Giving Compass' Take:

• Liz Farmer reports that many states don't actually know how much they can afford to spend on disaster relief this year. As costs rise due to disaster intensification resulting from climate change this issue will only become more pressing. 

• How can philanthropy help communities become disaster- and climate-resilient?

• Learn how philanthropy can help build climate resilience in the South. 

The Atlantic Coast caught a break this in July when Hurricane Chris was downgraded to an offshore tropical storm.

California hasn't been as lucky. The National Guard activated troops to begin wildland fire training after several major fires this month in the northern part of the state and near the Oregon border consumed tens of thousands of acres. It’s the earliest activation in five years in what’s expected to be a treacherous fire season.

But after last year, which was the most expensive year on record for natural disasters, how much more can states really afford? The answer: Most don’t know.

At least, that was the conclusion of a recent analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which surveyed disaster spending across 23 states over the course of five years this decade.

The report comes at a time when the federal government is looking at how to manage increasing costs. Nine of the most expensive years for the Federal Emergency Management Agency occurred between 2007 and 2017.

If states don’t have a handle on their disaster spending, says Pew’s Anne Stauffer, they can’t effectively respond to proposed changes at the federal level that could affect their ability to respond to future disasters.

Read the full article about affording disaster season by Liz Farmer at Governing Magazine.