Washington has just 5 percent of the housing needed to shelter residents in the event of a major disaster, according to a new report.

And it will cost between $60 million and $70 million to get the region where it needs to be, the report from the Greater Washington Nonprofit Emergency Preparedness Task Force says. The task force is a collaboration between the Nonprofit Roundtable and consulting firm Deloitte.

The Washington area is supposed to be able to shelter between 300,000 and 715,000 people during a disaster, according to Department of Homeland Security guidelines.

"The capacity we have is disappointingly below those levels," said Jim Tragakis, chief of staff for Deloitte's federal government services division.

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The housing gap is the most glaring issue in the report, which outlines how prepared nonprofits are to respond to a disaster.

The group's work takes into account not only nonprofits that are intimately involved in disaster response, such as the American Red Cross, but other organizations that may be called upon during or after an emergency, such as housing-related organizations.

Another challenge is how nonprofits can help the region prepare for long-term recovery.

"There's a great deal of focus on response the day of, but only pockets throughout the region plan for the longer-term community," said Chuck Bean, executive director of the nonprofit roundtable.

At Friday's event, Deloitte helped train about 70 nonprofits on items such as how to use the National Incident Management System, the Homeland Security Department's program for operating in an emergency.

There also is a lack of plans for how to assist special needs residents during a trauma, Bean said.

Funding is a major roadblock toward filling in these gaps, but other problems include nonprofits not prioritizing preparation and people who get trained not sharing their knowledge with their peers, Tragakis said. Many nonprofits still lack plans on how to keep their operations going after a disaster, particularly those whose missions are less focused on disaster aid, Bean said.

Foundations are planning to develop a marketing campaign that would attempt to convince people to donate before a disaster, not just afterward, he said.

In September, the group will release a strategic plan that outlines how to solve the problems. Tragakis said some of the goals will have concrete timelines, while others will be ongoing challenges.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com