Emergency Disaster Legal Issues after Hurricane Sandy within New Jersey - Research Paper Example

? Emergency Disaster Legal Issues after Hurricane Sandy within New Jersey Introduction Research records that October 29-30, is the date when Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern coastline. Its occurrence demolished a lot of groups of people in New Jersey, New York, and afar. Following the wake of Hurricane Sandy, helpful legal information has been provided to nonprofit supporting catastrophe victims. Legal information assists nonprofits with tragedy relief lawful matters allied to expansion and downsizing, fundraising and grant making, conformity with tax-exempt parties, and real estate emergencies. Legal offices have been open in the region to provide people with access to benefits, acquire safe inexpensive housing, and manage other legal problems to assist families and the public pull through Hurricane Sandy. In order to prevent communities from the devastating effects of any other emergency, several policies have been implemented accordingly. Reflecting on this context, this paper critically examines emergency disaster legal issues after Hurricane Sandy within New Jersey from a broad point of view. In order to successfully scrutinize the subject, the paper also provides the central research question and the purpose of the research, research methodology, and appropriate recommendations accordingly. The Central Research Question and the Purpose of the Research The occurrence of disaster in any given society leads to mass killings and destruction of property in the long run. The happening of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey has become an important issue of discussion in recent times. The debate over the disaster has been aimed towards finding out the most valuable measures, which should be implemented in the region to help people (National Disaster Legal Aid, 2012). Whenever a disaster hits any given region, there are several legal issues which arise among the victims. Several measures must be adopted appropriately in order to solve such legal issues within the shortest time possible. With the intention of addressing the legal issue in the affected region, legal assistance is always considered of great importance (Perry, 2012). Legal assistance provided in New Jersey takes account of the following. The first legal assistance is returning legal documents lost and damaged during the incidence. The second legal assistance is providing medication and property insurance claims to the victims whilst the other legal assistance is to give counseling on issues related to tenant and landlord. Building on this perspective, it is worth noting that the central research question of this paper revolves around preparing a report in support of the legal issues of the disaster. This implies that the central question of the research forms a point of reference from where the purpose of the research is understood clearly. It is worth noting that, all the way through the state, revival efforts are well in progress (Summar, 2012). The revival efforts are aimed towards saving the lives of all people affected by the disaster. In that sense, the purpose of the research is to explore the negative impacts of a disaster, examine the necessary policies that are put into practice towards addressing the emerging issues, and define how victims of the catastrophe can be helped to recover sooner or later. Research Methodology After evaluation of the disaster, the Hazard and Vulnerability Analysis prepared by the legal offices at New Jersey announced that the people were equally at risk of different types of disasters. It is appropriate for a community to have well organized emergency operations against any emergency. After an analysis has been done and the community has been found vulnerable to different types of disasters, there is the need to come up with emergency plans to address the situation (Perry, 2012). For the community, there are two ways to go about this: we can have a Disaster Specific Plan for the different disasters or have a General Emergency Management Plan for addressing any of the four disasters whenever it occurs. According to studies, a disaster-specific plan is suitable against any kind of disaster (********). Any kind of disaster has unprecedented and unique situations and usually need a specific but an in-depth approach to tackle it. If the specific situations are expected in advance, then some of difficulties faced in fighting the disaster can be managed. There is the need to come up with proper understanding of the major characteristics of every kind of disaster (National Disaster Legal Aid, 2012). Each situation and occurrence of disaster is examined separately. Although the end-result of any activity is to fight to any kind of disaster, a streamlined and specific approach will help to fight the specific modules of the disaster. Since different disasters and emergencies require specific interventions, it is necessary to have plans designed for a given kind of occurrence. This will help to equip the disaster experts with the right tools to deal with the situation. As well, different monitoring systems will required for any kind of disaster. The use of disaster-specific plans to fight a given emergency depends on the preparedness of the managers. Another reason why a disaster-specific plan is preferable is because it presents maximum fight against emergencies (Summar, 2012). The right people with the required expertise and knowledge are usually recruited to help in fighting the specified disaster. Some unnecessary inconveniences can also be eliminated when specified plans are used for certain disasters. Everyone is aware of his duty and how to do it to the best. As well, different forms of disasters require specific interventions which can only be clearly outlined through disaster-specific plans. Therefore, it is necessary to note that a specific plan for every kind of disaster is necessary for this community. The major limitations of these approaches include the need for more funds to form and manage (Perry, 2012). With very many hazards and disasters in the waiting, it can be hard to design a plan for each specific occurrence. Since a couple of disaster-specific plans are designed, some disasters might be neglected hence cause deaths and damages once they happen because no plan is ready to undertake the process of addressing the disaster. If by any chance disaster-specific plans cannot be derived for the community, there