Priority Area: Housing & Climate Nexus
Barrier: Rebuilding

Challenge/Local/State

Description

Challenge

Fragmented jurisdictional responsibilities creating confusion and inequities in disaster recovery. Example: After LA fire a single federal emergency declaration covered five different counties. Each county had distinct needs, geographies, and service structures (e.g., Malibu vs. Sierra Madre vs. Altadena vs. Sunny Mesa), making coordination extremely challenging. Federal, state, and local agencies often struggled to align timelines, priorities, and deployment of resources. Additionally, because of utility service fragmentation residents across the multiple jurisdictions experienced very different levels of protection and reconstruction support depending on their utility territory (Example: Palisades had already undergrounded electrical lines pre-fire, while Altadena had not. Different service areas and responsibilities meant uneven resilience measures and recovery timelines). Fragmentation exacerbates inequities: some jurisdictions (e.g., Pasadena) were able to loan planners to neighboring areas like Sierra Madre, but not all jurisdictions had that capacity.

Region: Los Angeles

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