Leadership Response Through FEMA During Hurricane Floyd - Research Paper Example

 Runninghead: LEADERSHIP AND HURRICANE FLOYD Leadership response through FEMA during Hurricane Floyd: What Happened and What Should Have Happened Abstract This paper will first discuss the purpose of FEMA. The paper then will focus on the impact Hurricane Floyd had on Rocky Mount North Carolina and the inadequate leadership response FEMA had to this disastrous event. Hurricane Floyd impacted a large portion of the East Coast from September 14-18, 2009. This Hurricane caused significant flooding and government officials were not prepared for the amounts of rain that flooded their towns. In Rocky Mount North Carolina large amounts of rain caused inland flooding which completely destroyed homes and farms. The lack of preparation, response and recovery was unacceptable. This paper then examines what a successful leadership role would look like in the town of Rocky Mount before and after the hurricane. Leadership response through FEMA during Hurricane Floyd: What Happened and What Should Have Happened Hurricane Floyd impacted the East Coast of the United States from September 14 to 18, 1999. According to the National Weather Service website (1999) The greatest damages were along the eastern Carolinas northeast into New Jersey, and adjacent areas northeastward along the east coast into Maine. Hurricane Floyd produced more human misery and environmental impact in North Carolina than any disaster in memory. The 15-20 inches of rain that fell across the eastern half of the state caused every river and stream to flood. There were 57 deaths in the United States directly attributed to Floyd, and flood damage estimates range near $6 billion. Many rivers set new flood records. Whole communities were underwater for days, even weeks in some areas. Thousands of homes were lost. Crop damage was extensive. The infrastructure of the eastern counties, mainly roads, bridges, water plants, etc., was heavily damaged. (U.K., 1999) The response to this natural disaster was unacceptable and a better leadership plan should have been implemented. This paper will explain the history and role FEMA has and what leaders within FEMA should be doing. The next section focuses on how FEMA responded to hurricane Floyd in Rocky Mount North Carolina. Finally, there will be an explanation of what an appropriate response a leader within FEMA (the local recovery disaster manager) should have had in Rocky Mount North Carolina before and after Floyd. Literature Review The core concept of the government is to protect its citizens. FEMA is an organization within the government that reaches its citizens during disasters to keep them safe. According to a report written by Giuffrida, L. (1985) “FEMA takes the lead role in coordinating the federal government’s responsibility to preserve and protect American lives and property from emergencies of all types” (p. 2). They are responsible in taking a leadership role in disaster situations and provide cities and states with direction and support. FEMA is also responsible for training leaders in emergency management to respond to situations that are disastrous. FEMA’s leadership is to focus on response, recovery and if needed funding. The National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) is the most appropriate in describing the leadership steps. NDRF is a “conceptual guide designed to ensure coordination and recovery planning at all levels of government before a disaster, and defines how we will work together, following a disaster, to best meet the needs of states, local and tribal governments…in their recoveries” (FEMA, 2012) The first step for the FEMA leadership is response. Response happens on a community level and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) “educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and train them in basic disaster response skills…CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood…when professional responders are not available…” (FEMA, 2012). CERT members are trained by the local recovery disaster manager. It is the responsibility of the manager to make sure that the CERT members have adequate knowledge and skills to handle a disaster situation. The next step in FEMA leadership is recovery. The purpose is to “support local governments by facilitating problem solving, improving access to resources and fostering coordination among state and federal agencies, nongovernmental partners and stakeholders” (FEMA, 2012). This step is important because it organizes the different support systems and provides the area that has recently been affected by a disaster a cohesive list of organizations to contact for whatever issues that have risen. The six federal coordinating agencies are: FEMA for community planning and capacity building; US Department of Commerce for Economics; US Department of Health and Human Services for Health and Social Services; US Department of Housing and Urban Development for housing; US Army Corps of Engineers for infrastructure systems and US Department of