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Rebuilding After Disaster: A Survival Guide for Local Leaders
Rebuilding After A Survival Guide for Local Leaders is a practical playbook for those suddenly thrust into leading recovery after catastrophe. Most books on disaster management focus on checklists and flowcharts. This one is different. It is written for the people sitting in city hall, county offices, or community organizations who are staring at mountains of debris, angry residents, and a calendar full of meetings and wondering what to do next.
Drawing on years of experience leading recoveries from hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, Tom O’Sullivan strips away jargon and offers the truth about how recovery actually unfolds. Each chapter begins with a vivid story from the field and then delivers guidance on what leaders need to know, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to keep a community moving forward when systems are strained to the breaking point.
Readers will learn why debris and housing set the tempo for everything else, how to work with outside partners without losing control, how to keep momentum alive when bureaucracy drags, and how to embed risk reduction so that rebuilding does not simply recreate the same vulnerabilities. The book covers every major domain of recovery, from infrastructure and the economy to health, services, and cultural identity, always with the perspective of what matters most to residents on the ground.
This is not a book of theory. It is a survival guide. Whether you are a mayor, a county commissioner, a public works director, a nonprofit leader, or a planner unexpectedly told “recovery is now your job,” this book gives you a roadmap for steering your community through chaos and toward renewal.
Drawing on years of experience leading recoveries from hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, Tom O’Sullivan strips away jargon and offers the truth about how recovery actually unfolds. Each chapter begins with a vivid story from the field and then delivers guidance on what leaders need to know, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to keep a community moving forward when systems are strained to the breaking point.
Readers will learn why debris and housing set the tempo for everything else, how to work with outside partners without losing control, how to keep momentum alive when bureaucracy drags, and how to embed risk reduction so that rebuilding does not simply recreate the same vulnerabilities. The book covers every major domain of recovery, from infrastructure and the economy to health, services, and cultural identity, always with the perspective of what matters most to residents on the ground.
This is not a book of theory. It is a survival guide. Whether you are a mayor, a county commissioner, a public works director, a nonprofit leader, or a planner unexpectedly told “recovery is now your job,” this book gives you a roadmap for steering your community through chaos and toward renewal.
315 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 6, 2025
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