Strategies...................................................20

Task 6: Facilitate Forum Session 2 ............................................... 22

Task 7: Develop Workplan ............................................................ 23

Afterward ....................................................................................... 24

Resources....................................................................................... 25

Cascadia Subduction Zone
Earthquakes: A Magnitude 9.0
Earthquake Scenario

The scenario was developed to
provide information to
government agencies,
businesses, and families about
the potential effects of a
Subduction earthq

uake. The

scenario defines a Subduction
zone earthq

uake, provides case

studies from Sumatra and
Alaska, and outlines the M9

.
0

scenario for various regions in
the Pacific Northwest.

“A Cascadia earthquake will
seriously affect our region, but it
won’t destroy us. We will rebuild
our cities, our neighborhoods, and
our businesses. The time it takes us
to recover will depend largely on
what preparations we make before
the earthquake.”

- M9.0 Earthquake
Scenario Executive
Summary

page 2

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Guide funded by:

Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup, United States Geological Survey

page 4

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Goals

The goals of post-disaster
recovery planning are to:

issues

external resources

mitigation projects

Notes:

Planning: the act or process of making or carrying out plans;
specifically: the establishment of goals, policies, and procedures for a
social or economic unit.

-Merriam-Webster’s

Online

Dictionary

Community planning requires that interested parties work together to
identify alternatives for a desired outcome. Recovery planning is no
different. Post-disaster recovery planning is a shared responsibility
between individuals, private businesses and industries, state and local
governments, and the federal government.

Post-disaster recovery planning is defined as developing a set of
strategies to assist a community in rebuilding after a disaster occurs.
Recovery planning can also be thought of as building the blueprint for
reconstruction of the community after a disaster. There are a number of
activities that communities can engage in to address post-disaster
recovery. These strategies may include developing and implementing:

principles for reconstruction.

In addition to post-disaster recovery planning, mitigation, or loss
reduction activities (such as relocating critical facilities out of harm’s
way) can also help communities become more disaster resilient by
removing the potential for damage before an event occurs.

and reconstruction - both locally and regionally - is the first step in the
development of a long-term recovery plan.

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning

page 5

The Community Forum

Purpose of this Guide

The process outlined in this guide
will provide you with the essential
building blocks for starting a
post-disaster recovery planning
initiative in your community. The
process was designed to get
community decision makers,
professionals, and residents to
think holistically about how their
communities “tick” and how
disaster events could affect all of
the systems upon which they
depend.

Pre-Forum Phase

Build the Forum Organizing Team
Identify and Invite Forum Participants
Collect Community-Based Data

Facilitate Forum Session 1
Develop Draft Strategies
Facilitate Forum Session 2

During-Forum Phase

Develop Workplan

Post-Forum Phase

Notes:

One way to begin the post-disaster recovery planning process in your
community is to host a community forum. A community forum provides
a platform for local governments and community organizations to share
resources and information in order to better prepare their community to
recover from a catastrophic disaster. The Forum process also allows
community members and technical experts to work together to integrate
vulnerability data with local knowledge, values and experience.

This guide outlines a community process that engages broad and diverse
community stakeholders to begin community level discussions about the
potential impacts of a catastrophic disaster. Specifically, the guide
identifies a process for organizing resources to develop, implement and
document a community post-disaster recovery forum to identify critical
issues and needs.

The Forum planning process includes three phases and seven tasks
(shown below). Each task includes facilitator ideas that provide helpful
tips based on over 30 years of working collaboratively with
communities.

"Our organization had been
engaged in all-hazards response
and business continuity activities
prior to the forum. The biggest
benefit was being asked to come to
the table. Typically private
industry does not get that
opportunity in community
planning efforts. This forum
recognized that the majority of
utilities are maintained by private
industry and gave us the
opportunity to participate and
form new partnerships."

- Private Utility Company

Representative

page 6

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

If possible, develop a diverse Forum Team so that different
skill sets are represented and can be utilized.

You may want to seek guidance from elected officials about
who should be involved.

Facilitator Ideas

Build the Forum Organizing Team

Create the team

Your first task is to find a person or a team of people that will be
responsible for organizing, facilitating, and documenting the Forum and
its outcomes. This should be a project-specific team that has one focus –
to organize and host the Post-Disaster Recovery Forum.

The Forum Team can consist of whomever is interested in recovery
planning. However, we suggest involving people from the following
agencies/disciplines: emergency management, city planning, business,
public works, and neighborhood associations. Although Forum planning
can be accomplished by one person, an ideal team consists of 4-6
organizers.

