Communication Issues in Hurricane Katrina
Communication Issues in Hurricane Katrina
In the morning of August 29, 2005, hurricane Katrina reached to a level of intensity 5 which brought severe destruction in the Gulf Coast, from Central Florida to Texas and to New Orleans, Louisiana where a significant number of fatalities arise and where floodwaters lasted for weeks. Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest and most devastating Atlantic hurricane in the history of the United States leaving 1,833 people dead and an estimated total damage of $81 billion in properties.
The failure of the levees in New Orleans, Louisiana resulted to floodwaters that rose to rooftops where residents were rescued from roofs of their homes and left an exodus of hundreds of thousands of evacuees finding shelter. The flood protection system in New Orleans turned out to have insufficient network of levees, flood walls, storm gates and pumps and was considered the worst civil engineering tragedy. Federal health emergency was declared throughout the Gulf Coast while looting, carjacking and all sorts of violence occurred. The New Orleans police carried out an order authorizing officers to shoot the looters. However, circulation of this order was badly communicated due to its unclear origin and validity and with no specific guidelines. This led to the confusion of police officers and deaths of innocent civilians. Substantial damage to communication infrastructure and a lack of contingency plan paralyzed the response efforts, command, control and situational awareness. The early responders such as the National Guard, policemen, firefighters and local government agencies failed to coordinate an effective and efficient search and rescue operations due to lack of communication that would help them locate the needed assistance. The delayed arrival of the search and rescue team and emergency supplies from the Pentagon’s Navy ships was due to inadequate communication equipment. Majority of the National Guardsmen that arrived in New Orleans in truck convoys filled with food, water and weapons were not equipped with radios which slowed down the distribution process. This lack of communication and valid information confused the media which resulted to inaccurate reports on isolated events. These challenges led to a slow and chaotic response that led to extreme deaths, destruction and suffering. The impact of hurricane Katrina contributed to the economic turmoil of the citizens in the area that resulted to political and social upheaval. Citizens demand immediate action from the government to provide competent and efficient rescue operation systems particularly in the area of communication.
Regulations to Enhance Communication in Disasters
Over the years, the Federal government has been working to conquer the communication challenges that occurred in the Katrina disaster where the most critical factor is the lack of inoperability in communication equipment. The Communications Act of 1934 is a legislation that provides urgent temporary access to operate radio devices where the federal agency could to set up a radio station and broadcast public service announcements in the consequence of the disaster. This also authorizes the National Communications System (NCS) to provide emergency response and restoration of the damaged communications infrastructure. During the Katrina disaster, communication failure between the local responders, National Guard and federal agencies was a result of inadequate communication equipment that are compatible with other devices such as cell phones, handheld radios, GPS and blue force tracker. This lack of inoperability has been acknowledged by the National Response Plan (NRP) and tried to address them through NRP Emergency Support Functions (ESF) #2. In coordination with all Federal departments and agencies, it supports the National Security and Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) in the procurement of telecommunications and information technology (IT) industry. The SAFECOM Interoperability Continuum is widely used by emergency responders in planning and implementing interoperability solutions and its usage on critical factors such as governance, standard operating procedures and technology. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) implemented the Emergency Alert System (EAS), a national public warning system that requires TV and radio broadcasters, cable television and wireless cable systems providers to deliver communication service to the President in addressing the public during a national emergency. Despite of the efforts of NRP ESF#2 and the FEMA to address these issues, the problems
continued to exist due to lack of specific standards and sufficient funding.
How to Work Together for Future Disasters
The massive destruction of communication infrastructure and loss of power during the Katrina disaster required a stronger, interoperable and priority-sensitive communication. The effective use of information technology (IT) is vital in the preparation and training in disaster management. Federal research such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) focused on the technology of self-managing and repairing networks on cellular and Internet/IP - based networking, radio frequency identification, portable unmanned aerial vehicles and robots and automated public announcement and resource contact systems. The Department of Homeland Security should provide adequate funding to acquire these costly communication equipments and employ skilled network planners. To be able to quickly work together, there should be an integration with other agency networks and various operation rescue centers such as the National Guard, Joint Task forces, NORTHCOM, state, local and federal agencies. It is vital to administer effective communication equipment and computers using voice, data and video to first responders and deployed forces to ensure a secure and non-secure command and control. While planning and enforcing military operation, communication gap can be transitioned by maximizing the use of any existing communication infrastructure available. The Department of Defense can request communication networks such as the High Frequency
Radio Program, Government Emergency Telecommunication System
(GETS), Wireless Priority Service (WPS) and the Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) Program to provide service in the disaster area. The National Guard and the Army must eliminate the encryption and classification problems by transporting the encryption devices to civilian organizations or removing the network’s security classification and allow access to voice and data communications so information can be shared and effectively circulated. To create a competent network in the midst of the disaster, an expansion of the bandwidth capacity and circuit is necessary in increasing the use of data systems. To strengthen the control and command of military responders, the Department of Defense should create an extension of military units with competent functions such as unmanned vehicles (UAVS) complete with communication gadgets on board for effective radio or video coverage. Access to these portable aerial vehicles should be allowed to civilian organizations in determining situational awareness and should be deployed in different locations particularly in disaster prone areas. Tactical communications and warning systems in the
Army and National Guard should be implemented which is necessary in the deployment of forces to the area before the occurrence of predicted disaster and to effectively inform the public on actions to be taken for their safety and protection.
The importance of communication in various categories of response to a natural disaster should be taken with outmost priority.
Majority of the problems identified in the Katrina disaster were common failures to act purposely due to inaccurate information which hindered the efficiency of preparedness, response and recovery. Effective communication would have been the only weapon against Katrina and more lives would have been saved. These communication issues should serve as a lesson to the government and to all the citizens of America to prevent human suffering and property loss in the future.
References:
Emergency Communications. (n.d). Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved from http://www.fcc.gov/guides/emergency-communications
Garnett, J., Kouzmin, A., Communicating throughout Katrina: Competing and Complementary Conceptual Lenses on Crisis Communication, Public Administration Review (December, 2007). Retrieved from
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/ClimateChangeWhiteboard/Resources/Uncertainty/climatech/garnett07PR.pdf
Hurricane Katrina. (Sept. 25, 2012). The New York Times. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/hurricane_katrina/index.html
Jennings, T., Maggie, L., McCarthy, B., Shankman, S., & Thompson, A., (July 24, 2012). After Katrina, New Orleans Cops Were Told They Could Shoot Looters. ProPublica. Retrieved from
http://www.propublica.org/nola/story/nopd-order-to-shoot-looters-hurricane-katrina
Meeds, H., (March 15, 2006). Communication Challenges During Incidents of National Significance: A Lesson From Hurricane Katrina. USAWC Strategy Research Project. Retrieved from http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA448607
The Potential to Enhance Disaster Management: Key IT- Based Capabilities. (2007). Improving Disaster Management (2).
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