GAO has long conducted work on the effectiveness of U.S. disaster assistance, both domestically and overseas. This Web site focuses on GAO's disaster assistance work; the findings contained in these reports may be applicable to ongoing and future aid efforts at home and around the world.

GAO's work includes insights into improving assistance, based on challenges identified with past efforts. For example, after the Gulf Coast Hurricanes in 2005, GAO emphasized the need for collaboration between all levels of government when confronting such disasters, to include such practices as developing common goals to guide recovery and using recovery plans to agree on roles and responsibilities. For U.S. disaster assistance following events overseas, such as U.S. assistance efforts following the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, GAO's work highlighted the need for Congress to receive more information on factors that affect the implementation of projects and strategies to mitigate those factors.

Homeland Defense

Disaster Recovery

National Preparedness

Foreign Assistance

Catastrophic Disasters