Abstract
Hurricane Katrina is considered the largest national disaster in the United States. It led to the death of around 1,800 people and other tens of thousands were left homeless. It came four years after 9/11 and the government had been proactive in creating response plans for such disasters. Katrina led to a number of national crises that were primarily caused by two reasons. One, the hurricane Katrina itself and two, the collapse of the levees that had been built to protect the city. Aside from this, there was a problem in the management of the crisis. The local, state, and federal governments had received sufficient information about the hurricane before it occurred. However, their preparation and planning was inadequate. That led to a number of problems including communication, logistics, and evacuation. The following paper discusses these problems, the solutions used and the lessons learned from hurricane Katrina. These lessons can be used when preparing for other disasters in future.
Four years after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina occurred, and this was after the creation of committees and departments that help the nation come up with a response plan for such events. Despite all the attention, the response to Katrina was inadequate. The government responders were unable to offer the victims basic protection that they needed during this time. This poor response came from the mismanagement of the different risk factors (Moynihan 1). There had been a number of warnings of the hurricane on New Orleans and the government had even made declarations of emergency. However, the responders did not convert the information to adequately prepare for this level of disaster. There was no understanding about the authority of different responders and as such, some responders were not actively engaged. Also, the capacities of different key institutions in managing the response were inadequate. When such natural disasters occur, it is important to know the respondents involved and their roles. This was not the case for Hurricane Katrina and a number of lessons were learned as explained below.
Communication was a major problem during Hurricane Katrina since a great portion of the communications infrastructure was destroyed. As such, around three million people lost their telephone service. This made it difficult for the responders and the victims to coordinate. The federal, state, and local organizations had communication plans and equipment that was not enough to respond to such a disaster (The White House - George W. Bush). Other communication assets were not integrated since there was no initial plan to use them. Logistics and evacuations were major problems during this disaster. The plan and structure to deliver important resources and the necessary humanitarian aid was inadequate. The bureaucratic processes used by the Federal government were not efficient and did not take advantage of offers from the private sector. The federal response managers were not able to determine the resources needed, their availability, and where they were if available. Also, they lacked a real-time tracking system for the assets. They were able to distribute the resources even though inefficiently since they lacked a proper system to do this. With regards to evacuation, the federal government was not prepared to handle the situation if the state and local efforts failed. It lacked important elements such as prior planning, evacuation routes, transportation and communication assets and ways to receive and shelter the evacuees. This led to mismanagement of resources and time as they tried to find ways to meet these needs.
The federal government learned the need to coordinate with the state and local governments in the preparation of such disasters even though the federal government steps in when the others are unable. Also, the hurricane showed the need of developing a modern and flexible logistics system for such disasters. Such systems should have the capacity to carry out large-scale operations and incorporate the assistance offered by the private sector (The White House - George W. Bush). The implemented logistics system should be transparent and should encourage both the state and local governments to acquire commodities and resources that would be needed in responding to the disaster. With regards to communication, there is a need to review the current communication policies, laws, and strategies. That would lead to the development of communication strategies that suit and can be implemented in case of national disasters. For instance, the federal, state, and local governments would have used other communication assets in order to communicate with the hurricane’s victims.
In conclusion, it is important to note that even though good management does not eliminate disasters, it can manage the effects. In the case of Katrina, its great impact was not only because of response failures but also because of its size. The country had not seen such a natural disaster before and was not adequately prepared on how to manage the destruction caused by hurricane Katrina. However, there are a number of lessons that were taken from this and can be used to prepare for and respond to future disasters.
Works Cited
Moynihan, Donald P. The response to hurricane Katrina. Geneva Switzerland: International Risk Governance Council, 2009.
The White House- George W. “Bush. Hurricane Katrina Critical Challenges.” The White House, 15 September 2005, https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/chapter5.html. Accessed 31 January 2017.
