Recovery

The recovery phase is the longest and most expensive phase of a disaster. Emergency managers start planning for the recovery from disasters long before disaster strikes, so that an effective recovery can commence in the first hours of a disaster event.

Depending on the proximity in time to the disaster, early recovery typically involves debris removal, demobilization of personnel, disposition of resources acquired during a disaster, rehabilitating the community, preparing After Action Reports and Corrective Action Plans; in other words, recovery transitions into Planning.

Often the success of recovery depends on planning prior to a disaster. It is also a time when the needs of animals in disasters is fresh in peoples’ minds and are taken seriously. Hence, the recovery phase is an ideal time to start working towards a better future.

The effectiveness of the early recovery planning often doesn’t emerge until the effort invested in the response is waning. A successful recovery manifests itself as implementing plans for a better future where the hazards of the past and their impacts are mitigated, and the foreseeable consequences of disasters are minimized.

During the recovery phase of a disaster, awareness of issues and the resolve to prevent or mitigate concerns for animals is high. During recovery interest in preparedness is often inspired and support is highly motivated to rebuild a resilient animal health infrastructure. Hence the recovery phase of a disaster is an opportune time to address underlying issues that contributed to how the disaster affected animals and to inspire a future a community desires.

There are many examples of what a viable animal health infrastructure could look like, what the root causes of vulnerability are to that infrastructure, and how these vulnerabilities can be addressed to improve upon a community’s approach to animal and public health.

At animaldisasters.com we can help you with fund raising to help rebuild and improve a community’s animal health infrastructure, as well as engage communities to develop comprehensive emergency management strategies to mitigate future disasters, and improve every day quality of life for people and animals.