Простой гид по открытым данным FEMA о восстановлении

The OpenFEMA Data Sets index (https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/data-sets) is the “one stop shop” that FEMA describes as a public data delivery platform in open and machine-readable formats, with downloads and API. Each dataset sheet includes a description, files, field dictionary, and endpoint when applicable. For the Puerto Rico press, this page is the treasure map: it prevents relying only on PA or only on declarations and shows the complete catalog by category.

The index organizes collections. In Disaster Information appear, among others, Disaster Declarations Summaries (V2), Declaration Denials, Mission Assignments (V2), and “FEMA Web” variants of declarations and summaries. In Individual Assistance are Housing Assistance Owners (V2), Renters (V2), Individuals and Households Program Valid Registrations (V2), RI-IHP (V2), and large disasters / multiple loss flood sets. In Public Assistance are Applicants, Applicants Program Deliveries, Funded Projects Details (V2), Funded Projects Summaries (V1), Grant Award Activities (V2), and the Second Appeals Tracker. In Hazard Mitigation there are HMA projects, mitigated properties, plan statuses, and subapplications. In NFIP, claims and drafted policies, community layers, and multiple loss. In Miscellaneous, FEMA regions and metadata of data sets/fields.

The editorial lesson is about architecture. A responsible headline about “recovery funds” must specify which shelf of the index it is using. PA Funded Projects Details talks about obligations to public applicants; Housing Assistance Owners talks about aggregates of owners; HMA talks about mitigation; NFIP talks about flood insurance. Mixing them produces the classic error of adding apples and oranges and then accusing “holes” that are actually different categories. Accusation ≠ conviction, and a different category ≠ theft.

The index also points to developer documentation and a guide for large datasets. That’s not a geeky detail: the PA and AI sets for PR are large. Without pagination, $select, and filters by state/disasterNumber, the reporter either gets overwhelmed or publishes a partial CSV. OpenFEMA invites writing to OpenFEMA@fema.dhs.gov for questions; it is advisable to use that channel when a field in the dictionary does not match what a local official states.

How to use the index in a week of Puerto Rican reporting: Monday, set the DR (Declarations Summaries); Tuesday, download PA Details for that DR; Wednesday, Housing Assistance Owners and Renters; Thursday, HMA Projects if the angle is resilience; Friday, cross-check with an OIG or GAO report. The index is the agenda. Without it, coverage becomes reactive to the press release of the day.

Puerto Rico appears transversally: there is no “PR-only dataset” in the index, but filters by state/territory within national datasets. That is why the journalist must master state / stateAbbreviation = PR and the numbers DR-4336, 4339, 4473, 4671, 4850 and those to come. The index also notes that Public Assistance is the largest FEMA grant program for communities after declared disasters — an institutional statement from the agency’s own page — which explains why so many transparency notes start with PA Details v2.

The index also lists, under Emergency Management, Preparedness, and Alerts, sets such as Emergency Management Performance Grants (V2), IPAWS Archived Alerts (V1), National Risk Index (files only), and Non-Disaster / Assistance to Firefighter Grants. For Puerto Rico, EMPG and the Risk Index matter when the angle is pre-impact capacity, not just the post-disaster snapshot. The Sandy PMO financial data appears as files-only historical: it serves as a precedent for how Congress and FEMA have published recovery supplements in the past, not as a figure for María or Fiona.

In Hazard Mitigation, the institutional page reminds that HMA covers HMGP, Flood Mitigation Assistance, and BRIC; that Biggert-Waters folded RFC and SRL into FMA; and that the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 transformed Pre-Disaster Mitigation into BRIC. It adds that mitigation planning—identifying risks and long-term strategies—is a requirement for certain non-emergency assistance. For a Puerto Rican municipality, that means that the “current mitigation plan” is not just decorative paper: it conditions access to funds. The journalist can cross Hazard Mitigation Plan Statuses with HMA Projects filtered by PR, always labeling whether they are talking about sub-application, approved project, or financial transaction (there are different datasets for each stage).

NFIP deserves a separate mention on an island with extensive coastline and urban watersheds. Claims and policies written (V2/V3) are not recovery grants; they are the flood insurance market. Multiple Loss Properties and Residential Penetration Rates allow one to ask how insured a community is before the next Fiona. Mixing an NFIP claim with a PA PW or with an IHP approved amount is the shortcut that does the most damage to the audience. The index exists precisely so that such a mix is seen as an error, not as a “unique total of aid”.

Methodological closure: always cite the specific URL of the dataset (not just FEMA's homepage), the version (v1/v2/v4), the consultation date, and the metric (obligated, approved, declared). The index exists so that this citation is possible. Cousin: 749. Topic: economy. Primary source: OpenFEMA Data Sets index.