Tennessee Emergency Management Agency
James Bassham, Director

Most emergencies must be borne by the victims of the disaster, but some are large enough to request higher levels of assistance. The federal government will assist local governments and citizens to recover when the emergency is a disaster.

Under the Stafford Act (federal law), a community requesting federal assistance must prove they have been overwhelmed by events. Not only the local government must be overwhelmed, but state capabilities must be overwhelmed as well. Any request to the President for federal assistance must reflect how local capabilities have been exceeded.

As a foundation to this proof, the local government should declare a local emergency (by proclamation of the mayor) under Tennessee Code Annotated 58-2-104. A survey should be performed by local emergency officials (which may be assisted by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency) to decide if the damages in the county will meet pre-determined threshold amounts based upon population, and that a state threshold amount based upon population has been met as well. Both thresholds must be met before the county is even eligible to apply for federal assistance under the Stafford Act. The mayor (or the local emergency management director, acting for him) must then request a declaration of state emergency by the Governor. Federal assistance usually cannot be provided without a state declaration of emergency.

Thresholds

There are two thresholds which must be met under the Stafford Act, a state threshold and a county threshold. To obtain the threshold that damages must exceed, federal officials use a formula based on the last official U.S. Census and multiply the population by $3.23 per capita for counties and $1.29 per capita for the state. This establishes a different threshold for each county and equates to just under $7.5 million as the state threshold.

Sometimes a disaster is gradual or involves several locations which occur from the same weather event or from another cause which would be local in nature when considered independently. The Tennessee Emergency Management Plan (TEMP) may not have been activated since each smaller emergency appeared to be manageable in each community. In such a case in which the emergency graduates to a level over which the state cannot respond with adequate assets, the Governor may issue a proclamation of state emergency based upon the collective finding.

To determine whether a threshold will be met, the local government and TEMA typically partner in an informal survey ("windshield survey") that estimates the damages incurred in the jurisdiction. This estimate is collected by the state to determine the total damages of the event and whether the combined amounts may exceed the threshold amounts. When the estimate is near or over the threshold amounts, the Governor may request FEMA to provide preliminary damage assessment (PDA) teams or federal officials who make the official determination.

Types of Disaster Assistance

There are four types of disaster assistance, two of which must be requested through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), one which must be requested through the U. S. Small Business Administration and one is a rare option which may be invoked by FEMA. The assistance includes:

• Individual assistance
• Public assistance
• SBA loans
• FEMA grants

Each of these types offer differing types of limited disaster assistance. None of these options will provide all encompassing disaster assistance that fully replaces losses. Often, a local community has volunteer disaster organizations that offer services, materiel or (less frequently) cash or loans. The government does not typically coordinate non-government disaster assistance although TEMA will direct deserving persons to the appropriate contact (when available).

Persons who have incurred losses should register with FEMA: Apply For Assistance.