Interior for natural and cultural resources” (FEMA, 2012) Response and recovery are the core steps that FEMA should be providing a community. However, during hurricane Floyd certain aspects of these core steps were not taken leaving many communities in chaos. Hurricane Floyd exposed multiple weaknesses in North Carolina in regards to its emergency management response. “About 80 percent of the North Carolina homes damaged or destroyed were not accurately depicted in a flood zone. In 1999, the flood maps were 10 to 15 years out of date” (U.K. 2011). In Rocky Mount about 30% of the damage was due to flooding. Another weakness presented after the hurricane was outdated technology. At the time of hurricane Floyd “their maps of farms and waste lagoons were not up to date causing significant flood damage to farms and pollutants from waste lagoons to encroach upon waterways” (U.K. 2011). Hurricane Floyd also revealed massive communication issues; there was no radio network that allowed local, state and federal agencies the ability to communicate with one another. Shelters were not as available as they should be especially ones that allow pets. “Mark Brown with the North Carolina Division of Emergency management said that people will not evacuate from their homes if they don’t have a place to take their pets” (U.K. 2011). The next flaw that Hurricane Floyd exposed was the lack of accurate forecasting of hurricanes. Their forecast models were not up to par. “Using supercomputers and forecast models, Lackmann and his associates form Renaissance Computing Institute, the Army Corps of Engineers and the state of North Carolina are studying ways that hurricanes can cause floods…allowing them to make higher-resolution predictions of storm surge and dangerous inland flooding” (U.K. 2011). Rocky Mount Mayor Fred Turnage said, “We had never experienced anything of this magnitude…considering how unprepared we [had] been” (U.K., 2011). Discussion The town of Rocky Mount was not prepared for such a disastrous hurricane and this was due to the lack of adequate leadership specifically the role of the local recovery disaster manager. FEMA should have been more involved with this town prior to the hurricane, during the hurricane and then afterwards. A leadership plan should have been implemented upon notification from the national weather station that there was a “potential” threat to the area. Outlined below is a breakdown of a job description of the leadership role of a disaster recovery manager and it was developed by FEMA in 2011. This position should have existed during hurricane Floyd and would have provided the community a better way to deal with hurricane Floyd before and after the disaster. “The local government has the primary role of planning and managing all aspects of the Community’s recovery. Local government may become overwhelmed and need staffing, recovery expertise, leadership or other assistance. State and Federal officials work with local governments in the development and implementation of their plans and recovery efforts when needed and requested. The role of the Local Disaster Recovery Manager is to organize, coordinate and advance the recovery at the local level” (FEMA, 2011): “PRE-DISASTER LOCAL DISASTER RECOVERY MANAGERS RESPONSIBILITIES - Serve as primary point of contact (POC) for disaster recovery preparedness with the State and neighboring local and Tribal governments. - Coordinate development, training and exercise of jurisdiction disaster recovery plan - Establish and maintain contacts and networks for disaster recovery resources and support systems. - Promulgate principles and practices that further resiliency and sustainability in development and strategic planning initiatives. POST-DISASTER LOCAL DISASTER RECOVERY MANAGERS RESPONSIBILITIES - Lead the creation and coordinate the activities of local recovery-dedicated organizations and initiatives. - Work with the SDRC to develop a unified and accessible communication strategy. - Participate in damage and impact assessments with other recovery partners. - Organize recovery planning processes, which includes individuals with disabilities and others with access issues, seniors and members of underserved communities, to fully engage constituents’ input; lead the development of the community’s or Tribe’s recovery visions, priorities, resources, capability and capacity. - Ensure inclusiveness in the community recovery process, including persons with disabilities and limited English proficiency. - Communicate recovery priorities to State and Federal governments and other recovery stakeholders and supporters. - Incorporate critical mitigation, resilience, sustainability and accessibility-building measures into the recovery plans and efforts. - Lead the development of the community’s recovery plans and ensure that they are publicly supported, actionable and feasible based on available funding and capacity. - Collaborate with State, Federal and other stakeholders and supporters, such as the business and nonprofit communities, to raise financial support (including