What’s involved?

Create the team
Develop the agenda

Photos courtesy of PDR

page 7

As you develop the agenda for the Forum, think about how
identifying issues and strategies related to post-disaster recovery
can benefit other community planning efforts, such as:
comprehensive plan, emergency operations plan, capital
improvement plans, and economic development strategic plans.

Facilitator Ideas

Task 1

: Build the Forum Organizing Team

Products

Forum Organizing Team

Forum

Agenda

Schedule for Forum

Development

Develop the agenda

The purpose of the post-disaster forum is to identify community-specific
issues related to long-term, catastrophic post-disaster recovery and to
develop strategies to address those issues. The example agenda outlines a
framework from which to work as you develop your community-specific
process. Your community needs, issues and resources will determine the
exact agenda.

The Forum process works best when held as two separate work sessions.
Whether the sessions are on two consecutive days, or one month apart, is
up to you and depends on your resources and overall timeline. The
separation between sessions allows the Forum organizers to synthesize
information gathered at the first session and present it during the second
session so that community members can move from identifying issues to
defining strategies.

Agenda

Session 1 (2

-4

hours)*

I
.

Why are we here today? (Welcome, Introductions, Purpose of Meeting)

I
I
.

How could a M9.0 earthquake affect our community? (CREW Scenario 9

.
0

Overview)

I
I
I
.

What is post-disaster recovery? (Description of Emergency Management Cycle)

I
V.

What are the recovery issues facing our community? (Issue Identification Exercise)

Session 2 (2

-4

hours)*

I
.

Why are we here today? (Introductions, Purpose of Meeting, Summary of Session 1

)

I
I
.

What are the potential recovery strategies? (Discussion of Draft Strategies)

I
.

Where do we go from here? (Next Steps)

*
I
f you schedule a meeting for more than 2

hours, be sure to include breaks.

Emergency Services (police
and fire)

Utilities

City Public Works

City Planning

Healthcare Organizations

Elected Officials

Local Business Leaders

School District

Department of Transportation

Home Builders Association

American Red Cross

Neighborhood Association

Chamber of Commerce

Vacation Rental Services

Media (newspaper, radio)

Social Service Providers

Who should be invited?

What’s involved?

Identify Participants

It is important to think carefully about who should attend your
Forum. Consider inviting any organization or person who has an
interest or stake in the community’s emergency preparedness efforts.
Particularly important organizations to include are those who have the
authority to make decisions about post-disaster recovery strategies. As
a guide to creating the list, ask yourself, “Who are the key players in
the community?”

Identify and Invite Forum Participants

Use networks of people to expand invitee list. Ask key
community members who they think should be involved.

Garner political buy-in from the City Council or other
respected organizations before you start your process. This
will help communicate the significance of the Forum to
possible attendees

When possible, try to identify a specific person at an
organization rather than sending a generic invitation.

Facilitator Ideas

Invite Participants & Develop Invitation
Packet

Identify Participants

page 8

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Forum Agenda

CREW 9.0 S

cenario

Letter of Invitation*

*
S

ee “Resources” at the end of
the guide for an unabridged
example of an invitation letter.

page 9

Packet Components

Invite Participants & Develop Invitation Packet

The invitation packet provides participants with essential information
about the Forum. The materials should include a letter of invitation that
explains the purpose, the expected outcome, the agenda, and the reason
why the individual is being asked to participate. Very few participants
will walk in the door with a true understanding of how tsunamis and
earthquakes could affect their community or what long-term
post-disaster recovery really means. Including the CREW Scenario is
recommended because it can help paint the picture of what issues the
community may face following a Cascadia Subduction Zone event.

To follow up with those people who do not respond to the
invitation letter, develop a system of reminders including
phone calls and emails.

Depending on local politics, consider having elected officials
sign the invitation letter. If they have time, they can also help
make follow-up phone calls to potential participants.

Stress the fact that participants need to read the packet before
they come to the Forum, so that more time can be spent on
identifying issues rather than on background information.

Facilitator Ideas

“The forum packet was very beneficial. It was nice to get
something besides an agenda before a meeting. It was a
good way to understand what the Forum was going to be
about”

- Pilot Forum Participant

Notes:

Task 2: Identify and Invite Forum Participants

page 10

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Population

Total population

Potential growth in population

Age structure of population

Percentage of residents below
the poverty level

Percentage of residents who
don’t speak English primarily

Economy

iggest industries

Highest occupational categories

Median household income

Data on residents who
commute to work

Cultural, Historic, & Natural

Resources

tructures or landmarks on the
National Historic Register

Locally significant structures

Archeological sites

Wetlands, estuaries, and
preserves

Land Use & Development

Total area of community

Number, type and age structure
of housing units

General land use patterns

Number and size of lots
available for development

Data for Community Profile

What’s involved?

