Free Hurricane Katrina And Hurricane Gustave Essay Example

Concerning Hurricane Katrina, the National Government tried their best when assisting the people of Louisiana. Efforts to raise money for food and resources, for example, fell short of efforts made to help those after 9/11, as well as those made in other countries after disasters. The U.S. ended up receiving international aid, unable to help their own in a timely manner. While many groups, such as DMAT, VMAT, and DMORT, were activated the day before the hurricane made landfall. Many made a field hospital in Baton Rouge were over 4,000 patients were treated or airlifted. More than 15,000 troops were sent to the area in an effort to help injured and fleeing civilians, as well as to contain the area. Over $60 billion in government funds were spent to help the people of Louisiana, though none if it would have been necessary had the government met with requests to shore up levees in order to prepare for such a disaster. It took a total of eight days for most survivors to be accounted for, and five days to route water and electricity to the primary survivor camp, the Super Dome. Many suffered and died because there were not enough people centralized to search for survivors, and resources were not available to those who had gathered at areas where they were told resources would be available. The response was embarrassing.
Gustav, hitting land only a few days after Katrina’s anniversary, did not bode well for Louisiana. Gustave forced two nuclear plants to close, 14 fossil fuel electricity-generating plants to go offline, and nearly half of the state’s substations were out of service. The state also lost hundreds of millions of dollars in destroyed crops due to hurricane force winds. The government, rather than waiting until the hurricane made landfall, learned from their mistakes with Katrina. Buses waiting to evacuate residents were waiting the day before. They also activated the State Emergency Operations Center. Shelters began collecting and asking for donations in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Monroe City, and surrounding areas. Most importantly, however, water was routed to survival camps, and large quantities of food were made available. More lives were saved after Hurricane Gustave made landfall, as well as after it dissipated, and the response was far better than that of Hurricane Katrina.
Concerning the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf, it appears the National Government took on another blasé attitude about the affair, allowing the actions to happen without preventing potential tragedy when they were able to. In short, the National Government had learned nothing from the crisis in Katrina that led to the needless loss of many lives. For example, equipment that failed on the site of the spill was not checked properly before being used. If it had been, it may not have failed, or it could have been repaired or replaced, preventing the spill entirely. This was not the case though and the spill happened. As it did, the Obama Administration were very slow to channel the necessary money and manpower to the Gulf in an effort to stop the oil spill from seeping further into the ocean, doing irreparable damage to the environment and the animals in the ecosystem. At the time of the spill, the government halted all-offshore drilling until a more thorough review of the equipment’s safety could be performed. President Obama sent the Secretary of Homeland Security and EPA Administrator to the Gulf to oversee cleanup efforts. Though the equipment was later found to be faulty, the Department of the Interior stated they found no violations suggesting the issue could have been prevented, and in May of 2011, after helping aid in the cleanup efforts, the U.S. Government send a bill to BP for $69 million. It should be noted the government had not stopped the spill at this point, they merely stopped aid in the cleanup, and billed the company.