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Disasters are complex and dynamic events that test even the most ethical leaders at all levels of government. During 2020, communities throughout the United States experienced compounding disasters that challenged not only leaders, but response and recovery plans and policies. This study examines ethical leadership during compounding disasters in two cities—Lafayette, LA and Dallas, TX. The Lafayette case study involves the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness crisis, civil unrest, and Hurricane Laura, while the case study in Dallas centers on COVID-19, Winter Storm Uri, and the COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Specifically, the cases examine how the national narrative over race and COVID-19 impacted decision making at the local government level and which aspects of ethical leadership are evidenced in these compounding disasters. This study concludes with future research recommendations and identifies practical implications for public leaders and emergency managers when responding to compounding disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of March 2021, the United States had nearly 1 million COVID‐19 deaths. To aid families, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established the Funeral Assistance Program. Using publicly available data, we examine the equitable utilization of FEMA's COVID‐19 Funeral Assistance Program funding. Results show a significant relationship between FEMA COVID‐19 Funeral Assistance Program funding and some, but not all, social vulnerability components. Specifically, counties with higher percentages of the population with disabilities and higher percentages of minorities receive lower amounts of funding per 100,000 residents. These findings suggest that FEMA's equity efforts are not fully materializing regarding the utilization of the FEMA COVID‐19 Funeral Assistance Program funding among socially vulnerable groups. FEMA should broaden its social equity outreach and priorities for those not traditionally considered in social equity discussions, such as people with disabilities while continuing efforts toward traditional social equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding causes more financial and physical destruction in the United States than any other natural hazard. To stem flood losses, local floodplain managers make decisions on how best to mitigate, prepare, and respond to flood hazards. Using quantitative and qualitative data gathered from interviews with 200 floodplain managers in the United States, this study explores the extent to which local communities are concerned about floods, perceptions of communities' ability to mitigate, prepare, and respond to floods, as well as the factors contributing to communities' perceptions of their ability to mitigate, prepare, and respond to floods. Findings indicate that floodplain managers generally perceived their communities to be very or somewhat concerned and prepared for floods. Floodplain managers also perceived their communities' ability to mitigate and respond to floods as being good. Lastly, the findings show that participation in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Community Rating System was positively associated with floodplain managers' perceptions of their community's ability to mitigate, prepare, and respond to floods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have sought to understand the different kinds of preparedness measures public, private and nonprofit organizations adopt and the factors motivating these organizations to adopt different kinds of preparedness measures. The present study addresses these gaps in research using perceptions from 1,960 public, private and nonprofit employees. Results indicate significant variations in public, private and nonprofit employees' perceptions of the kinds of preparedness measures their organizations adopt. Findings also suggest there are variations in the factors motivating public, private and nonprofit organizations to adopt different kinds of preparedness measures. The results provide important insights to emergency managers aiming to increase the levels of disaster preparedness among organizations within their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have extensively studied risk perceptions of hazardous activities and technologies to better understand how to analyze risk to inform and improve risk communications and risk management policy-making in various facets of society. Despite the existence of such studies, there is limited research on how stable or different risk perceptions of various activities and technologies are across time. A better understanding of the temporal aspect of risk perceptions can lead to more effective policy responses by ensuring that policies based on risk perceptions continuously reflect current public risk perceptions. Hence, the purpose of this descriptive study is to explore the question: 'How stable or different are risk perceptions of hazardous activities and technologies over time?' To answer this question, this study compares the risk rankings for 29 hazardous activities (e.g. smoking cigarettes) and technologies (e.g. driving a motor vehicle) from a risk perception survey of 2008 U.S. employees conducted in 2014 with similar 29 items from Slovic to his colleagues' 1976/1977 survey. Specifically, we use Spearman's rank order correlation to compare the risk rankings by Slovic and his colleagues' three lay groups - League of Women Voters, college students, and active club members - with the risk rankings by similar lay groups from the Pacific Region in the 2014 survey. In general, the results of this descriptive study indicate some stability of risk perception over time, but some interesting differences remain. This study concludes by suggesting future research topic areas on risk perceptions of hazardous activities and technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of March 2021, the United States had nearly 1 million COVID-19 deaths. To aid families, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established the Funeral Assistance Program. Using publicly available data, we examine the equitable utilization of FEMA's COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program funding. Results show a significant relationship between FEMA COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program funding and some, but not all, social vulnerability components. Specifically, counties with higher percentages of the population with disabilities and higher percentages of minorities receive lower amounts of funding per 100,000 residents. These findings suggest that FEMA's equity efforts are not fully materializing regarding the utilization of the FEMA COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program funding among socially vulnerable groups. FEMA should broaden its social equity outreach and priorities for those not traditionally considered in social equity discussions, such as people with disabilities while continuing efforts toward traditional social equity., (© 2022 American Society for Public Administration.)