Katrina Response Failure

As Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma successively lashed the gulf coast starting in late August 2005, nature’s fury exposed serious weaknesses in the United States’ emergency response capabilities. Not all emergencies pose this magnitude of challenge. In the United States, the initial—and usually major—responsibility for disaster response rests with local authorities. This “bottom-up” system of emergency management has a long history and continues to make sense in most circumstances. Core Challenges for Large-Scale Disaster

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.

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

This is a documentary that highlights the events that surround hurricane Katrina. It lays a focus on the state as well as the federal government response to the disaster and tries to identify why the reaction was inefficient and slow. This video begins by showing how the government had prepared for this hurricane. It shows that various bodies in the country issued warnings on relation to Katrina. Some of the warnings issues stated that the hurricane will be the largest ever witnessed in the country and that New Orleans will be inhabitable. The first duty of the authorities was to evacuate residents of New Orleans.

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).

For future disasters, there needs to be more communication between different levels of government. Federal and local governments should work together to carry out the tasks they are legally assigned to. Rather than levels of government blaming each other for being irresponsible, they should work together and delegate tasks to help as many people as possible in an efficient manner. There needs to be significantly more effective leadership as well. Poor leadership was detrimental to FEMA’s practices during Hurricane Katrina. Preparedness is also essential in future disasters. FEMA was shown to be unprepared for Katrina’s landfall because of their incompletion of the Hurricane Pam project. Strategies to evacuate residents and choices on how to distribute medical care were undecided on, which is something that could have been avoided with proper and thorough

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.

In the year 2015 the United States was hit by a deadly and destructive tropical cyclone, also known as Hurricane Katrina. This deadly storm was known to destroy many homes and took away about 61 thousand lives. The storm hit many cities although specifically in this case I would like to focus more on the effects it had on New orleans. To being with one thing we need to look back to see how scientist and city officials discussed preparation and planning prior to the Katrina disaster and what may have been the close calls we avoided. Along with Hurricane Katrina; it’s also argued that the New Orleans Police Department, during this time of crisis, took advantage of their power and the people's vulnerability. Lastly we must look back to examine and learn from this catastrophe; to see how we can be prepared for when another hurricane strikes.

So far in the American history, hurricane Katrina remains to be one of the most devastating hurricanes to have ever been witnessed. Though preparation were already in place to counter its effects, the storm’s impact turned out to be one of the most unprecedented ever seen. This is even notable from the way government agencies reacted to this disaster. It brought out the inefficiencies and inadequacies of the emergency units both at the federal and state level. This is because these governments’ response standards to this disaster were far much below the threshold expected. Government efforts could not match, and hence counter, the impacts of hurricane Katrina. This led to loss of massive property

At 7:10 EDT on August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall, etching lasting memories of those living in and around the New Orleans, Louisiana. It was this day that Hurricane Katrina came ashore and caused what was to be thought as one of the “most destructive storm in terms of economic losses” ("Hurricane Katrina —," 2007) of all times. Who was to be blamed for the failure in emergence management response and preparation, no one seemed to know or understand. Those left in the wake of this disaster could only stand by and wonder who was at fault, what preparation were to be in place and why wasn’t there a quicker response to help the hundreds of thousands that needed immediate aid and disaster assistance.

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

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is responsible for coordinating the government’s role in preparation, prevention, response and recovery from domestic disaster, whether they be natural or man-made. FEMA.gov lists 1849 total disasters declared since 1953, with an average of 32 each year (13). This particular agency has generated a lot of praise and but just as much criticism. Over the course of FEMA’s history, there are many lessons to be learned and FEMA is always looking for ways to be more effective. This paper will examine the history of FEMA, evaluate its performance over the years and pinpoint lessons to be learned and actions to be taken.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, multiple failures exposed communication breakdowns, roles and responsibilities. Civil unrest followed after local law enforcement, abandoned their legal duties. Historically, the Posse Comitatus Act created barriers. These barriers slowed down the response of federal support. The President and governor struggled over control of the National Guard. The city of New Orleans suffered economically and through loss of life. With the pullout of the police, they fell into a different category that called for implantation of martial law using an outside policing force. The actions of Governor Blanco are ill prepared at most. Post Katrina in Louisiana was painfully obvious as the total failure of state and federal government’s anger looms towards the revision of an outdated law.

Within the past twelve years, the United States and the surrounding Unincorporated U.S. territories have faced many catastrophic hurricanes. After gathering information from articles electronically relating to governmental responses to Hurricane Harvey and Katrina, henceforth, the major impact government organization and the delivery of public services is quite shocking. The United States government now has one of the most effective and equipped resources as it relates to natural disasters across the globe to date. Over the years, many governmental organizations have not executed resources to their full potential to help residents as swiftly as they should and still working on malfunctions to a smooth process. My objective is to compare how responsive intergovernmental, administrative, and/or political responses contribute to Hurricane Harvey on issues learned from Hurricane Katrina as a natural disaster.