will be no option but to support a General Emergency Management Plan (Hannestad, 2006). There are several important features significant for a general emergency plan. The first one is that the plan can address any kind of emergency or disaster occurring in the society. This increases the chances of success in fighting varied disasters in the community. Since there are very many disasters capable of striking a given community, there is the need to have a general management plan as it makes it easier to fight several disasters (National Disaster Legal Aid, 2012). Another advantage is that is presents an in-depth analysis and approach in an attempt to tackle disasters. It is also very easy to manage a general emergency management plan (Kreidler, 2010). The same management team will be employed to address any kind disaster once it strikes. A multi-hazard approach helps to minimize the amount of money used to fight disasters. Although the community is prone to disasters, they cannot happen at the exact time and therefore a multi-disaster plan is capable of addressing varied emergencies without having to incur excess funds (Summar, 2012). When operating this kind of plan it is easy to monitor the frequency of specific disasters hence becoming easy to monitor the community and prepare it against any detrimental emergencies. Newly acquired information is easily obtained using the ICS system and then delivered to manned control rooms. This makes it easy to come up with the right approach to address the specific situation. The already recorded information on how earlier events were addressed can be replicated for any new disaster. Another important thing is that the system improves data transfer and information sharing (National Disaster Legal Aid, 2012). A disaster is therefore addressed within the shortest time possible thanks to the ICS communication models. Also, the system can be automated and able to detect smoke or earthquake after which it relays the appropriate information to experts to undertake the necessary precautions. Legal issues are likely to occur whenever a disaster strikes in any given region. In order to help victims of a disaster, legal assistance can be provided accordingly (Hannestad, 2006). Legal assistance in this case includes the following: assistance with restoring legal documents that may have been destroyed during the catastrophe, support with life, health check and property insurance correlated claims, help in people protection matters, medications and procedures, and counseling on tenant and landlord issues. Recommendations No matter the type of disaster monitoring and management plan ultimately developed, it is mandatory to come up with Incident Command Systems (ICS) (Lawson, 2009). These systems are important because they make sure the disaster plans are capable of fighting disasters once they occur. Whether a disaster specific or a multi-hazard plan has been favored, it is necessary to employ the use of ICS in its operations (Summar, 2012). An Incident Command System has several features aimed at analyzing and reporting new situations to the right people. The system integrates databases used to give feedback on the right way or approach against specific disasters. The other important reason a general disaster plan has been proposed by the legal offices in the region is because different people with varied experiences can be employed to work for the plan. This has the capability of improving the disaster fighting mechanisms. Therefore, at much reduced costs, a General Emergency Management Plan can be employed in the community to fight any kind of disaster (Perry, 2012). Inaccurate handling of complex disasters tends to be common hence resulting in poor rescue operations. This means that a disaster may not be controlled using the plan due to lack of expertise. Negligence is also common with this plan as many decide not to undertake specific responsibilities in the emergency rescue missions. Disasters occur any time and the time frame of occurrence can never be predicted. In that sense, implementing the most effective measures when a disaster occurs is the most preferred way to address legal issues (Lawson, 2009). Worth mentioning, disasters have diverse negative impacts and so the measure and weight for any given catastrophe should never be compared to any other. In simple words, the safety precautions and measures adopted to address one catastrophe should not be used for another one. In essence, understanding the most effective means to solve legal issues when a disaster hits is the most effective approach any state should consider. This forms a point of reference from where safety for all people in the society is given the first priority. Most remarkably, people should learn the necessary measures imposed to ensure their safety when a disaster occurs. Conclusion Despite the kind of plan used in the region, it is necessary to weigh options and know the most common disasters and how they can be addressed. Cited in the discussion, there are several factors to consider before deciding the final plan to use. Any action to be considered in the fight against disaster has pros and cons, and hence it is necessary to weigh and determine the right way forward. Also, it is a common believe that the National Incident Management System, also known as Incident Command System, will work effectively regardless the type of plan ultimately developed. The main idea to make sure any disaster has been prevented from occurring and tackling it effectively once it happens. As a point of conclusion, it is worth noting that several measures, which have been put in place in New Jersey, have been helpful towards addressing legal issues. References Hannestad, S. (2006). ‘Incident Command System: developing a national standard.’ Journal of Integrated Communication, 1(3), 45-63. National Disaster Legal Aid. (2012). Hurricane Sandy. Retrieved: http://www.disasterlegalaid.org/hurricane_sandy/?sr=11 Kreidler, C. (2010). ‘Corruption as an Internal Problem for Emergency Operations.’ Journal of Emergency, 1(2), 38-54. Lawson, J. (2009). ‘The Emergency Response Operations.’ Journal of Emergency, 3(2), 122-147. Perry, M. (2012). Price gouging following Hurricane Sandy: New Jersey vs. DC. Retrieved: http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/10/price-gouging-following-hurricane-sandy-new-jersey-vs-dc/ Summar, C. (2012). Dealing with Post-Disaster Legal Issues. Retrieved: http://www.studioprotector.org/OnlineGuide/DisasterRelief/LegalIssues.aspx Read More