Collect Hazard History Information

Identify Existing Plans and Policies

Develop a Community Profile

Identify Existing Plans and Policies

Collecting information on the community’s existing plans and policies can
assist you in answering the question - What does the community already
have in place to address the hazard? The Forum Organizing Team should
create an inventory of existing planning documents, policies, and programs
that are applicable to post-disaster recovery. Knowing what is already in
place is important because official planning documents and existing
programs already have support from decision makers, businesses, and
residents. They also may contain ready-made structures for implementing
strategies discussed at the Forum. In addition to identifing plans, policies
and programs, it is also helpful to identify community agencies that might
be potential partners during the recovery phase.

Collect Hazard History Information

Collecting hazard history information can assist you in answering the
question – How has the hazard impacted the community in the past?
Identify when, how, and where the hazard has impacted the community in
the past. If possible, begin to identify what buildings, infrastructure or
cultural assets might be located in the hazard zone.

Develop a Community Profile

Pulling together a Community Profile can assist you in answering the
question – What makes your community thrive? The Community Profile
briefly describes the overall characteristics of the community based upon
four themes: (1) population, (2) economy, (3) cultural, historic, and natural
resources, and (4) land use and development. This basic thematic data will
provide participants with background information to help them identify
potential losses and recovery issues. Before developing a new community
profile, look at other plans because a profile may already have been
developed.

Highlights from the Community Profile should be presented during Session
1 of the Community Forum.

Collect Community-Based Data

Comprehensive Plan

Historic Preservation Plan

Transportation Plan

Capital Improvement Plan

Economic Development Plan

Red Cross Outreach Program

usiness Continuity Training
Program

Health and S

ocial S

ervices

Programs

Community Organizations
and S

ervice Clubs

Emergency Operations Plan

Natural Hazard Mitigation
Plan

Hazard V

ulnerability

Assessments

page 11

Example Plans, Policies,
and Programs

Make sure that the Forum facilitators have a good
understanding of the characteristics of the community and
what factors might make the community more or less at risk.
This knowledge can help keep the Forum discussions focused
on the relevant issues and activities.

Develop a handout that lists the plans and programs and
distribute it during the Issue Identification Exercise during
Session 1 at the Forum.

Google Earth is an easy and free way to identify important
community assets that might be located in the tsunami
inundation zone.

All of the activities in this task should be completed prior to
the Forum and then presented to the participants during the
event. When this information is presented to Forum
participants, it will assist in their understanding of the
community’s vulnerability to natural hazards. It is especially
helpful when it comes time to clearly define recovery
strategies.

Facilitator Ideas

Notes:

Task 3: Collect Community-B

ased Data

usiness continuity

Community visioning

Economic development

Reconstruction

Land use regulations

uilding moratoriums

Historic preservation

Planning for debris management

earch and rescue

Provision of food and water

Warning and evacuation

Critical infrastructure
reconstruction

Damage assessment

Debris management

Recovery Planning is:

Recovery Planning is NOT:

Review Hazard Scenario
Description of Recovery Planning
Issue Identification Exercise
Closing Remarks

Introduction

Facilitate Forum Session 1

Introduction

In the Introduction it is important to welcome everyone, introduce the
facilitators and participants, cover logistics and schedule of the event,
and the purpose and goals of the Forum.

Review Hazard Scenario

Starting off with a discussion of the hazard is helpful to give participants
background on the hazard and the impacts it could have on the
community. If the community is addressing the Cascadia event, use the
CREW scenario to present potential regional effects of a Cascadia
Subduction M9.0 earthquake. Community planners, public works staff,
and emergency managers may be the most qualified people to talk about
local impacts of hazards because they know where the people, buildings,
and infrastructure are located within the community.

Description of Recovery Planning

The purpose of this session is to distinguish between immediate response
and post-disaster recovery planning. Emphasize that post-disaster
recovery planning provides a long-term vision to re-develop a
community after a disaster, not to address immediate life safety issues.
In addition, emphasize the importance of addressing attitudes focused
on “returning to normal”. In some cases, following catastrophic disasters,
communities cannot return to normal. The disaster may cause changes
in the physical, political, demographic or economic landscape. This
requires that the community adapt and change as it recovers and
reconstructs. Keeping these ideas in mind during the Forum can help
partcipants think about how the community might work in the future.

