FEMA was in charge of housing displaced residents during Hurricane Katrina. Initially, it sought to provide trailers for families. Roughly two thirds of the trailers did not make it to the disaster area and local jurisdictions voted to ban the trailers. FEMA then provided hotel rooms instead of trailers to the displaced residents. If I was in charge of the evacuation and housing efforts I would do several things. Firstly, I would evacuated residents to a temporary location is as a school gymnasium or a stadium. At this point the residents would be sorted and housing would be assigned based on needs. Families will have first priority. Secondly a fund for hotel rooms would be instantly available in case there are not enough trailers for the initial housing push.
Because of the disaster that was the federal and local governments’ response to Hurricane Katrina, FEMA underwent a performance review and began to implement fixes. These fixes include restructuring the organization and capacity of the organization to despond to disasters. Developing a new department of homeland security culture in executing emergency management responsibilities. And lastly, expanded training delivery and optimization of training plans.
If a flood were to happen in New Orleans again, the city would be more prepared for the disaster. The urban evacuation plan has been improved; if the city was to declare a mandatory evacuation within 36 hours, residents would be relocated to a safe area for free. The state then provides basic provisions while FEMA would absorb roughly 75% of the cost. There are also non-government organizations that consist of roughly 500 volunteers that would assist in the evacuation.
The United States learned its lesson from the original Katrina disaster. Along with the fixes stated above, other fixes were also put into place. Communication between government agencies have improved and transparency allows roles to be given out quickly and effectively.
Works Cited
"Executive Order 12127." Executive Order 12127. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
"About the Agency." About the Agency. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
Harris, Dan. ABC News. ABC News Network. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
Lipton, Eric. "Key Documents Regarding the Government Response to Katrina." The New York Times. Web.
