Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 19, 1994 TAG: 9407190040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
``I'm expecting locusts next,'' James Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said of the 1993 Midwest floods, recent wildfires charring the West and rains that have swamped Georgia.
``I've never seen anything like it,'' he said.
Witt and Thomas McLarty, a White House aide and former chief of staff who is on an image-building mission for President Clinton, shared top billing at the Southern Legislative Conference. The meeting brought about 2,000 legislators from 16 states to Virginia for a four-day gathering that ends today.
The legislators conducted workshops to share information on a wide range of issues states face, from roadbuilding to prison construction to school funding.
Witt said 42 states got federal disaster declarations last year for various problems, and 25 such declarations have been issued so far this year. Those relief efforts are costing states and the federal government millions of dollars.
Witt said the best way to control such costs is to emphasize pre-disaster planning or try to mitigate the effect of such catastrophes as tornadoes and earthquakes with tougher construction codes.
``Why spend all those state and federal dollars, if you're not going to build it back better?'' he asked. ``If we don't use disaster dollars up front as we rebuild, then we'll soon spend those dollars again for another flood or another earthquake.''
Witt said such spending can be hard to sell politically, because it raises the cost of rebuilding. But he said restoring things with improvements instead of just putting them back as they were helps devastated communities form a more solid economic base and can save lives if a new disaster strikes.
The federal government has been aggressive in buying land that was flooded in the Midwest last year so that rebuilt areas will stand on higher ground, he said.
Yet even the best planning won't foresee all disasters, Witt said. He cited recent floods in Georgia, Florida and Alabama from the stalled remnants of tropical storm Alberto. Days of rain left thousands of people homeless.
``We didn't think that this devastation would be there from a tropical storm,'' he said.
Witt urged the lawmakers to set up their own state-financed disaster funds and relief programs and not rely solely on the federal government. He said FEMA might encourage such funds by offering to raise Washington's share of emergency relief for states that have them.
McLarty touted the economic recovery under the Clinton administration and its impact on states. He said 44 states have seen revenue increases since Clinton took office, including 14 of the 16 states represented at the conference.
He also said the administration is committed to making the federal government and its deficit smaller and less of a burden to states
by CNB