Where Irma Response Efforts Start

Jeremy Konyndyk, senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development and former director of USAID's Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, talks about disaster response to Irma, here and across the Caribbean islands in its path. First steps in recovery efforts are things at a very basic level, Konyndyk explains: "get people to some sort of viable immediate shelter, make sure they have access to food and water, and if need be, medical services, and provide those on an emergency basis." Then afterwards, you pivot to looking for long term shelter options, getting basic services back up and running, restoring the health system. You focus on "rebuilding and restoration at a broader scale, particularly getting people's jobs and livelihoods back up and running," Konyndyk says.