Assignment: Portugal Fire
Whether performed in the United States or in any other country, recovery is almost without question the most complicated aspect of emergency management and the least organized. Many (if not most) of the services and funding provided under ESF#14 focus on short- and medium-term recovery, and as such long-term recovery is performed (for the most part) in a hap-hazard, uncoordinated manner. The most common negative impact of failed or poor coordination is a maintained hazard risk and vulnerability to similar disaster events in the future. Secondary effects are missed opportunities to incorporate newer technologies, better urban planning, and other benefits that may have been neglected the first time around. Based on the Portugal Fire in June 2017, answer the following questions.
Given what you have learned this week in the readings and associated material:
a) What do you see as the greatest challenges to recovery in this instance?
b) What are the greatest opportunities that exist as a result of the disaster?
c) And finally, how would you propose that the affected government coordinate recovery in the long-term?