Hurricane Katrina: A Study of the Climate Risk Management Approach

This case summarizes events preceding the Hurricane Katrina, which was one of the worst natural catastrophes in the modern history of the USA. It raises questions about the lack of reasonable prevention and preparation actions due to flimsy structure and management of the responsible organizations and persons, invalidity and inconsistence of their actions and incapability of making the decisions in a timely manner. As a result of the unstructured and incoherent activities, we could observe several ineffective and costly attempts to mitigate floods and hurricanes. In the beginning the local officials, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and “White Houses past and present always seem penny-wise and pound-foolish” because of the chain of the wrong

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. The results were catastrophic. Katrina and storm-related flooding took more than 1,800 lives and caused an estimated $81 billion in damages. In the storm’s aftermath, there was widespread debate over government response to the disaster. I believe that the bulk of the responsibility lay with the state and local governments. They should have been better prepared ahead of time and had more comprehensive plans in place to minimize danger to citizens. The national government has traditionally only sent its military into a state at the request of that state’s governor. The governors of Louisiana and Mississippi did not immediately request that action (Fraga, L.

time of crisis by R. David Paulison, who unlike Brown, has had a career focused on disaster

Katrina was a crisis primarily because of its scale and the mixture of challenges that it posed, not least the failure of the levees in New Orleans. Because of the novelty of a crisis, predetermined emergency plans and response behavior that may function quite well in dealing with routine emergencies are frequently grossly inadequate or even counterproductive. That proved true in New Orleans, for example, in terms of evacuation planning, law enforcement, rescue activities, sheltering, and provisions for the elderly and infirm.

In my opinion, all three levels of government failed the people of New Orleans in responding to Hurricane Katrina. There was plenty of pushing the blame on one another that ended up delaying responses and finding results. It seemed like one level of government would try saying the other level of government is responsible for that role. For example, The Director of FEMA, Michael Brown would say that the local and state are in charge of evacuation planning. There is some truth to that, but according to the U.S federal law governing homeland security it states that FEMA, “operations to save lives, through evacuating potential victims.” (Producers, 2005).

Before Hurricane Katrina, a simulation called Hurricane Pam was created to prepare for a disaster like Katrina. It was the perfect model of what happened in Katrina ( Maestri, “The Storm” ). The purpose of it was to prepare the people (government) in what is needed during a real hurricane. Unfortunately, Before they could finish the exercise, FEMA's funding for the simulation was cut before it was completed causing the simulation to be canceled. The reason why Hurricane Pam was unsuccessful because “Medical care for hurricane victims was not yet finalized, communication systems were not addressed at all, and key transportation decisions were left to be determined ( Narrator, “The Storm”, PBS ). If the simulation were to be completed, the disaster of Hurricane Katrina could’ve been solved with a prepared plan to help many in New Orleans.

Before watching the video titled Federalism: Lessons of Katrina, I expected it to be about how the government responded to hurricane Katrina. Not only was my assumption correct, I gained a better understanding of federalism by observing how the local, state, and national levels of government responded to one of the worst crises in American history. From my observation, it seemed that the government on all levels failed to prepare, and then aid, the victims of the disaster. I think this failure was caused by the lack of communication between the different levels of government and could have been prevented had the governments worked together. In addition, I think the government’s failure to respond effectively

Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes that hit America. Federalism played a major role in the rescue missions for this natural disasters. It’s evident that the government failed in many ways during Hurricane Katrina. Federalism plays a huge part in preparing for natural disasters. The powers were not equally shared within the levels of government, which made the local government weak and had to completely rely on the federal government. The government of U.S. was not prepared enough for hurricane Katrina.

In the time of Katrina, this idea made federal government believed that their nonintervention was justified, causing the misunderstanding between governments at all level and the failure of efficient disaster aid. However, considering the purpose of the Constitution, this is a misinterpretation of the Tenth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment is not a reason for federal government to refuse offer common Defence and welfare to each states. The Bill of Right that contains Tenth Amendment serves to limit the abusive power of the federal government. It creates a Constitutional system includes big and small government with balanced power and the right to check each other. This idea does not conflict with the federal government’s original intentions as how the preamble and Article. I. Section. 8 declares. In fact, the Tenth Amendment indicates the federal government assistance to the state and local government’s work. Before and after the disaster, the federal government should provide help to coordination with states

Even though it is the responsibility of the federal and state governments to aid citizens during times of disaster, the people devastated by Hurricane Katrina were not effectively facilitated as according to their rights as citizens of the United States. The government’s failures to deliver assistance to citizens stem from inadequate protection systems in place before the storm even struck. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security were the two largest incumbents in the wake of the storm. The failure of these agencies rests on the shoulders of those chosen to head the agency. These directors, appointed by then president George W. Bush, were not capable of leading large government agencies through a

In a time of crisis, the government response to the situation at hand was poor and inefficient. There were numerous flaws and errors in the relief plan proposed to the government which in turn led to delayed relief to victims in need. The immediate response phase after Katrina lasted roughly 12 days. During this time, “victims were evacuated, rescued, sheltered, and received medical care from first responders, charities and other non-governmental organizations, and private citizens”(McNeill, 2011). The fact that the U.S. government organizations were not the first responders to the disaster is shameful for our country.

Hurricane Katrina resulted in massive loss of life and billions of dollars in property damage. There are many lessons worth learning from this event. Finger pointing started before the event was over. Most of the focus on Hurricane Katrina was on its impact on New Orleans; however, the storm ravaged a much wider area than that. This paper will briefly summarize the event, the impact on the city of New Orleans and the lessons learned to ensure preparedness today.

The Hurricane Katrina disaster highly challenged the operations of FEMA thereby leading to great changes in the agency. The Storm that is ranked as the third most intense U.S. landfalling intense caught the FEMA and at large the Department of Homeland Security unprepared thereby leading to severe losses. The hurricane claimed more than 1200 individuals and a total property of around $108 billion, of which could have minimized if FEMA could have carried out its operations effectively (Bea, 2006).

On August 25th, 2005 a very devastating storm by the name of Hurricane Katrina, struck the Gulf Coast. The storm hit full throttle during the early hours of the morning, crashing hard and taking full control of the coast. Hurricane Katrina brought sustained winds of about 140 miles per hour and even stretched to over 400 miles across, being categorized as a stage 3 hurricane. This very vicious storm destroyed everything within its path including: houses,buildings,stadiums, restaurants and even people.Although many community leaders and state officials did a lot to prepare for the storm, I honestly don't feel as if the principle of Federalism worked in the case of Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina exposed huge issues in the United States disaster preparedness and response programs. In 2005, the structure for homeland security was unable to manage catastrophic events like Hurricane Katrina. Unified management of national response