The Stafford Act was enacted in 1988 and determines how and when the federal government is allowed to intervene in a natural disaster. It also defines the type of assistance to be provided as well as the distribution of funds among the federal, state and local governments. FEMA is responsible for coordinating the assistance identified in the Stafford Act. However, FEMA has to answer to the Secretary of Homeland Security rather than making their own decisions. The authors describe how our current governmental system isn’t well equipped to deal with major devastation such as Hurricane Katrina.
This news article implies that FEMA should be disbanded. The author states that when the federal government gets involved in natural disasters, especially hurricanes, more harm may be caused than good. The federal government has been involved in responses at a much higher rate than in the past due to an increase in declared federal disasters averaging 139 a year. There are an abundance of federal guidelines that must be followed when a disaster occurs that often makes it difficult for officials to make clear and concise decisions. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina FEMA spent an excess of money that was not allocated correctly so much of the money was wasted.
Personnel and equipment come into the devastated area from all over the country, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands” (Bell, 2006, p. 26). 2005 brought the largest national response to natural disasters. Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita affected numerous states. The states affected were unable to help themselves, as would be responders were now victims. In addition to the lack of responders, the local infrastructure was decimated and local and state officials were unable to respond.
Hurricane Katrina was a devastating event that negatively impacted New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina was a category three hurricane that happened on August 29, 2005. Many people have written about Hurricane Katrina in different ways. Two texts are Pippin’s Escape by Jameson Parks and the news article, “Hurricane Katrina Devastates New Orleans.” While both texts are about Hurricane Katrina, there are differences in tone, mood, and author’s purpose.
The challenges encountered during Hurricane Katrina highlighted the critical need for effective communication and coordination, underscoring FEMA's pivotal role in disaster response (Tierney, Bevc, & Kuligowski, 2006). FEMA’s Role in Disaster Recovery FEMA's recovery operations focus on assisting communities and individuals in the aftermath of disasters. The agency's programs aim to support the rebuilding of infrastructure and provide aid to affected populations. The recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy demonstrated FEMA's commitment to long-term community recovery, though they also revealed areas in need of improvement in terms of efficiency and resource distribution (Smith & Sylves, 2015). Mitigation and Preparedness Initiatives FEMA's mitigation and preparedness initiatives, such as the National Mitigation Framework and the Community Rating System, exemplify the agency's efforts to reduce disaster risks and enhance community resilience (FEMA, 2020).
In the book, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast author Douglas Brinkley takes you on a journey through the political corruption and under calculation of the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina’s effects. He starts off the essay with his own personal account of the damage that Hurricane Katrina left. From there he moves into stories of other people from Louisiana and their evacuation stories. These stories ranged from animal shelters from multiple days prior, to stories about people who were just planning to wait it out.
Different organizations of Hurricane Katrina Perry B Keaton Cultural Diversity for the Criminal Justice Professional - 1M Instructor: Peter Jirasek March 20, 2016 Different organizations of Hurricane Katrina-1 Hurricane Katrina was no ordinary storm it was a natural disaster in which brought destruction in a manner that have not been witness before. This storm constructed one of the largest response and relief effort in our nation history. It brought together many different organizations from all over the country from the local, state and federal government.
This is important because it emphasizes that even though people were lost and their lives were affected due to the natural events, human resilience created a lasting effect on the world. The lessons that were learned from this experience developed community strength and well-being. The article “Hurricane Katrina” from the George W. Bush Library acknowledges the fear and suffering of the people located in the areas affected by the hurricane. The author reports, “New Orleans experienced wind gusts of up to 100 miles per hour and extensive flooding after levees in the city were breached by flood waters. By August 31, 2005, 80% of the city of New Orleans was underwater” (Hurricane Katrina
There were communication mistakes and other mistakes made during Hurricane Katrina. First of all, detailed and direct information was sent to people for evacuation too close to the time when Katrina was about to hit, not allowing people to prepare for the disaster. If things could be done differently, there should be communication and coordination centers housed in areas where information can be sent directly to the authorities. The lack of ability to communicate with each other and coordinate a response was another mistake. Federal officials struggle to perform responsibilities that are usually conducted by State or local authorities, such as to rescue citizens stranded by the floodwater and evacuate the remaining population of New Orleans
In the early 21st century, one of the most destructive natural disasters to ever make landfall in the United States occurred. New Orleans, Louisiana was forever changed on August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina left over 1500 of its residents dead, and displaced more than 1 million people in the Gulf region (FEMA 2015). Although the city had always taken severe weather precautions, such as installing intricate levees to protect itself, it proved itself to be no match to the Category 5 hurricane that left it in shambles for years to come.
FEMA Leadership and Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina has been characterized as one of the most damaging storms to assault the United States. Approximately 1800 people were killed, hundreds of thousands of people were forced into homelessness, and the cost inflicted approximately $100 billion in damages (“Hurricane Katrina,” 2016). The catastrophic results led to vast criticism of various leadership efforts throughout the disaster response. One agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was extensively condemned as many of the leadership decisions resulted in massive blunders, costing further harm and loss of life.
The Hurricane Katrina disaster is a complex one when analyzed through the interorganizational context of public administration. One of the primary reasons that major failures occurred was due to the deficiencies of intergovernmental relations within government agencies that had a direct tasking of addressing these types of disaster relief at the local, state and federal level. A Frontline investigation describes the political context involved with the crisis as one where “local and state officials failed to plan, the U.S military waited too long, FEMA was poorly lead, the government was indifferent to victims who were mostly poor and black” (Public Broadcasting Service, n.d.). The political context within the Hurricane Katrina disaster mimics
She stated that the governmental response of Hurricane Katrina was not a complete failure as it also had some significant successes. These successes occurred when a foundation had been laid for cooperation between intergovernmental organizations. Such organizations include the National Guard that performed large-scale mobilization of survivors (Starling, 2010). However, the failures included the inability of New Orleans to limit its growth, its lack of flood protection and safety strategies and also the negative influence of politics on flood protection policies. This perspective did not highlight the best way strategies that the federal government and related agencies can utilize to collaborate more effectively and develop frameworks that will handle such disasters adequately (Roberts,
It ruined the levees that defend New Orleans and flooded it with toxic water, and lots of the residents be evacuated, nevertheless there were a lot left behind mostly people who were black and poor. Hurricane Katrina shows social harm related through poverty and discrimination on the extensive scale, also social segregation and racial discrimination and provides social exclusions and poverty in ideas of social justice and the entanglements among welfare and crime control. After the hurricane, crime significantly increased as the media described, such as plunder and violence. Even so, the media suggested that the hurricane Katrina was not the result but just pointed that some social problem were already there. New Orleans is classified as an urban slum, and is a major origin for poverty, inequalities and violence as a place that has limited right to proper housing.
is distressing that natural disasters are often termed “acts of God” while no “credit” is given to God for years, decades, or even centuries of peaceful weather. God created the whole universe and the laws of nature. Most natural disasters are a result of these laws at work at cross purposes.. Hurricanes, typhoons, and tornados are the results of divergent weather patterns colliding. Earthquakes are the result of the earth’s plate structure shifting.