What’s involved?

page 12

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

*
S

ee “Resources” at the end of
the guide for a copy of the Issue
Identification Worksheet.

By having each person complete and
hand in an issue identification
worksheet, you are able to capture
the thoughts and ideas of all the
participants. In some brainstorming
processes, strong personalities can
take over a group discussion and
steer the group off course. The
worksheet approach helps keep
participants on track and allows
everyone’s thoughts to be
incorporated.

Posting each participant’s top
priorities on the wall allows you to
go from a large number of issues to a
smaller group of the most critical
issues which will help the
community prioritize strategies.

Facilitator Ideas

page 13

Provide the participants with instructions for completing the issue
identification exercise.

Present highlights from the Population portion of the Community
Profile. This gives the participants important background information
that they need to help them identify potential issues. Review thematic
q

uestions to help participants identify issues. (Q

uestions are provided

on the following pages.)

List as many issues as they can on the worksheet; work individually.

Circle top 3 issues on the worksheet.

Write top prioritized issues on piece of paper to post on the wall.

Lead discussion on top issues and document the issues discussed.
Highlight any infrastructure-related issues that have been raised.

Collect completed worksheets from participants.

Repeat steps 2-7 for economy and land development themes.

Closing Remarks

When concluding Forum Session 1, it is important to talk about the next
steps and how the issues the participants identified will be used. You’ll also
want to cover what will be accomplished at Session 2 of the Forum.

Facilitator: Summarize Issues

Participants: Work on Issue Identification

Facilitator: Introduce Exercise

10.

Issue Identification Exercise

The primary goal of this exercise it to give participants an opportunity
to discuss issues their community may face following a catastrophic
event. This exercise asks the people who live and work in the
community to identify community-specific recovery issues. The
following process asks participants to identify and prioritize issues
related to three general themes (population, economic development,
and land and development). In addition, participants should be asked to
identify specific infrastructure-related issues for each of the three
themes. Basic instructions for this exercise are listed below.

“This was a great way to narrow
down to the core issues since we
were such a diverse group.”

- Pilot Forum Participant

ummarize the main issues identified so that participants can get a
feel for what other community members are saying. Pay particular
attention to issues that may have been raised in all three themes.

Task 4: Facilitate Forum S

ession 1

Theme: Population

Facilitate Forum Session 1

This theme looks at how the community’s population and demographics
might influence or affect the community’s recovery process.

Where do people live?

What, if any, special needs populations live in vulnerable areas
(elderly, disabled, non-English speaking, children)?

Where are there significant non-residential populations?

Are there cultural or historic resources in the community that if
damaged or lost would have a significant impact on residents?

Infrastructure questions:

What types of infrastructure do your residents rely upon?

Are there residents who need power for life safety equipment

(e.g. breathing apparatus or oxygen, dialysis, etc.) to survive?

Fictional Community
Example

While natural hazards do not
discriminate, the impacts - in
terms of loss and the ability to
recover - vary greatly, depending
on certain demographic
characteristics. According to the
FEMA Preparedness, Training
and Exercise Directorate, 80% of
the disaster burden falls on the
public. Women, children,
minorities and the poor bear a
disproportionate amount of this
burden. The 2000 Census
reported that 12% of Crewville’s
residents were living below the
poverty line. In Crewville, 8% of
households are female-headed
and 2% live below the poverty
line. Eighty-five percent of
residents in Crewville are white,
11% are Hispanic or Latino, and
less than 5% are African
American, Asian, American
Indian, Alaska Native or other
races.

Questions

City Total

In Tsunami Zone

Percent
in Zone

Total population

701

1542

45%

Median age

50.6

African American

25%

Native American

76%

Asian

6 25

24%

Hispanic

6 175 3%

Under 5 years old

325

Over 65 years old

475

20%

Avg. no. of persons per household

2.8

3.1

Houses

143 322

44%

Renter-occupied units

145

45%

Females

383 711

54%

page 14

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Facilitate Forum Session 1

Fictional Community
Example

Although Crewville’s permanent

population is small (1,650),
more than 400,000 tourists visit
per year. The three top
employers in Crewville are
specifically involved in the
hospitality service industry. The
economic characteristics of
Crewville demonstrate the city’s
dependence on tourism. The
three highest occupational
categories in Crewville are
management, professional, and
related occupations (30%),
service occupations (28%); and
sales and office occupations
(27%).

