Disaster Law Commons^™

Center For Health & Homeland Security Newsletter, Spring 2023

Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Challenging Equality: Property Loss, Government Fault, And The Global Warming Catastrophe, Laura S. Underkuffler

Northwestern University Law Review

One of the bedrock principles of American property law is that all property owners and all property are protected equally. We do not believe—when it comes to compensation for loss—that poor owners are compensated rigidly and rich owners are not, or that property in private homes is protected rigidly and property in commercial or industrial structures is not. When it comes to compensation due to public or private fault, we believe in absolute equality. Equal treatment of property is at the heart of the liberal state and is the promise of American property law.

This Essay challenges that bedrock idea. …

Gimme Shelter: Amending Fema's Enabling Legislation To Permit Citizen Suits For Failures In Disaster Recovery Efforts, Zachary R.M. Outzen

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note argues that democratizing the disaster relief process through enabling citizen suits against FEMA to timely deliver housing relief assistance is one potential solution to the immense problem at hand. This Note provides an overview of FEMA’s obligations to survivors of natural disasters under both federal law and evolving interpretations of binding international law. This Note asserts that FEMA’s repeated failure to deliver necessary disaster relief aid to these survivors constitutes violations of these obligations. This Note will then assert that the issue underlying these failures (i.e., flawed administrative and bureaucratic processes) is analogous to similar failures by environmental …

Managing Hurricane (And Other Natural Disaster) Risk, Robert Jerry Ii

Texas A&M Law Review

With the data showing that hurricanes are the most likely and serious of all of these disasters, we return to Hurricane Harvey. No one living in Texas—especially in the cities of Houston, Port Arthur, Bridge City, Rockport, Wharton, Conroe, Port Aransas, and Victoria, or more generally in the counties of Harris, Aransas, Nueces, Jefferson, Orange, Victoria, Calhoun, Matagorda, Brazoria, Galveston, Fort Bend, Montgomery, and Wharton—needs to be told that the U.S. needs a better approach to managing hurricane and other natural disaster risk, both in terms of pre-disaster planning and post-disaster recovery. Texans are not alone, as survivors of Hurricanes …

An Inflection Point For Disaster Relief: Superstorm Sandy, Danshera Wetherington Cords

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Saving Grace: The Role Of Religious Organizations In Disaster Recovery And The Constitutionality Of Federal Funding To Rebuild Them, Cheslea Till

SMU Law Review

Natural disasters are on the rise and religious organizations, the same organizations that came to victims’ rescue in the wake of the last natural disaster, are often left in the path of destruction. Under President Trump’s administration, FEMA recently amended its disaster assistance program to provide funding for religious organizations. Opponents argue this amendment is a violation of the Establishment Clause, while proponents argue the amended plan finally gives religious organizations the fair treatment they deserve. This new aid program needs to be modified and restricted. Though there is clear precedent to support providing some Public Assistance funding to religious …

Attribution Of Conduct And Liability Issues Arising From International Disaster Relief Missions: Theoretical And Pragmatic Approaches To Guaranteeing Accountability, Giulio Bartolini

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article analyzes legal issues related to harmful activities of international disaster relief personnel, focusing on two distinct issues. On the one hand, the analysis centers on internationally wrongful acts carried out by relief personnel and uncertainties related to the attribution of conduct, due to the array of actors involved in such missions. Such an examination will be carried out through the lens of draft articles adopted by the International Law Commission on the responsibility of states and international organizations where some non-exhaustive references are made to such scenarios. On the other hand, the Article focuses on liability issues that …

Droughts, Floods, And Wildfires: Paleo Perspectives On Disaster Law In The Anthropocene, Ryan Stoa

Faculty Publications

Humanity’s impact on the earth has become so pronounced that momentum is building toward adopting a new term for the modern geological age — the “Anthropocene.” The term signifies that human activity has reached a scale that it is now a planetary force capable of shaping ecosystems and natural processes. And yet, anthropocentric natural resources management and environmental lawmaking in the United States reveals a lack of control in managing natural systems and fostering resilience to extreme events. These systems do not easily conform to the whims of reactionary environmental policies. Droughts, floods, and wildfires, in particular, are often conceptualized …

Fast Food: Regulating Emergency Food Aid In Sudden-Impact Disasters, David Fisher

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A rich and varied literature has grown up around food aid,' in particular with regard to its use as a development tool, in response to slow-onset disasters (such as droughts and desertification), and in armed conflicts. Given that these applications make up the bulk of the millions of tons of food aid recorded annually and present some of the thorniest operational issues, perhaps it is not surprising that the regulation of food aid provided in sudden-impact disasters (such as earthquakes, tsunamis, wind storms, and floods) has not been as thoroughly examined.

Still, while the amount of food involved is comparatively …

Natural Disaster Risks: An Introduction, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

An introduction to a special issue of the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty dealing with the implications of catastrophic events for research on risk and uncertainty. What are the consequences of natural disasters? How do individuals and firms respond to such disasters? How do insurers respond, and how should the government respond? Several of these papers will have a strong normative component as they will suggest what actions individuals, firms, and the government should take in anticipation of natural disasters.