Essay on Hurricane Katrina

The Washington Times opens with a statement describing the path of Hurricane Katrina and also shares the known death toll. This article gives the audience more of a general overview of the first known effects of the hurricane, without having too many newly revealed facts. The article has quotes from the governors of Mississippi, which gives the reader a feeling that

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

FEMA was established after a number of serious natural disasters that took place, but after that there were very few disasters so FEMA has not been in practice. Secondly FEMA has a history of poor planning, people with skill sets not suited for emergency response, FEMA was therefore not considered to be a priority agency when Hurricane Katrina

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.

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.

Before Hurricane Katrina, a simulation called Hurricane Pam was created to prepare for a disaster like katrina. iIt 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 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.

Often, the government responds to natural disasters with thorough preparation and planning. The federal, state, and local levels of government do this in an effort to help reduce injury and property damage as well as ensure the overall safety of the general population. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season saw the costliest and one of the deadliest storms in United States history. This storm was Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina displaced of an estimated 645,000 Louisiana citizens (Cepeda, Valdez, Kaplan, & Hill, 2010). This paper will examine…

The whole world observed as the administration responders appeared incapable to provide essential protection from the effects of nature. The deprived response results from a failure to accomplish a number of risk factors (Moynihan, 2009). The dangers of a major hurricane striking New Orleans had been measured, and there was sufficient warning of the threat of Katrina that announcements of emergency were made days in advance of landfall (Moynihan, 2009). Nonetheless, the responders were unsuccessful to change this information into a level of preparation suitable with the possibility of the approaching disaster. Federal responders failed to recognize the need to more actively engage (Moynihan, 2009). These improvements include improved ability to provide support to states and tribes ahead of a disaster; developed a national disaster recovery strategy to guide recovery efforts after major disasters and emergencies; and the Establishment of Incident Management Assistance Teams in which these full time, rapid response teams are able to deploy within two hours and arrive at an incident within 12 hours to support the local incident commander (FEMA,

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 the integration of FEMA into the DHS, FEMA had to contribute to the start-up costs of the new department, but unfortunately evidence suggests that the agency may have been made to pay a disproportionately higher amount than larger agencies. FEMA officials say this directly affected their levels of service in 2004 and 2005 (14). In the integration, FEMA lost some programs, but lost major ones as well (14). In 2005, plans continued to reduce FEMA. Director at the time, Michael Brown, wrote a memo in June expressing his concern about the agency’s future if the cuts continued (13). Perhaps the most ironic cut was the disaster planning exercise “Hurricane Pam.” This exercise, in which outlines a scenario where a disastrous hurricane hits New Orleans, leaving more than 100,000 people in the city, began a year before Katrina. The exercise was never finished because the Bush Administration cut funding (13).

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).

The lack of National guidance from Congress, the Bush Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Army Corps of Engineers greatly exacerbated Hurricane Katrina’s damage. National Guidance fundamentally remains a process of direction and influence; how and when National guidance is applied determines the safety and the stability of the United States. The National guidance responsible for national preparedness, integrated use of military capabilities, and communications failed during Hurricane Katrina.