By John Zakian

While the "Strategic Disaster Planning" article (April 2017 PM) certainly has value, there are two critical omissions.

First, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is first response, but its programs, services, and funding are limited by law to homeowners and renters. What is not noted in the article is that for businesses, it is the Small Business Administration (SBA) and not FEMA that they need to contact.

Help for Business Owners

Usually, the assistance centers that FEMA sets up in the wake of disasters contain SBA representatives. Too often, businesses do not know that FEMA does not assist businesses and quickly become discouraged from seeking assistance.

It is true that FEMA Iowa and Pennsylvania programs are grants while SBA disaster assistance is offered through loans for both working capital and repair/rebuild, but such loans are at interest rates below conventional rates. In establishing plans and in responding to disasters, it is important for local, county, regional, and state officials to reach out to both FEMA and SBA.

Federal Policy Guidance

Second, there is no reference or discussion about the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF; https://www.fema.gov/national-disaster-recovery-framework). NDRF is now the federal government sacred book covering pre- and post- disaster response. It sets forth the roles and responsibilities of a multitude of federal departments and agencies in preparing and responding to disasters.

NDRF also sets forth best practices, protocols, and guidelines for response to disasters and the expected interaction among federal agencies, state government, and affected local communities. I advise anyone in local, regional, and state government to have copies of NDRF and be familiar with its contents.

I was deployed in May 2011 as a member of the FEMA's long-term community recovery team serving as coordination group supervisor for all federal agencies' response to the Alabama tornadoes disaster in April 2011. It was during this deployment that President Obama signed off on NDRF to be the policy guidance for all federal agencies involved in disaster planning and response.

John Zakian is national disaster resilience program manager, Minot, North Dakota (jzakian@aol.com).