Recovery from disasters is a key capability for federal, state, and local governments. To support this capability, practitioners at all levels need useful and validated metrics to measure and monitor how well a community is recovering from a disaster over time. Practitioners’ need for these metrics is echoed by the hazards research community, which has made the case for more systematic ways of measuring the disaster recovery process across events and over time to improve planning for, and recovering from, disasters.

This web-based tool—which requires registration—provides 84 metrics, organized within four themes and 10 focus areas, for tracking progress towards recovery. Practitioners can compare pre- and post-disaster status using baseline and current data. Reports generated by the tool can provide end users (which may include planners, emergency managers, and long-term recovery committees) with a useful means of prioritizing recovery goals and activities, potentially making recovery more effective and efficient and communities more resilient.

In addition to providing useful information for communities as they move through the continuum of recovery, the focus areas and quantifiable metrics support and build community capacity by providing a basis for informed decision making. Capacity building, particularly at the local level, is a major focus of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Disaster Recovery Framework (see link at right) and is recognized to improve long-term community recovery outcomes. Collecting data for the recovery indicators at any point in time assists in the development of a detailed community fact base, which is critical to the creation of a high-quality recovery plan and supports the development and implementation of a community road map for a safer and more resilient future.

The end result for users should include the ability to gauge recovery progress, increased capacity for recovery, informed decision making, and improved policy.