Abstract
Natural disasters lead to widespread suffering and destruction of property. This paper tries to examine how both the local and national government and other local emergency response organization responded to Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina forms one of the extraordinary acts of nature that caused human tragedy. The discussion is based on the movie “The Storm”. Several issues have been pointed out which might have contributed to the failure of various authorities to manage the disaster. Poor leadership and lack of proper coordination between the various government authorities is one of major contributing reasons as to why the Hurricane Katrina disaster was not properly managed. Also, the lack of preparedness of emergency response
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The movies attempts to show how the national, local and other disaster management authorities acted during that period. It also depicts what they should have done to save the lives and property of thousand of the resident living in the Gulf Coast. The movie tries to bring the failure of the national and local government in dealing with the phenomena. After the incident, some of the government officials and other experts dealing with disasters admitted failure on their side. Some even went ahead to term the occurrence of the catastrophe as a lesson for handling future disasters and giving the matter the seriousness it deserves. The national government failed to act and protect its citizen from the time, and this shows poor leadership in the administration of that time. On the other hand, the local government too did nothing much in protecting the residents, and this shows how the cost of poor leadership can affect the lives of the …show more content…
The catastrophe exposed the failure and poor coordination in the agency, and it clearly shows how it has been poorly managed since its inception. The agency was created by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 after the state governors demanded a better response to both man-made and natural disasters by the federal government. FEMA, over the years has survived the scandal, and most of the leaders are politically appointed without much consideration for professional training of an individual. In the event of the Katrina catastrophe, blame has been put on the status of the FEMA during that period, and reports indicated the agency was dysfunctional. The main reason it was considered dysfunctional during the time is attributed to the movement of FEMA into another department, Homeland Security in the year 2003. Another reason may be attributed to leadership; the current director at the time was inexperienced in disaster
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
Disaster is no stranger to the city of New Orleans. Its unique geographic placement below sea level makes the sinking city suitable for massive flooding. Its “un-American” reputation, as discussed in class, has created many local social issues that currently affects the city’s demographic environment today. Although any form of disaster can occur anywhere, I believe in the notion that any response that New Orleans' may give in relation to its disasters is best understood through the people and historical implications of those who have served as an at-fault, underlying factor of the end result that its citizens have faced.
At the headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard, located in the lower 9th ward, the soldiers were not yet aware that the canal levees were giving way. The Guard’s commander
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.
Jamaal X. NealMarch.06.2018Mr. PratoURST 241Hurricane KatrinaThe government agency to blame in this situation was FEMA which stands for “Federal Emergency Management Agency” and was created in 1979. Although since there was no major storms for decades the appointed leaders did not put as much planning as they should have. However the government leaders who were involved was MAJ.GEN. Bennett Landreneau, Mike Brown who is FEMA director, Michael Chertoff head of homeland security, Governor Blanco Kathleen, and Mayor Nagin. Although there were many things that went wrong that you can blame for Hurricane Katrina happening such as how FEMA was so poorly lead or how the local state officials failed to plan. Everyone is to blame because
The Creation of FEMA started out as a beautiful theory. Before FEMA we had an Acts constructed to make the situation better but FEMA was constructed to assistance the situations first hand so that the American people were catered to at a quicker response and in a manner that was assessed for safety situations. “On April 1, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed the executive order that created the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). From day one, FEMA has remained committed to protecting and serving the American people. That commitment to the people we serve and the belief in our survivor centric mission will never change.” This is stated on fema.gov; this shows that FEMA was designed to be the leaders in effect for disasters that
Instantly following hurricane Katrina, FEMA was hesitant and did not accept help from non-government organizations, “The American Red Cross was not allowed into New Orleans following the disaster and was unable to supplement the government’s response’ (American Red Cross 2005).” According to the Government Accountability Office, during the hurricane Katrina catastrophe, the failure to designate a single official to lead the overall federal response made matters worse (Fessler, 2006). The Government Accountability Office also noted that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff never named the storm as a catastrophic event which would have activated a much greater federal response (Fessler,
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
Over the years of Hurricane Katrina, Fema faced many criticisms. Back in 9/11, They acted fast and accordingly to the disaster. During hurricane Katrina, they were slow and had false promises that the locals of New orleans believed (Maestri, “The
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
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 the morning of August Twenty-ninth, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region. The storm brought the water to about twenty feet high, swallowing eighty percent of the New Orleans city immediately. The flood and torrential rainstorm wreaked havoc and forced millions of people evacuate from the city. According to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, Katrina caused approximately one hundred and eight billion dollars in damage. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive disasters have ever occurred in the United States, but it also revealed a catastrophic government at all levels’ failure in responding to the contingency.
B. Thesis: The government should have help Hurricane Katrina, through additional money, supplies, and community help.
Consequently, poor decision making, and confusion of who was in charge was the biggest shortfall during the recovery efforts of Katrina. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, FEMA was an independent agency, affording it direct access to the president (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2011). FEMA was actually absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the attacks, in a shift of focus to terrorism being the largest threat inside our borders. This had many ill-fated results for FEMA as an organization, the loss of valuable resources, and the creation of the National Response Plan effectively forced FEMA into a second fiddle during disasters. According to Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola (2011), “where previously the director of FEMA had maintained a clear line of authority and accountability,