Because of the large number and wide variety of  stakeholders involved in the recovery from a catastrophic event,  collaboration is a critical element of this process. Effective Collaboration Has Facilitated Recovery in Past Disasters

Effective collaboration among recovery stakeholders can play a key role in  facilitating disaster recovery. Building on this, we  identify two approaches of how stakeholders involved in the recovery  process following the Kobe earthquake in Japan and the Grand Forks/Red  River flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota, worked collectively to define  and articulate common outcomes. In doing so, collaborating groups can bring  different levels of resources and capacities to the task at hand. In the wake of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, the Japanese government  created a formal organization through which human capital resources  from all levels of the government were leveraged to plan for and  implement recovery strategies. To review construction proposals more efficiently,  FHWA and CalTrans staff collaborated to review documents, discuss  needed changes, and then approve projects together in one location. Under standard contracting procedures, the contracting  process could take 26 to 40 weeks to complete. However, this  collaborative, co-located process enabled state highway officials to  advertise and award construction contracts in just 3 to 5 days. By  leveraging the knowledge and resources of state and federal staff in this  way, Los Angeles successfully restored its highways within a few months  after the Northridge earthquake. Communities can develop  such plans either before or after a disaster occurs. Pre-disaster  recovery plans that clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of various  stakeholders may prove useful in clarifying the specific types of costs  federal programs are likely to cover as well as some of the requirements of  these programs before a disaster strikes. They  enabled policy makers to measure the progress made by various  stakeholders in achieving recovery goals, and identify needed changes to  existing policies, and learned lessons for future disasters. For example, as a result of its 10-year evaluation Hyogo prefecture gained  insight into the unintended consequences of how it relocated elderly  earthquake victims, which subsequently led to a change in policy. FEMA Has Taken Steps to Facilitate Collaboration among Stakeholders, but Could Do More to Share Recovery Experiences

Recovery experiences from past catastrophes—including good  collaboration practices—can offer lessons for such events in the future. Through one-on-one exchanges like these, state and local officials  involved in recovery can obtain tailored advice from individuals who have  addressed similar challenges themselves. Specifically, we have identified a number of practices  used during past disasters that can offer insights for effective  collaboration: developing and communicating common goals to guide  recovery; leveraging resources to facilitate recovery; using recovery plans  to agree on roles and responsibilities; and monitoring, evaluating, and  reporting on progress made toward recovery. Recommendation for Executive Action

To improve the ability of the federal government to capture and  disseminate recovery information, we recommend that the Secretary of  Homeland Security direct the Administrator of FEMA to establish a  mechanism for sharing information and best practices focused on disaster  recovery, including practices that promote effective collaboration such as  those discussed in this report. Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

To identify recovery lessons from past experiences, we selected 5  catastrophic disasters: the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Hurricane  Andrew in 1992, the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the 1995 Great Hanshin- Awaji (Kobe) earthquake, and the 1997 Grand Forks/Red River flood to  review (see fig. y communities impacted by four of the five disasters in  To identify examples of good collaboration among recovery stakeholders,  we applied eight key practices we have reported on in prior work that  enhance and sustain collaboration: (1) define and articulate a common  outcome; (2) establish mutually reinforcing or joint strategies; (3) identify  and address needs by leveraging resources; (4) agree on roles and  responsibilities; (5) establish compatible policies, procedures, and other  means to operate across agency boundaries; (6) develop mechanisms to  monitor, evaluate, and report on results; (7) reinforce agency  accountability for collaborative efforts through agency plans and reports;  and (8) reinforce individual accountability for collaborative efforts  through performance management systems. Long-term Recove Snapshot

The federal government provided significant funding to the affected areas  to facilitate its recovery from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Toward that end, the city established Vision  Santa Cruz which helped to facilitate the planning process for the city’s  downtown recovery.
Why GAO Did This Study

In the wake of the 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes, coordination and collaboration challenges created obstacles during the government's response and recovery efforts. Because of the many stakeholders involved in recovery, including all levels of government, it is critical to build collaborative relationships. Building on GAO's September 2008 report which provided several key recovery practices from past catastrophic disasters, this report presents examples of how federal, state, and local governments have effectively collaborated in the past. GAO reviewed five catastrophic disasters--the Loma Prieta earthquake (California, 1989), Hurricane Andrew (Florida, 1992), the Northridge earthquake (California, 1994), the Kobe earthquake (Japan, 1995), and the Grand Forks/Red River flood (North Dakota and Minnesota, 1997)--to identify recovery lessons. GAO interviewed officials involved in the recovery from these disasters and experts on disaster recovery. GAO also reviewed relevant legislation, policies, and the disaster recovery literature.

What GAO Found

Effective collaboration among stakeholders can play a key role in facilitating long-term recovery after a catastrophic event. Toward that end, GAO has identified four collaborative practices that may help communities rebuild from the Gulf Coast hurricanes as well as future catastrophic events: (1) Develop and communicate common goals to guide recovery. Defining common recovery goals can enhance collaboration by helping stakeholders overcome differences in missions and cultures. After the Grand Forks/Red River flood, federally-funded consultants convened various stakeholders to develop recovery goals and priorities for the city of Grand Forks. The city used these goals as a basis to create a detailed recovery action plan that helped it to implement its recovery goals. (2) Leverage resources to facilitate recovery. Collaborating groups bring different resources and capacities to the task at hand. After the Northridge earthquake, officials from the Federal Highway Administration and California's state transportation agency worked together to review highway rebuilding contracts, discuss changes, and then approve projects all in one location. This co-located, collaborative approach enabled the awarding of rebuilding contracts in 3 to 5 days--instead of the 26 to 40 weeks it could take using normal contracting procedures. This helped to restore damaged highways within a few months of the earthquake. (3) Use recovery plans to agree on roles and responsibilities. Organizations can collectively agree on who will do what by identifying roles and responsibilities in recovery plans developed either before or after a disaster takes place. Learning from its experiences from the Loma Prieta earthquake, San Francisco Bay Area officials created a plan that clearly identifies roles for all participants in order to facilitate regional recovery in the event of a future disaster. (4) Monitor, evaluate, and report on progress made toward recovery. After the 1995 earthquake, the city of Kobe and the surrounding region established processes to assess and report on recovery progress. These jurisdictions required periodic external reviews over 10 years on the progress made toward achieving recovery goals. As a result of one of these reviews, the city of Kobe gained insight into unintended consequences of how it relocated elderly earthquake victims, which subsequently led to a change in policy. Past recovery experiences--including practices that promote effective collaboration--offer potentially valuable lessons for future catastrophic events. FEMA has taken some steps to facilitate the sharing of such experiences among communities involved in disaster recovery. However, the agency can do more to build on and systematize the sharing of this information so that recovery lessons are better captured and disseminated for use in the future.