Disaster recovery after Hurricane Hugo in South Carolina.

Community services

Disaster recovery

Hurricane Hugo was a catastrophe that caused widespread residential damage, extensive lifeline destruction, and enormous timber destruction in South Carolina. Hugo was one of the most costly disasters ever experienced in the U.S. in terms of damage to homes, infrastructure, and local economies. This exploratory research focuses on public-sector recovery processes in South Caroilina. The project team gathered information about the recovery experience in four badly impacted counties and about the state's response and recovery actions. Problems were found in all four phases of emergency management: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. Some preparedness measures, such as those for warnings and evacuations were effective; however, preparedness was rather narrowly construed. Posthurricane response problems were both organisational and functional. The recovery period revealed significant deficiencies with state and county emergency capabilities and serious problems in two national disaster response organisations, the Red Cross and FEMA. An underlying concern is that most emergency management knowledge comes from direct experience rather than from existing educational and training programs. In addition, serious mitigation planning problems were found with both hurricanes and earthquakes. Finally,. a new explanatory model of recovery and mitigation processes is offered in this report. This research points out implications for the public, emergency management communities, national disaster service providers (FEMA and the American National Red Cross), and hazards/disaster researchers

Hurricanes

Recovery management