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Toxic Debris Slows Paradise Recovery

Public safety, individual rights and a mistrust of government.

Disaster recovery makes the disaster response seem easy. This is nowhere more evident than in Paradise, Calif. Listen to this NPR story, Toxic Debris Forces Camp Fire Victims To Stop Living On Their Land. 

There are all the elements there for your future disaster. A lack of housing, contaminated areas, people "squatting" on their personal property, and recovery is only oozing along at a pace people can't understand. And, people being allowed back in and now you want to kick them out.

Imagine you are the city fathers/mothers. What policies will you follow? Can you declare a health emergency and kick people off of their privately held property — in order to protect them from future health effects?

Take any large disaster and these are the types of issues, perhaps not exactly the same, but similar for public policy decisions.

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.