Long after the initial emergency response phase is over, local jurisdictions will face an unenviable task of trying to maintain or reestablish essential services, utilities, and functionality.  This phase is labeled the recovery phase.

A critical part of handling any serious emergency situation is in the management of the Disaster Recovery Phase. By definition, the Disaster Recovery Phase is likely to involve, to a significant degree, external emergency services.

The priority during this phase is the safety and well being of the employees and other involved persons, the minimization of the emergency itself, the removal or minimization of the threat of further injury or damage and the re-establishment of external services such as power, communications, water etc. A significant task during this phase is also the completion of Damage Assessment Forms.

In addition to the emergency services, the Disaster Recovery Phase may involve different personnel depending upon the type of emergency and a Disaster Recovery Team should be nominated according to the requirements of each specific crisis.

Disaster Finance, Recovery, Mitigation, and Standards - From the Texas Division of Emergency Management

What is Disaster Finance, Recovery Mitigation and Standards (DFRMS)?

When disasters occur of a magnitude that state and federal assistance might be needed, the Recovery Section coordinates damage surveys with local and federal agencies, prepares disaster declaration requests for the Governor’s signature, and deploys staff to the affected area to coordinate the overall recovery process. For major disasters, state and federal recovery staffs are collocated in a Joint Field Office.

TDEM’s Disaster Finance, Recovery, Mitigation, and Standards (DFRMS) staff includes: specialists who carry out disaster recovery programs for individual disaster survivors (Individual Assistance), as well as specialists who aid local governments and public entities, such as school districts and hospitals (Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation), with programs to repair or reconstruct facilities that were damaged or destroyed.

DFRMS also includes TDEM’s disaster task force as well as the state disaster reimbursement section that assists jurisdictions with resources to financial respond to a disaster and with the reimbursement process to those jurisdictions that supply resources, human or material, during disastrous times.