Local Recovery Coordinators and the National Disaster Recovery Framework: Questions Regarding the Form, Necessity, and Potential of the Role

This article discusses the “uncoordinated” critique of the disaster recovery process and the current attempt to address the issue through the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF). Scholars have identified that the topic of coordination in disaster recovery is one that needs policy attention and it is laudable that the federal government has provided such focused attention by way of the NDRF. Yet, it is also important to critically examine whether the NDRF’s proposed recovery coordination vision – the local disaster recovery manager – is a reasonable foundation upon which to address the issues of recovery processes nationwide. This article examines this issue by discussing the extent to which the NDRF recovery manager role is consistent with what the literature would suggest, the extent to which the NDRF role is needed, and the extent to which it is possible that the NDRF-depicted local role be fulfilled across the country. Implications for the vision set out in the NDRF and recommendations for future research are discussed in light of this analysis.