By Matthew Denis
On a foggy Saturday morning, Rep. Peter DeFazio, Federal Emergency Management Administration administrator Pete Gaynor, University of Oregon chief resilience officer André Le Duc and a United Way spokesperson promised an ongoing partnership in response to unprecedented September wildfires.
“The response has been phenomenal so far,” DeFazio said. “The president signed a dispensation declaration on Air Force One within 24 hours of the fires taking off.”
Still, with more than 7,000 people displaced, 431 residences and 24 non-residential buildings burned and Oregon estimating an excess of $622 million in debris cleanup and $1 billion in total disaster costs, local communities need more help than FEMA has promised, he said.
As chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over FEMA, DeFazio is in the unique position of overseeing FEMA’s disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The congressman is pushing FEMA to fund not only the minimum 75% deigned for disaster recovery, but an additional 15%.
He said devastated communities have nothing left to contribute.
“You see places like Blue River, they don’t have anything left and they certainly don’t have any money to put their entire town back together,” DeFazio said.
Such a request isn’t unprecedented.
FEMA has authorized a 100% federal share in 22 disasters under the Trump administration and a minimum 90% federal share in 23 additional disasters.
Six of these encompass Western wildfires, two of which are still spreading in northern California: the Glass Fire in Sonoma wine country that has burned 62,360 acres and the deadly Zogg Fire, which has claimed four lives, blazing through 56,305 acres in Shasta and Tehama counties, according to Cal Fire.
This aligns with FEMA’s long record of contributing an increased share toward serious disasters, authorizing a minimum 90% federal share on 173 occasions since 2004, 98 of which received a 100% federal share.
DeFazio was in Eugene after a midnight flight from Washington, D.C., and was headed to Medford and then to Clackamas County.
“The best way to mitigate this is to get in ahead of time. There are over 40 federal agencies that are part of this recovery,” DeFazio said. “We have to get in quickly to save hazardous waste sites from contaminating Eugene water.”
Next steps to help
The McKenzie River is Eugene-Springfield’s primary water supply. Providing water safety through cleaning burned sites will be a critical first step in disaster recovery, DeFazio said.
Also among the most immediate concerns will be locking down adequate housing for fire evacuees.
“We can’t keep these people in hotels for 18 months,” DeFazio said.
Despite $40 billion of FEMA’s $51.7 billion 2020 budget already committed to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, FEMA administrator Gaynor said the agency is actually in great financial shape to help with the 45 natural catastrophes across the United States this year.
Congress appropriated an extra $19.7 billion in disaster relief.
“Our focus is on suffering a minimal loss of life and then enabling recovery,” Gaynor said.
In addition to federal efforts, the United Way of Lane County highlighted its third round of relief with $150,000 to be distributed to seven local organizations helping wildfire victims.
The University of Oregon also pledged 31 college students who will work with Americorps to help with recovery, with seven individuals focused specifically on economic recovery to fire-damaged regions and a direct response to COVID-19.
“We will identify needs and use community-driven opportunities and resources to direct and enact a response plan that focuses on economic resilience,” UO Resource Assistance for Rural Environments program director Titus Tomlinson said.
Funds for the UO program actually began with $2.1 billion in preparedness grants, seed funding from FEMA to create a disaster resiliency program.
André Le Duc, chief resilience officer at the University of Oregon, participates in a briefing Saturday.
“Our philosophy is always to turn a dime into a dollar,” chief resilience officer Le Duc said. “We estimate that every one dollar that you put towards mitigation results in five to six dollars in growth.”
This investment falls under the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience Institute for Policy Research and Engagement in its School of Planning, Public Policy and Management.
“We use it to build,” Le Duc said. “If we use it early and we use it to plan, the better the outcome for the state of Oregon.”
The impact of these collaborative efforts amidst a bitterly partisan federal environment was not lost on DeFazio.
“We’ve had great bipartisan support,” DeFazio said. “Natural disasters don’t discriminate by political party.”
Originally published in the Register Guard