Discussion Thread 2: Mitigation Rules and Regulations
The Stafford Act
“The Stafford Act gives the federal government the authority to assist states during a state
of emergency” (Islam & Ryan, 2015, p. 40). The president is authorized by the provisions within
the Stafford Act to issue a major presidential disaster or emergency declaration in response to
incidents. Assistance to communities in need plays a big role as the government responds to
significant events. Areas hit by severe weather events receive financial support to rebuild which
often includes making improvements to prevent future impact (p. 40). There are also temporary
Medicare and Medicaid waivers granted under the Stafford Act which can assist states during the
recovery phase of a disaster. In comparison to how the Federal government was involved
previously when disasters struck, the Stafford Act was a great improvement. The Stafford Act
was last amended in 2000 and has shown to have shortcomings that should be addressed.
“Provisions within the current federal laws are designed with smaller scale disasters in mind –
such as floods, tornadoes, and winter storms” (Moss et al, 2009, p. 1). One drawback was that
the one size fits all policies could impede the long-term recovery when large scale events take
place.
The Disaster Mitigation Act
The Disaster Mitigation Act signed in October 2000 was an amendment that “was used to
override some of the mitigation requirements previously established in the Stafford Act” (Islam
& Ryan, 2015, p. 41). This was a considerable improvement since it brought all levels of
