Giving Compass' Take:

• Community-led approaches could be the key to helping reduce the impacts of natural disasters on U.S. communities. 

• What is the role of nonprofits and philanthropic support in community-led initiatives for disaster relief? 

• Read the Giving Compass Disaster Relief and Recovery Guide for donors. 

If you lived in Mexico Beach, Florida or Paradise, California, you now know something that others might not. You know that for your community to survive a major natural disaster our nation must become more proactive in our efforts to reduce the devastating impacts of future disasters such as hurricanes and the wildfire.

The frequency and severity of natural disasters has increased dramatically. Changes in the climate have resulted in the now almost year-round threats from wildfires, hurricanes are becoming severe rain events causing unusual flooding events, and tornadoes have expanded their geographic reach outside of Tornado Alley.

In 2017 alone, the United States spent an estimated $306 billion on disaster relief.

Across the United States, communities are realizing that this rise in extreme events can no longer be ignored.  Communities are looking for ways to address these problems, for partners to help them strengthen their communities, and for leadership that will support action.

While we cannot prevent these events from happening, we can reduce the impacts of these events on the people, the institutions, the natural environment, and reduce the suffering of our communities. Initiatives that engage communities, like Project Impact 2, can have major impacts:

  • Create a community coalition to lead and support action
  • Reduce costs of future disasters and enhanced stability in the tax base
  • Provide a vehicle to address community concerns associated with risk and highlight community process to collaborate to resolve risks
  • Reduce future economic and social disruption from disasters
  • Economic stability and opportunity for economic growth and increased tax income
  • Identify opportunities for applying innovative, proven approaches to creating local funding sources

Read the full article about natural disasters by James L. Witt at The Hill