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Essay On The Storm

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PBS Frontline Documentary, ‘The Storm
In spite of decades of planning for disasters, federal, state, and local authorities still failed to cope with Hurricane Katrina. PBS Frontline’s documentary The Storm was produced following the destruction of human life and property by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and its environs. Co-produced by Martin Smith, the 60-minute documentary essentially conducts an investigation into the decisions and actions that resulted in poor and uncoordinated federal and state response to the catastrophe.

Unlike common films that people like watching, The Storm is a remarkable film that helps people understand the role of state and federal authorities in crises. The documentary by Frontline reveals the insubstantial excuses and reasons that public agencies such as FEMA and their officers give after failing to do what the public expects of them. The film has successfully …show more content…

Brown admitting that he knowingly lied to the public about their being up to the task. On the contrary, the officials had a sense of urgency because the rescue and recovery activities were not progressing as envisaged. From the film, it is clear that while citizens were losing their lives, homes, and other property, federal, state, and local officials and agencies wasted time in meetings, negotiating about who was in charge (www.pbs.org, 2).

In its examination of Hurricane Katrina, The Storm does well in reviewing the turbulent history of FEMA, more so from the days following the 9/11 attacks. The film brings out the internal struggles in key federal agency leadership, including FEMA and DHS. For instance, while former DHS secretary Tom Ridge asserts that the downgrading of FEMA from a cabinet-level agency to sub-departmental status did not disorient it, Michael Brown strongly disagrees (www.pbs.org, 2). The documentary also reveals the fight for resources inherent in federal agency.

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