State aid, a centralized response, communications support and hazard resistant construction and development are just some of the suggestions St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer has for a new House caucus on how to improve disaster response in the state.
The House Future Caucus held its first meeting on disaster mitigation on Tuesday, with the goal of hearing from multiple witnesses on how the state can get ahead on responding to disasters, like the tornado that hit St. Louis in May.
Rep. Colin Wellenkamp, R-St. Charles, chairs the caucus. He said Tuesday that the purpose of the group set up by House Speaker Jon Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, in April, is to help standing committees with investigating complex issues that face the state.
“Some examples include disaster mitigation, disaster readiness, emergency recovery and response. We as a state onboarded over $2 billion in actual losses from March to today in a myriad of disasters, floods, floods, tornadoes, intense heat and drought,” Wellenkamp said.
Spencer told the caucus that adequate staffing and funding sources are key to the success of disaster response. She also said this is ultimately a matter for the governor and legislature to decide.
“If every city in the state of Missouri was diverting tax resources to establishing their own individual disaster response systems, it would be an enormous burden for each locality,” Spencer said.
Spencer said without an immediate response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, another agency must step in.
The mayor also mentioned the necessity of robust communication support in the aftermath of a disaster.
“One of the most helpful assets to cities after a disaster is supporting, coordinating and communicating public information for the response and the recovery effort,” Spencer said. “We did receive support from the state and federal government for this. We wish we could have kept those professionals onsite longer.”
As far as future prevention, Spencer cited hazard-resistant construction and development. That could include tornado safe rooms and flood plain mapping.
“The state already offers many great housing and development infrastructure funding and incentive programs. So, this could be as simple as asking state departments to review those existing programs for opportunities to further build,” Spencer said.
Rep. Marty Murray, D-St. Louis, asked Spencer about the $100 million in state aid the legislature passed in June, including the status of that funding.
“When I met with the budget director, he was saying that we were waiting on contracts to be in place, or we're waiting to see to what extent the federal government was going to provide, as far as aid, how close are we to getting that money?” Murray said.
Spencer said that was still yet to be determined, but also said when the state administered those funds, it wanted to make sure that money was being used “in a way that would have the biggest impact.”
Other people who testified during the meeting included: Director Jim Remillard with the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency and Missouri Commerce and Insurance Director Angela Nelson.
