That's only a very slight change from what is done now. For the most part, local responders are the front line -- we were the ones out the morning of Helene and for weeks afterwards -- with the state stepping in to provide support that the local organizations don't have. (For example, we have Swiftwater teams and rescuers -- I am one myself -- but the state has Swiftwater teams that have more equipment than we do locally, especially including boats.) The State governor declares a state of emergency, and that opens up a big funding window for local responders as well as increased ability for the National Guard to support us. FEMA's chief role is to coordinate providing additional Federal funding, and occasionally to provide personnel that mostly help fill out forms and verify the details so that money can flow.
Their direct aid provision role is quite limited; I never once saw a FEMA employee doing anything, although I've heard there were some teams triaged to other areas. Other states, though, will also send resources across state borders to help (as in California now, where fire departments have deployed strike teams from as far away as, yes, North Carolina in support of local crews).
In general I'm always in favor of closing down parts of the Federal government, or government in general. Making things voluntary whenever we can, privatizing when we can't rely on volunteer resources alone, localizing when we can't privatize, driving things down to the lowest possible level is always what I like to see. Therefore, instinctively I like this idea.
It would require some combination of cutting red tape on all those forms and verification processes, and/or funding state/local employees to do the same stuff where tape can't get cut.
7 comments:
I believe "Block grants" are a fairly common form of redistribution of Federal funds to support various programs. IIRC a lot of the WIC and other food assistance flows that way. Medicaid money, also, is directed to state agencies that are responsible for administering the funds. I agree that if we are going to have the Feds fund things, this should be the default method.
I favor a single block grant to each State equal to the total amount of grants and other transfers the State and any State institution received in [2023] as Year 0. Then each year reduce the size of the block grant by 10% of the Year 0 grant until no money is transferred.
Federal transfers should occur only on declaration of a regional or national emergency, or when a State certifies that all of its local private resources (vis., church and local charities), its local government resources, on up through the State's resources have been exhausted.
At that point, any Federal transfers should go directly to the individuals or via those local private entities to the individuals.
Governments don't need to be in the middle in nearly all cases.
Eric Hines
Just out of curiosity, Grim, how much does it cost to buy and outfit a swiftwater rescue boat?
So, first you need to decide what kind of boat you need for the water you expect to be on. The military-style RHIB models are popular, but you may have different needs depending on whether you're expecting flooded rivers near the mountains (very fast, not wide) or near the coast (not as fast, much, much bigger because all the mountain water has drained down there), or on big lakes, or oceans. That's going to be a big part of your cost, and if you want to buy one new it's going to be custom-made and expensive (much like a fire apparatus will be, but not on that scale -- thousands to tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands to a million or more).
If you want to buy existing ones from another department, you may be able to get a better deal. Still thousands at least.
Each member of the team for the boat is going to need a Class V PFD (say $300), a wet or drysuit (maybe up to a grand), a helmet (these are cheap), gloves, boots, and a knife (all Swiftwater rescuers carry knives, as you can get hung up in floating things and drown if you can't cut free; you may also need them to defend against drowning victims as a last resort if you can't restrain them or calm them otherwise).
Then the team will need throw bags, rescue rope, and whatever kind of carabiners or mechanical advantage systems you think you'll need. We trained on securing the boat on a high-line, for example, which requires quite a bit of quality kernmantle rope and good pulleys as well.
Of course you'll need a truck and trailer to haul your boat; a hauling truck isn't cheap even by itself.
So we're talking about a real investment. A county team with a couple of boats and a dozen guys, a dedicated truck and trailer, you could probably do it for less than a hundred grand (and much less to maintain year-over-year). Of course you have to pay to train the guys, too; and if they aren't volunteers but dedicated TR Swiftwater rescuers, each of them cost around fifty grand a year in salary plus benefits.
Note, though, that this is exactly the sort of thing that gets shared between states. If you are on one of the dedicated State Swiftwater teams (we have 30 teams of varying sizes in NC), they can be deployed anywhere in the USA. I know guys who've been deployed on major floods for months at a time.
A block grant specifically tagged for emergency disaster aid, with a few additional limits, would work far more efficiently than what FEMA has managed over the past, oh, 20 years or so. They don't seem to provide coordination assistance, or to smooth the way for individuals and businesses to get help, or to provide information about options and resources.
Full disclosure: I have a grudge against the foolishness of some field personnel going back to the 2006 wildfires in this region, so I am biased against FEMA in general.
LittleRed1
Yes, pretty much get the feds out and turn it over to the states. Weaning the states off slowly is a good idea.
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