Community Recovery Management Toolkit

Disaster recovery is a time of tremendous pressure and work at the community level. Local officials are faced with pressure to rebuild quickly, communicate with stakeholders, resolve conflicts, seek funding from a variety of different agencies, and respond to new grant, contract, and financial requirements. However, disaster recovery is also a time of significant opportunity for communities to rebuild in a thoughtful, equitable, and resilient way.

The resources in this toolkit are geared toward helping community leaders through the long-term disaster recovery process and are intended to be useful at any phase of recovery.

Key Post-Disaster Recovery Resource Topics

Browse our "key resources," which are curated collections to help you get started, or search the full library.

Organize and Lead

Are you trying to determine how to organize or lead your community through disaster recovery?

Manage Grants & Finances

Are you concerned about grant management, community finances, or rules about disaster funding?

Assess, Plan & Decide

Do you want to know how to make informed and strategic decisions for your recovery?

Identify Funding Programs

Do you want to know more about disaster recovery funding and assistance programs?

Search the Full Recovery Management Toolkit

Search through the filterable library of recovery management information to quickly find tools, resources, examples and trainings that most fit your community’s needs. Click the resource's title to see all the information.

NOTICE
Resources provided are for informational purposes only and are compiled with publicly available information. Please directly consult the provider of a potential resource for current program information and to verify the applicability and requirements of a particular program. When you go to another website you are subject to its privacy policies. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, or applications.

Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery Briefing Paper - Flood Insurance & Design Requirements

American Planning Association (APA)

Briefing paper discussing the three most important steps that a community can take to set itself up for a successful and resilient long-term recovery from a flood event.

Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery: Next Generation - Post-Disaster Recovery Briefing Papers

American Planning Association (APA)

The American Planning Association Post-Disaster Recovery Briefing Papers include a number of resources useful for post-disaster planning

Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery Briefing Paper - Planning Resilient Infrastructure

American Planning Association (APA)

Briefing paper with guidance on how communities implement mitigation and resilience planning for infrastructure during recovery.

American Planning Association (APA) Webinar - Presenting the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association (NHMA) Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Curriculum

American Planning Association (APA)

​Listen to this webinar recording video to learn about how to integrate hazard mitigation strategies into local plans.

National Hazard Mitigation Association Best Practices

American Planning Association (APA)

Guide from American Planning Association providing examples and strategies for integrating hazard mitigation strategies into comprehensive, area, and functional plans; and shows where hazard mitigation can fit into zoning and subdivision codes.

Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery Briefing Paper - Financial Recovery

American Planning Association (APA)

Succinct guide for assessing your community's financial need after a disaster, creating a fundraising strategy, and managing money in a transparent way.

Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery Next Generation (overall guide)

American Planning Association (APA)

American Planning Association comprehensive guide on post-disaster planning and management of local recovery, including tools, case studies and a model ordinance.

Adopt a Pre-Event Recovery Ordinance

American Planning Association (APA)

Document describing how communities can develop and adopt a pre-event recovery ordinance that establishes local roles and responsibilities for organizing and directing post-disaster recovery efforts.

Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery Briefing Paper - Measuring Progress in Recovery

American Planning Association (APA)

Brief but detailed primer from the American Planning Association on integrating recovery plans and establishing recovery metrics.

Case Study: Hayman Fire, Hayman, Colorado

American Planning Association (APA)

This case study discusses the challenges, impacts, and planning efforts associated with the largest and most devastating wildfire in Colorado's recorded history at the time.

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