Research has shown that no

business, small or large, is
immune to the impacts of a
natural hazard event. Research
being conducted by the United
Stated Geological Survey
indicates that 80% of Crewville
businesses are in the tsunami
inundation zone. A catastrophic
disaster event would directly
impact the service sector of the
economy. The ripple effect of
business closures would impact
not only tourists, but residents as
well.

This theme looks at how the community’s economy might be impacted

by an event.

Theme: Economy

How will businesses be impacted by a disaster (e.g., earthquake,
tsunami, flood)?

What types of businesses will be impacted?

Which ones are location dependent and which can be relocated?

(e.g., a business in the fishing industry)

What businesses represent significant components of your
community’s economy? (e.g., 85% of economy comes from the fishing
industry)

Is there available space or vacant buildings outside of the inundation
zone where businesses could be relocated, if necessary?

Are there cultural or historic resources that, if damaged or lost, would
have a significant impact on the local economy?

Infrastructure questions:

How are segments of your economy dependent on infrastructure

to function?

What types of infrastructure does your local economy rely upon?

This table illustrates the number of businesses, employees and sales

volume in the fictional community compared to the number of
businesses, employees, and sales volume located in the tsunami zone.
This type of data can help illustrate how vulnerable your local economy
might be to the impact of a disaster.

Questions

In Tsunami Zone

Crewville Total

Percent
in Zone

Businesses

185

145 78%

Employees 1476

1189

81%

Sales Volume

$108M

$85M

79%

page 16

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Fictional Community
Example

The severity of damage from a
natural disaster depends upon
the types of land use and the
patterns of development in a
community. Much of the
commercial land use in Crewville
is concentrated in the downtown
area. This area is in close
proximity to the beach and,
according to existing data, most
of it is located within the hazard
zone.

At the bottom right is a graph
that can be created prior to a
post-disaster recovery workshop.
Based on the integration of
United Stated Geological Survey
National Land Cover Dataset
with tsunami-hazard information,
the graph shows the types of
land in a community, both in a
tsunami-hazard zone (in dark
orange) and for the entire
community (in white).

This graph shows that all of the
land classified as “high-intensity
developed,” which typically
represents infrastructure,
commercial and high-density
residential areas, is in the
tsunami zone. Approximately half
of the land classified as
“low-intensity developed,” which
typically represents lower-density
residential areas, is in the
tsunami zone.

Theme: Land Use and Development

Facilitate Forum Session 1

Do current development patterns or land use plans minimize
development in vulnerable areas?

Where in your community is growth projected to occur?

What, if any, policies are in place to address post-disaster
redevelopment?

How will the community provide temporary shelter and housing after
a catastrophic event?

Infrastructure questions:

Describe the relationship between infrastructure and land use and

development in your community.

What types of infrastructure are necessary to support

post-disaster re-development?

This theme looks at how the community’s land use and development
might be impacted by an event.

Questions

Crewville Land Cover Type

Percent by Area

Bare Land

Forest

Wetland

Grassland

Scrub/shrub

High Intensity

Developed

Low Intensity

Developed

City Total

Tsunami Zone

page 18

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Fictional Community
Example

To the left is a graph that can be
created prior to a post-disaster
recovery workshop. Based on the
integration of USGS National
Land Cover Dataset with
tsunami-hazard information, the
graph shows the types of land in
a community, both in a
tsunami-hazard zone (in dark
orange) and for the entire
community (in white).

Land Use and Development

page 19

Do current development patterns or land use plans minimize
development in vulnerable areas?

Where in your community is growth projected to occur?

What, if any, policies are in place to address post-disaster
redevelopment?

How will the community provide temporary shelter and housing after
a catastrophic event?

Infrastructure questions:

Describe the relationship between infrastructure and land use and
development in your community.

What types of infrastructure are necessary to support
post-disaster re-development?

This theme looks at how the community’s land use and development
might be impacted by an event.

Questions

Land Cover Type

Percent by Area

Bare Land

Forest

Wetland

Grassland

Scrub/shrub

High Intensity

Developed

Low Intensity

Developed

City Total

Tsunami Zone

Task 4: Facilitate Forum Session 1

Summarize Issues

During Session 1, participants identified many issues related to the three
community themes. The Forum Organizing Team should review both the
prioritized issues that were posted on the wall during Session 1 as well as
the individual worksheets. The summary of issues identified by the
participants will serve as the basis for developing draft recovery
strategies.

