Recovery and the Disaster Declaration Process Overview

Recovery

When a disaster occurs, emergency managers and other first responders jump into action to respond and protect lives and property. While these immediate actions take place, a longer-term process of recovery also begins. Recovery may involve repairs to infrastructure and buildings, as well as financial assistance to residents. Government and private sector programs and services help facilitate the process, but insurance is the primary and best way to recover from a disaster. Recovery may also include mitigation projects whose goals are to prevent or lessen the impact of similar disasters in the future.

Disaster Declarations

A disaster declaration is a formal way for a government to indicate that an emergency has overwhelmed its ability to respond and recover effectively. These declarations enable government resources at various levels to be used, depending on relief program requirements that must be met.

Every disaster is devastating to the community that experiences it, but not all disasters reach the level where a disaster declaration is issued. Some minor disasters are manageable without a declaration. As the resources of a government become exhausted, it may declare a disaster or state of emergency, allowing other government entities to help in new ways, provided the disaster meets relief program thresholds.

The process of declaring a disaster starts with assessing the situation to determine the scope of the damage. This may be done preliminarily with damage reports from the public or by trained damage assessment personnel. It often takes an extended period of time to collect this information, especially for some slower-moving disasters like floods, where the damage is not immediately apparent and cannot be estimated until conditions improve.

Local and State Disaster Declarations

Every disaster starts and ends locally. When tragedy strikes, local public safety and government services arrive at the scene to help the injured and restore order to chaos. If their resources cannot meet the needs, a county may request immediate help from the state of Indiana (IDHS), which could come in the form of additional resources, personnel or equipment. If the situation requires long-term efforts or has the potential to meet relief program thresholds, the county could also declare a local disaster.

Once a county declares a disaster, IDHS personnel begin damage assessments (in conjunction with local officials). These tabulations help determine an approximate dollar figure on the losses from the event. If warranted, the governor may declare a state disaster to enable additional state resources to be used (such as the State Disaster Relief Fund). A state declaration also initiates the process for a federal review to determine if the incident meets the requirements and thresholds for a federal disaster declaration.

State Declarations

Current Declarations

Use the dashboard below to look up recent disaster declarations by executive order of the governor of Indiana (starting in 2025).

Check to see if your county is accepting damage reports. Reporting damage to your property may help your community reach the threshold to declare a disaster or become eligible for relief funds.

Historical Declarations

Search for past governors' executive orders on IN.gov.

Federal Declarations

The process for a federal disaster declaration begins with a local disaster declaration. After a local disaster has been declared by a county, if warranted, the Indiana governor can issue a state disaster declaration then request that the President of the United States declare a federal disaster.

A phase of preliminary damage assessments by state and federal officials determines the severity of the disaster. These assessments typically are conducted prior to the governor's request and are included as part of it, but the request may precede them if the severity of the disaster is very apparent.

The governor's request to the President includes information about state and local resources allocated to the disaster, as well as estimates of the kinds and amount of federal assistance needed.

If the presidential disaster declaration is made, it opens an assortment of federal assistance programs to help with the situation, as necessary.

Learn more about the process and federal assistance programs through FEMA's guide.

Historical Declarations

View the Disaster and Emergency Declarations dashboard for federal emergency declarations in Indiana from 1959 to the present day.

Historical declarations

Recent SBA Declarations

Use the table below to look up recent disaster declarations by the U.S. Small Business Administration for which Hoosiers are eligible to apply for assistance. Businesses and residents of the listed Indiana counties may apply for low-interest disaster loans at sba.gov/disaster.