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The paper addresses the important role of interorganizational coordination and network governance in implementing disaster response policies facing complex environments of emergencies and crises. The paper analyzes the National Response Framework (NRF) in the U.S. and its role in disaster response coordination. A network perspective is utilized to understand functional coordination based on the emergency support functions (ESFs), and to evaluate the role of the NRF in coordinating disaster response at the federal level. Based on the roles and coordination structures defined by the ESFs, interorganizational networks and affiliation networks are presented in the paper. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper illustrates how the ESFs, especially ESF #7 – Logistics and ESF #8 – Public Health and Medical Services, operated in response to the crisis.

Emergencies, such as extreme weather events, require residents to evacuate for their safety. Past research suggests that administrative burdens—compliance, learning, and psychological costs—can impact the likelihood of evacuations to shelters. These burdens disproportionately impact socially vulnerable populations and create social equity issues. Florida operates special needs shelters to provide safe environments and basic assistance to individuals needing higher levels of care and supervision and ensure that special medical needs are met during an evacuation. Using data from 23 county after-action reports from Hurricane Irma, this article examines administrative burdens faced by individuals evacuating to special needs shelters. Although residents faced all three types of administrative burdens, psychological costs were most common, especially among counties with high social vulnerability. Based on the results, recommendations are provided for public administrators and emergency managers to reduce these administrative burdens when evacuating to special needs shelters during future emergencies.