Q1
Based on the best quote, “Take whatever idiot they have at the top of whatever agency and give me a better idiot Give me a caring idiot, give me a sensitive idiot, just don’t give me the same idiot” by the president of the Jefferson Parish, Aaron Broussard and the words from James Lee Wit that states “we promised to make an agency that could deliver on the political promises” (Cooper & Block, 2006). This suggests that FEMA was expected to provide the best services that were related to homeland security, for instance dealing with disaster, Hurricane Katrina in a way that every person who looks at their job would appreciate what they are doing. It was the responsibility of FEMA to offer quality services.
Q2
The fact FEMA is considered to be lethargic, unimaginative and lumbering, it is possible to change this through thinking about the objectives of the FEMA rather than the processes being used, considering the advantages of doing things in the right way and having a positive perspective towards getting things done in an appropriate way. Also, reminding yourself of the challenges faced when the firm is unimaginative, lumbering and lethargic, setting new goals; breaking the tasks into small and manageable chunks and getting organized. All that is a need for these to become true in FEMA is to develop a passion to deliver the best services when dealing with any disaster. Another possible way of dealing with lethargic, unimaginative and lumbering is through creating awareness to the employees that relate to these problems.
Q3
It would be better if FEMA could be an independent agency, a big fish in a small pond. In most cases, it is believed that independent agencies are in a position solving an organizational problem. When it comes to FEMA, a great number of specialists in emergency management and homeland security have been raising their voice in such for making FEMA become an independent agency since through this FEMA will be in a position of regaining its status as one of the most admirable and successful agencies. Through making FEMA independent, federal, state as well as local government partners would better serve, in the future, the American public. Also, those who are involved in any terrorist activity would be prevented and sought to ensure that the lives of the citizens are taken care off.
Q4
The fact that FEMA asks other resources from other agencies makes it be considered as a failure. A good firm ought to always have its resources for it to operate effectively. The difference between the disaster response and catastrophe response agencies can be clearly seen in their principles. In the disaster response agency, the hazards tend to be in a local proximity where they can be accessed; the needed resources are ever present and nearby, and they have viable jurisdictional authorities as well as an incident management system. In disaster response agencies, planning is always done separately that scenario-based annexes complements; and jurisdiction has the responsibility of regular testing and revising the plans for them to be the way they are needed. Therefore, it would be good if FEMA makes it clear that it is a disaster folk while the military is a catastrophe folk to ensure that they are given responsibilities that match their areas of operations.
Q5
There was breech, and it is out of this that a question was asked if they need help since the sandbags were being swept into the breech, though they said that they needed no help. The second question hit them in the face since there was a need to look for a way in which the breech could be avoided. Asking about the period that could be taken to clear the city water even in the absence of a breach was important in a way that it would help in organizing how the task would be carried out and this is the reason why it is considered to be a catastrophe because the hazards can be accessed.
Q6
In emergency management, there are instances that there will be an unchangeable authority that is after ensuring that the disaster has been dealt with. Therefore, it is important to only give room for unchangeable authority if there is assured that they will bring to an end the problem associated with disasters. Therefore, FEMA ought to be in a position of defining the problem for them to be in a position to know whether they are doing a nut job or not.
Q7
Obsession is one of the things that encourage disaster management and through it, responding to disasters would be effective. Moreover, it is important for the groups being braver in addition to judging conditions on the ground for them to get the best approaches on how to respond to the disasters. While trying to respond to the disaster, it is important to expect some degree of danger about the condition since this is one of the signs that would enable you to determine whether the kind approach being used to respond to the disaster is effective or not.
Q8
The most common reason that makes everyone to wait for somebody to do something before they do is fear of failure. What would make this unusual case in building the parish would be the passion and motivation being received from the parish leader that makes them feel that they are in a position of building the parish on their own.
Q9
For disaster management to be effective, preparedness is important. If the emergency management is prepared for any disaster, the risks related to the disaster will be reduced. They will be getting an early warning in addition to improving the risk information. Therefore, preparedness strengthens the effectiveness of response given to disaster.
Q10
In as much as disaster agencies define metrics of performance yet, they do not define the disaster; it will be difficult for them to deal with the disaster appropriately. Through defining the disaster, it will be possible to understand its source, its impact and how it can be handled in a way that it will not bring about a negative impact. Also, through defining the disaster, it is possible to understand its intensive and extensive risks. Once the agency has defined it, it will be possible to identify the performance measurement related to the disaster.