Develop Draft Strategies

Strategies are inextricably tied to community-specific issues. The
strategies provide detailed recommendations for activities that local
departments, citizens and others could engage in to plan for long-term
recovery. For example, if one of the issues that emerged from Session 1 is
that “80% of businesses are located in the hazard zone”, then a
corresponding strategy might be to “Identify locations outside of the
hazard zone where businesses could relocate after a catastrophic
disaster.” To be successful, strategies need to be more than an idea; they
must be tangible activities attached to an individual or an organization
with a defined outcome.

Prior to Session 2, the Forum Team should fill out the strategy
worksheet as completely as possible for each of the proposed strategies.
This includes documenting identified issues in the rationale section, and
brainstorming initial ideas for implementation. During Session 2, Forum
participants will review the draft strategies and assist the Forum
Organizing Team in completing the remainder of the worksheet
components.

Develop Draft Strategies

What’s involved?

Summarize Issues
Develop Draft Strategies

In addition to developing
strategies from community-specifc
issues, consider developing
strategies that address the
following:

Example Strategies

Creating an Oversight
Committee that will champion
recovery planning efforts within
the community. This could be a
new committee or a standing
committee, such as the
planning commission or natural
hazard mitigation planning
committee. It is important to
appoint someone or an agency
to be responsible for
developing agendas and setting
meeting schedules.

Writing and adopting a
recovery ordinance that gives
the city/county the authority to
guide its own redevelopment.

Developing an infrastructure
recovery protocol that prioritizes
which infrastructure gets back
online first after a hazard event.

page 20

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

page 21

Components of a Strategy Worksheet

Following are the key components of the recovery strategy
worksheet. The intent of the worksheet is to assist communities in
developing detailed strategies that clearly outline a process for
implementation. See the “Resources” section at the end of this
guide for a copy of the strategy worksheet.

In our experience, groups sometimes
have difficulty switching gears from
“What are our problems?” to “What do
we do about them?” To try to avoid
this difficulty, we suggest that the
Forum Organizing Team summarize
and analyze the findings from the issue
identification exercise and draft a list
of potential strategies. This way,
community members are responsible
for responding to the proposed
strategies instead of trying to develop
original ideas as a group.

One way to begin to summarize the
issues is to start to categorize them
into “like” groups. This allows you to
move from a large number of
individually identified issues to a more
manageable number of issues.

To complete the rationale section of
the strategy, use issues that were
identified during Session 1 and any
supporting information from the
Community Profile, Hazard History, or
Existing Plans, Policies, and Programs.

Develop a manageable number of
strategies for your community. Lots of
ideas are wonderful, but concrete ideas
that can be implemented are even
better!

Facilitator Ideas

Proposed Recovery Strategy:

States the strategy.

Theme Addressed:

Indicates which theme (population,

economy, or land and development) the strategy addresses.

Rationale:

Describes the critical issues that the strategy

will address.

Ideas for Implementation:

Describes how the

strategy will be implemented locally.

Coordinating Organization:

Identifies the group that

is willing and able to organize resources, find appropriate
funding, and oversee activity implementation, monitoring,
and evaluation.

Partners:

Identifies groups that may be able to assist in

the implementation of strategies by providing relevant
resources to the coordinating organization.

Timeline:

Identifies when the strategies should be

implemented, either pre- or post-disaster.

Task 5: Develop Draft Strategies

Facilitate Forum Session 2

During the strategy discussion, have
a scribe take notes on an easel so
that all participants can see what is
being said.

Depending on the number of
proposed strategies, the Forum
Organizing Team might consider
having multiple work sessions so
that the group is reviewing a
manageable number of strategies.
This may help reduce the chance of
participants getting burned out on
reviewing strategies in one sitting.

Introduction

At this time, explain the purpose and agenda of the meeting and
summarize what was accomplished in Session 1 of the Forum. Present
the list of consolidated issues from the previous session.

Review Draft Strategies

During this exercise, Forum participants review and prioritize the draft
strategies developed from the issues identified in Session 1. Depending
on the number of people at this Session, form small groups of six to ten
people, or remain in a large group. The facilitators should follow these
steps to help the group prioritize the strategies:

1) The group should review each strategy and decide if the strategy is
appropriate for the community.

2) Gather input from participants on: why the strategy is important for
the community, how it could be implemented locally, and who would
take the lead in implementing the strategy.