long-term capital investment in local businesses) for the community's recovery, leverage the resources where possible and resolve potential duplication of assistance. - Work closely with the recovery leadership at all levels to ensure a well-coordinated, timely and well-executed recovery. - Develop and implement recovery progress measures and communicate adjustments and improvements to applicable stakeholders and authorities” (FEMA, 2011) To understand how this job description would have worked during Hurricane Floyd it would be beneficial to “imagine” someone in the role of the local disaster recovery manager. Once meteorologists determined that Rocky Mount was going to be impacted by Hurricane Floyd the local disaster recovery manager needs to contact the town hall to determine if all flood plains are accurately mapped out so that the individuals who live and work in flood zones can be warned of the flooding that will happen with the hurricane. The next step is to determine the evacuation routes are properly labeled and there are also shelter available for people and their pets to go if they chose not to leave town. The manager then needs to inform local officials to make people within the town aware of the hurricane and the hazards that the hurricane will bring. Next, National Guard should be notified so that they can provide as much assistance after the storm. The power companies should also be notified and put on standby to assist with the recovery process after the storm. Following this preliminary step it is important to communicate the recovery process with state and federal governments. This is important because it provides the government with the knowledge of how to work with the disabled and elderly and other individuals with issues during the hurricane. The manager then needs to contact other leaders and resources to develop a support system. This support system will be utilized after the disaster, but knowing who to contact will prevent confusion during the crisis. After hurricane Floyd hit the manager needs to be quick and concise with his/her responses. The first step he/she needs to take is leading the creation and coordinating of the recovery process with the community. This includes participating in the damage and impact assessment with supporting organizations such as the Red Cross and National Guard. As manager he/she needs to lead the development of the community’s recovery plans that were set forth in the pre-disaster plan. During this step farmers and owners of businesses will have the ability to have their damaged properties assessed in a timely manner therefore, not delaying the ability to gain funding to support the help in paying for the damages that occurred from the massive flooding. At this point it is important to keep up with the recovery of the town. In order for the town to get back to normalcy all of the organizations need to work together to fix infrastructure, and other damaged portions of the town until “normalcy” returns. The last step the manager needs to do is evaluate how the entire process was handled and what things need to be improved upon to make a more cohesive and coherent recovery process for the next disaster. Conclusion Hurricane Floyd was a devastating natural disaster that caused a lot of destruction up the East Coast, especially in the town of Rocky Mount NC, where significant inland flooding destroyed homes, farms and businesses. There was a lack of a leadership plan and therefore the response to the hurricane was disorganized and took a longer period of time. In order for the town to have responded better there should have been a local leader to evaluate the town’s emergency response system and determine what needed to be updated and made more cohesive. If this leader was there before and after hurricane Floyd then he/she would have been able to implement a successful plan. This leadership plan should consist of preparation, implementation and then evaluation. These three steps would have saved the town countless hours by streamlining a functional plan to respond to the disaster that hurricane Floyd caused. References FEMA. (2012). National Disaster Recovery Framework: Overview. FEMA Website. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/national-disaster-recovery-framework-overview. FEMA. (2012). Community Emergency Response Teams. FEMA Website. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-teams. FEMA. (2011). Local Disaster Recovery Manager. FEMA Website. Retrieved February 28, 2013 from http://www.fema.gov/txt/recoveryframework/local_disaster_recovery_managers.txt. Giuffrida, L. O. (1985). FEMA: Its Mission, Its Partners. Public Administration Review, 45(Special), 2. U.K. (1999). Event Summary: National Weather Service, Raleigh NC. National Weather Service Website. Retrieved February 26, 2013 from http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/19990915/ U.K. (2011). Memories of Floyd still fresh for many. WARL.COM. Retrieved February 28, 2013 from http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6010713/. Read More