Defining disaster enables the firm to increase its attention towards coming up with resilience to the disaster. The firm will come up with a different department that is committed to doing more preparations that prepare them to deal with any disaster. It is also through this that emergency management will know whether the disaster ought to deal with about its level; some disasters are dealt with at state, federal or country level. The departments will be responsible for coming up with an organized plan that will make it easier to deal with disasters, such as hurricane and Katrina effectively.
Q11
About disaster management, there was no need for Brown to have a body man to answer the phone, keep him on track as well as ensuring that he was at the right place at the right time because Brown could manage himself and knew what was required of him. Brown knew what was expected of him. Nevertheless, being a federal government official without a body man would make your life vulnerable to different attacks. Likewise, it would be difficult to deal with hurricane disasters if there are no strategies that have been put in place.
Q12
When it comes to old news and wrong news, gathering information as well as processing it into intelligence might be the most difficult thing. For one to be in a position of effectively aggregate the sources, having enough analysis power is paramount since this is what determines the accuracy of the information given once the analysis has been completed. Therefore, the failure can come up because of the analytical process since there are chances that some data were not included in the analysis. Also, the speed of how the data were collected can also affect the accuracy of the final result, though in most cases one will suffer from the speed as he or she waits for confirmation.
Q13
There are no possibilities of all Americans being treated the same if all disasters are inherently political. Since different people have different political perspectives and beliefs, it will be very difficult for them to treat all the Americans equally. Also, the fact that people belong to different political parties in America, the chances are that Americans can be treated based on the political party that they support. According to Mientka (2013), racial together with minorities are likely to suffer from effects that come as a result of climate change. Also, the chances are that they will face greater risks of health dangers as compared to the whites. This indicates that there is a way in which people living in the United States might be discriminated based on political and racial factors.
Q14
It is next to impossible to always next to impossible always to have a disaster agency that no one has confidence in its ability to deliver to the public. Therefore, FEMA ought to be disbanded. FEMA has the worst reputation for unproductive bureaucracy in addition to creating many problems. The other fundamental that would encourage the aspect of FEMA being disbanded is the fact that FEMA has failures in planning and decision making. In addition, FEMA has not been in a position of creating an effective and coordinated national response system in addition to having leadership failure at all government levels. There are also instances when FEMA has not played its role in communicating vital information regarding the condition of the levees.
Q15
When a disaster is about to hit a specific place, politicians have always been scrambling to prepare for the disaster. All politicians, regardless of their political parties, in the affected states have been responsible for issuing a warning with voluntary and mandatory training in addition to official state mobilization.
Every politician is responsible for realizing the stakes that are involved in the disaster, and if the politician is not in a position of preparing and responding effectively to the disaster, the chances of him or her getting any political position in the next election could be devastating. Also, if the politician cannot clean up the damages that have come up as a result of disaster during the and after it have happened swiftly and effectively, his political future can be undercut.
Therefore, it is important that politicians ought to have some basic knowledge related to disaster management for the politician to be in a position of handling different disasters. Also, the politician ought to travel down the streets to inspect the damage that has been caused by the disaster. Through this, the politician will know the kind of remedy that would be necessary when it comes to dealing with the disaster. It is also important to know that how politicians respond to the disaster is very important when it comes to determining the perspective the public will have on them in the future. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the politicians to show that they are in a position of effectively managing the disasters through mobilizing as well as distributing resources in a way that the lives of Americans and businesses will be as usual. Instead of sparking fear to the victims, politicians ought to be a source of inspiration to the victims for them, the victims, to regain the confidence that will make them move forward.
Q16
Setting up a command post in a city that is a hundred miles from the disaster would make it difficult for one to deal with the disaster. Furthermore, the command might look as if it will bring a positive change when it comes to responding to the disaster, but it will take more time. Moreover, this would also lead to a failure that you do not see since you will be trying to respond to a disaster that you cannot trace in your locality. In other words, in most cases, it is only possible to come up with effective models that respond to the disasters that are around within the vicinity rather than a distant city for the disaster to be understood in the local context.
References
Cooper, C. & Block, R. (2006). Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland
Security. America. Times Books.
Mientka, M. (2013). Racial Minorities In The US At Highest Risk For Heat-Related Disasters.
http://www.medicaldaily.com/racial-minorities-us-highest-risk-heat-related-disasters-245882