3) If the strategy is appropriate, each person should vote on a priority
category (High, Medium, or Low) for each strategy. If people disagree
within the group, the facilitator then leads a discussion about the
placement of the strategy.

4) Once all the strategies have been placed into categories, review their
placement relative to each other.

Next Steps

The Forum Team should inform participants about how their feedback
will be used and where the planning process will go from here. This will
be discussed more in Task 7.

Facilitator Ideas

Notes:

What’s involved?

Introduction
Review Draft Strategies
Next Steps

page 22

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Facilitator Ideas

Develop Workplan

orkplans can be incorporated into
the local natural hazards mitigation
plan.

“The best result was creating
momentum to do things and
implement changes.”

-Pilot

Forum

Participant

Develop Workplan

fter S

ession 2

of the Forum, you should have a compilation of prioritized

strategies. From these strategies, you can develop a workplan that clearly
defines the tasks to be accomplished along with a timeline for completing
the tasks. S

ome of the strategies identified in the Forum will be activities

that can take place before a disaster event ever happens and others will be
implemented soon after the event. D

eveloping this workplan can help lay

out a “roadmap” for how and when the community begins to increase its
disaster resilience. O

ne of the most important strategies of your workplan

should be to form an O

versight C

ommittee that will champion recovery

planning efforts within the community.

Discuss Strategies with Coordinating
Organizations

uring S

ession 2

, Forum participants reviewed strategies and generated

ideas for the appropriate coordinating organization. Members from the
Forum O

rganizing Team should sit down with all identified coordinating

organizations and discuss relevant strategies. This one-on-one contact
facilitates greater understanding of the strategy and ensures that the
coordinating organization supports the item. S

ecuring a letter of support

from each coordinating organization would help illustrate the
community’s commitment and capacity to implement those particular
strategies. Local elected officials (city councils, county commissions, etc)
should be kept up-to-date on all major recovery planning activities so that
they are aware of these activites when something is req

uested of them.

Send Strategies to State/Province Emergency
Management Agency

end strategies and work plans to the S

tate/P

rovincial E

mergency

Management A

gency so that the state/province is informed of what local

recovery needs will be when the event occurs.

What’s involved?

Develop Workplan
Discuss Strategies with Coordinating
Organizations
Share Strategies with State/Provincial
Emergency Management Agencies

page 23

Task 7: Develop Workplan

Afterword

You have organized, facilitated and documented a post-disaster
recovery forum for your community and identified a series of next
steps to help make your community more disaster resistent. The
work you have done so far has created a blueprint for
implementing actions that are based on local needs and
strategies.

Maintaining the momentum generated from the Forum will be
important to ensure that the identified actions get implemented.
Finding ways to incorporate post-disaster recovery into everyday
community decisions will help keep this momentum going.

Good Luck!

Photos courtesy of FEMA

page 24

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Dear Sir or Madam:

Please mark your calendars to attend the Cannon Beach Post-Disaster Recovery Forum on
Thursday, March 2, 2006. As you may be aware this forum is an opportunity to: (1) assess
current capacity to recover from a large-scale natural disaster event e.g. tsunami and (2)
begin to develop strategies and/or logical steps to increase that capacity for post-disaster
recovery. Your role will be to help identify issues and concerns for post-disaster recovery
for the City of Cannon Beach. You have been invited because of your specific insight into
the community. The input you provide will ensure that all facets of the community are
represented during the forum process.

The Partners for Disaster Resilience (PDR) and the United States Geological Survey
(USGS) will be facilitating the forum. Funding for the forum has been provided through a
partnership with the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW), United States
Geological Survey (USGS), and University of Oregon’s PDR. PDR is a program within the
Community Service Center at the University of Oregon. PDR strives to build the risk
reduction capacity of local governments through collaboration, communication and coor-
dination to reduce the natural hazard risks that Oregon communities face. For more
information, visit the PDR website: http://www.oregonshowcase.org

A detailed informational forum packet will be sent two weeks prior to the forum. This
informational packet will include:

publication represents one possible scenario that may occur due to an

this publication highlights current knowledge, tools, and strategies for
post-disaster recovery.

