Overview of Hurricane Katrina - Case Study Example

Hurricane Katrina Introduction Hurricane Katrina can be regarded as one of the most terrible natural disasters that ever had taken place in the history of the United States. It was the powerful storm which destroyed several homes, forests as well as buildings and eventually caused massive destruction throughout the region of Gulf Coast of US and other surrounding areas. It has been apparently observed that the effect of Katrina caused substantial amount of losses for the nation which amounted to US$96 billion. These losses were fundamentally identified in terms of housing, business as well as government properties and durable goods of the customers (The White House, 2006). Overview of Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina originated on 23rd August in the year 2005 as a Tropical Depression in the South Eastern Bahamas which affected various areas including South Florida, Alabama, New Orleans and Louisiana among others. It has been considered as one of the most destructive storms ever which affected over 15 million inhabitants in various fields which comprised the gas charges, economy and most significantly evacuations. Moreover, according to various reports, it has been viewed that several people are yet missing as the result of Hurricane Katrina. The Federal government of the US, ‘Federal Emergency Management Agency’ which is prevalently acknowledged as FEMA and several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as the Oxfam and American Red Cross among others were accountable to create as well as to maintain an emergency plan for the disaster (The White House, 2006). Preparedness for Hurricane Katrina The aspect of national preparedness policy usually involves an incessant activity which tends to develop certain crucial elements including any plans, schemes, policies and training for the purpose of defending along with retrieving from any major incidents or events. In this similar context, it can be stated that the occurrence of Hurricane Katrina caused thousands of deaths along with severe destruction in several regions belonging to the US. In relation to the preparedness for Hurricane Katrina, it has been viewed that the federal government of the US had announced a ‘state of emergency’ in certain regions including Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana prior two days of the incident (The White House, 2006). The happening of Hurricane Katrina imposed a crucial impact upon the national preparedness policy of the Federal government. In this regard, it can be affirmed that this disaster involved several emergency communities in order to support huge recovery as well as mitigation operations. Moreover, the ‘Department of Homeland Security’ (DHS) of the US made certain major variations prior to the happening of Hurricane Katrina. The changes majorly included strengthening the planning of emergency operations, enhancing the protection abilities and emphasizing more effectively upon the occurrence of all major incidents or disasters. In addition, the forecasts of National Hurricane Center (NHC) had appropriately envisaged that Katrina will increase the strength of hurricane and thus in response hurricane warnings were issued (The White House, 2006). Entities Responsible for Emergency Response Prior to the Arrival of Hurricane Katrina The several entities which include the United States Coast Guard (USCG) as well as National Weather Service (NWS) among other organizations were held responsible for emergency response to the hurricane affecting New Orleans along with the region of Gulf Coast. It has been viewed there were several plans in place before the arrival of Hurricane Katrina in the US. The plans included the ‘National Response Plan’ which was introduced by the federal government, the state plans of National Guard and the plans of Department of Defense (DoD) (U.S. House of Representatives, 2006). One of the potent exercises which have been practiced to arrange for the execution of emergency planning prior to Hurricane Katrina’s arrival has been identified as evacuation planning. This particular planning laid emphasis upon communicating information in order to prepare the citizens to evacuate at the time of the disaster. Moreover, training has been provided to the military troops in order to cope up with such situations prior to Katrina. The emergency plan of evacuation was known to the populace as the local government of the state employed the methods of television and internet among others for informing the residents prior to the arrival of the disaster (U.S. House of Representatives, 2006). Emergency Planning Lessons Learned from Katrina It was the city of New Orleans which suffered due to the destructive consequences led by Hurricane Katrina. In order to provide adequate support to the city, an emergency plan of evacuation was introduced. The prime intention of the plan was to retrieve a large group of people as soon as possible from the danger zone by making fuller utilization of accessible traffic lanes (Wolshon, 2006). However, there lay certain failures in relation to the emergency planning of evacuation. In this regard, one of the significant failures can be identified as the reliability of information associated with the evacuation plan which did not adequately reach to the people. Moreover, the organizational as well as the policy factors which included lack of flexibility as well as adaptability and information gaps ultimately led towards the planning failures of Hurricane Katrina. On the basis of the lessons learnt from the Katrina disaster, it can be identified as the essentiality of minimizing the information gaps by building effective communication with the populaces affected, with due consideration to the evacuation programs which in turn would certainly assist in gaining flexibility in emergency response. With this concern, in order to improve emergency planning, the federal government realized that they must execute a wide-ranging ‘National Preparedness System’ in order to respond against any sort of disaster by a considerable level in future (The White House, 2006). Conclusion The occurrence of Hurricane Katrina caused massive as well as severe destructions in various regions of the US. The different entities such as the Federal government, FEMA and different NGOs were held responsible to create as well as to maintain an emergency pan in response to the disaster. With this concern, the Federal government introduced an emergency evacuation plan in order to respond to the disaster. However, the factors that including lack of communication and flexibility among others, ultimately led towards the failure of the plan. In order to improve this plan, the government aimed at establishing an inclusive ‘National Preparedness System’ for the motive of responding towards any disaster in future with greater efficiency. References The White House. (2006). The federal response to Hurricane Katrina: lessons learned. Retrieved from http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/ U.S. House of Representatives. (2006). A failure of initiative: final report of the select bipartisan committee to investigate the preparation for the response to Hurricane Katrina. United States: Government Printing Office. Wolshon, B. (2006). The aftermath of Katrina. Retrieved from http://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/TheAftermathofKatrina/EvacuationPlanningandEngineeringforHurricaneKatrina.aspx Read More