logo
welcome
Vox

Vox

How the Los Angeles fires highlight the challenge of disaster relief

Vox
Summary
Nutrition label

81% Informative

Julian Zelizer : After major disasters like this one, one of the most common questions people ask is how to help.

Donors can’t typically do much to speed search-and-rescue efforts, Zelizer says.

He says it’s surprisingly challenging to turn generosity into results for the people affected by disasters.

Zelizer writes: Effective giving in response to disasters requires looking at potential charities.

Donations happen almost immediately after a disaster, and quickly die down as the news cycle moves on to other things.

Charity evaluators like GiveWell have found it particularly hard to get the clarity they prize when it comes to disaster relief.

Disaster relief is a field where there’s a lot of uncertainty about what works.

GiveWell has called Doctors Without Borders a leader in transparency.

A charity that does cash transfers to the poorest people in the world did a good experiment in disaster relief.

David Frum : Experiments should be announced in advance, have a clear mission statement and report how the trial went.

VR Score

82

Informative language

81

Neutral language

35

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

54

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

medium-lived

External references

23

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/hurricane-ian-destroyed-homes-google-algorithms-sent-moneyhttps://www.givedirectly.org/https://blog.givewell.org/2011/03/15/update-on-how-to-help-japan-funding-is-not-needed-we-recommend-giving-to-doctors-without-borders-to-promote-better-disaster-relief-in-general/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13623699.2010.535279https://slate.com/technology/2013/05/rescuers-turning-into-victims-lessons-from-first-responders-on-saving-people.htmlhttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/haiti-earthquake-aid-nearly-15-billion-in-donations/https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-wildfires-southern-california-4997fb4d4490fdaa9f2d5cf8cd5f2be7https://community.givedirectly.org/campaigns/hurricaneshttps://www.jordannews.jo/Section-20/Middle-East/Area-near-quake-s-epicenter-is-home-to-thousands-of-Syrian-refugees-26849https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VSP4PYJX98SHLhttps://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-some-hurricane-donations-wont-be-used-until-spring-2018-2017-09-08https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/world/asia/09myanmar.htmlhttps://www.givedirectly.org/blog-post?id=132547768218178290https://www.latimes.com/california/live/2025-01-14/fire-winds-los-angeles-california-eaton-altadena-palisades-updateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Nargishttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/world/asia/tsunami-indonesia.htmlhttps://blog.givewell.org/2011/03/24/update-on-how-to-help-japan-march-24/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/18/AR2006061800619.htmlhttp://www.nbcnews.com/id/44271766/ns/us_news-9_11_ten_years_later/t/whered-money-go-shady-dealings-unaccountability-rife-among-charities/#.W7Y6mRNKhZ0https://theconversation.com/american-generosity-after-disasters-4-questions-answered-83277https://blog.givewell.org/2011/03/11/japan-earthquaketsunami-disaster-relief-donations/https://blog.givewell.org/2009/12/15/an-essential-question-that-no-one-is-asking-charities/https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/us/puerto-rico-growing-death-toll/index.html

Affiliate links

no affiliate links

Read full article