We look forward to meeting you at the Cannon Beach Post-Disaster Recovery Forum on

Sincerely,

The Partnership for Disaster Resilience
University of Oregon Community Service Center

page 25

Resources - Forum Invitation Letter

Resources

Resources - Issue Identification Worksheet

Instructions: Identify specific response and recovery issues your community could face in the event of a disaster
in the left hand column below. For each issue, use the columns on the right hand side to check the potential
period of time each issue could affect the community. Check all that apply

Population

Community Impacts Felt

(Check all that apply)

Framing Questions:

Where are the high population densities for residents? Are any in the inundation
zone?
Are there special-needs populations in the inundation zone? (Examples –
Elderly, disabled, minorities, children, and infants)
Where are there significant non-residential populations? (Examples –
Residents, Employees, Tourists)

s
re

–

s
r

–

h
t

covery

–

h
t

g
-i

–

page 26

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

The Partnership for Disaster Resilience
University of Oregon Community Service Center

Resources - Issue Identification Worksheet

page 27

Economy

Community Impacts Felt

(Check all that apply)

Framing Questions:

Are businesses in the inundation zone? What types of businesses? Which ones
are location-dependent and which can be relocated?
What businesses represent significant components of your community’s
economy, in terms of employees, sales volume, or tax base?

Are alternate commercial spaces available if current stock is damaged?

s
re

–

s
r

–

h
t

covery

–

h
t

g
-i

–

Resources

The Partnership for Disaster Resilience
University of Oregon Community Service Center

Resources - Issue Identification Worksheet

Land Use and Development

Community Impacts Felt

(Check all that apply)

Framing Questions:

Do current development patterns or land use plans minimize development in the
inundation zone?
Is your community growing or projected to grow denser in the inundation zone?
Are there policies in place to address post-disaster redevelopment?

Is the community capable of providing temporary shelter and housing outside of
the inundation zone?

s
re

–

s
r

–

h
t

covery

–

h
t

g
-i

–

page 28

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

The Partnership for Disaster Resilience
University of Oregon Community Service Center

Resources - Strategy Worksheet Definitions

The Partnership for Disaster Resilience
University of Oregon Community Service Center

Proposed Recovery Strategy:

Include a brief description of the proposed strategy.

Theme Addressed:

During the recovery forum, participants are asked to identify issues for the following three themes:

Population, Land Use and Development, and Economy. These checkboxes allow the proposed recovery

strategies to be categorized by theme.

Rationale or Key Issues Addressed:

The rationale describes the critical issues that the strategy will address. It presents the logic and the fact
base behind the strategy: why is it important that this action be implemented? The findings from the
forum are a good source of rationale for proposed strategies.

Ideas for Implementation:

For each strategy, the form asks for some ideas for implementation, which serve as the starting point for
taking action. This information offers a transition from theory to practice. Ideas for implementation could
include: (1) collaboration with relevant organizations, (2) alignment with the community priority areas, and
(3) applications to new grant programs.

The ideas for implementation are just that: ideas. They do not necessarily prescribe the exact steps that the
community or its partners should take to implement a particular strategy. When an action is implemented,
more work will probably be needed to determine the exact course of action.

Coordinating Organization:

The coordinating organization is the public agency with authority to implement the identified strategy. It can
also be an agency that is willing and able to organize resources, find appropriate funding, or oversee
activity implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

Internal Partners:

Internal partner organizations are departments within the community that may be able to assist in the
implementation of a strategy by providing relevant resources (time, budget, staff, data, etc.) to the
coordinating organization.

External Partners:

External partner organizations or jurisdictions can assist the community in implementing the strategies in
various functions. They may include local, regional, state, or federal agencies, as well as local and regional
public and private sector organizations.

Timeline:

Recovery strategies can be implemented at two different stages in the disaster cycle. They can be
implemented before the disaster happens to better prepare the community to address the impact of the
disaster. Strategies implemented in this timeline are considered pre-disaster strategies. Strategies can also be
implemented after the disaster occurs and will assist the community in the immediate recovery and
reconstruction phases. Strategies implemented in this timeline are considered post-disaster strategies.

page 29

Resources

page 30

Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum: How-To Guide

Resources - Strategy Worksheet

The Partnership for Disaster Resilience
University of Oregon Community Service Center

Proposed Recovery Strategy:

Theme Addressed:

Population
Land Use & Development
Economy

Rationale for Proposed Recovery Strategy:

Ideas for Implementation:

Coordinating Organization:

Internal Partners:

External Partners:

Timeline:

If available, estimated cost:

Pre-Disaster
Post-Disaster

Form Submitted by:

The form should include critical information on the rationale or fact base for the proposed strategy, ideas for

implementation, coordinating and partner organizations, timeline, and plan goals addressed. This approach,
developed by the University of Oregon’s Partnership for Disaster Resilience provides documentation of the
proposed strategy and keeps together all of the essential information needed to implement the idea.