Hurricane Katrina in the USA - Term Paper Example

Hurricane Katrina: How It Changed Homeland Security Hurricane Katrina: How It Changed Homeland Security Introduction Hurricane Katrina hit the land in the United States of America in the year 2005 on August 29 from the US Gulf Coast. A month later Hurricane Rita made landfall and completely destroyed nearly 90,000 square miles of land (Chertoff 2006). The disaster affected a greater than 80% proportion of the city of New Orleans and the number of people who were affected was 1.5 million. This catastrophe brought about the biggest migration of people since the great Dust bowl of 1930s. This natural disaster influenced greatly the Department of Homeland Security which was still struggling to deal with domestic and international terrorist threats. Hurricane Katrina turned out to be the worst thing that could happen to our homeland and the pieces were left for Department of Homeland Security to pick up. Katrina was a category 4 hurricane and FEMA, part of the Department for Homeland Security, reacted to it according to a prepared plan. But nothing could have prepared Americans for the destruction brought on by the hurricane. No one had anticipated the ruin and damage (Borja 2008). Before the development of one Department of Homeland Security, these activities were carried out by more than 40 federal agencies. Although there had always been talk of bringing all of them under one banner; the need for one entity was truly felt after the 9/11 attacks. A March 2001 bill proposed that FEMA, Border Patrol, Customs along with several other offices be merged into one agency that will be responsible for all security related services for homeland. The Office of Homeland Security was announced 11 days after the 9/11 attacks. Its main purpose was to safeguard the country against any threats of terrorism is the future (Borja 2008). This report will discuss how the hurricane forever changed homeland security and led to the introduction of a whole new set of previously ignored challenges. Threat identification Hurricane Katrina was unprecedented due to its sheer force and size. It was a huge challenge and the most destructive event in American history. It challenged our disaster response capabilities to the extreme and brought out the deficiencies in our nation’s preparedness and response facilities (Townsend 2006). According to a presidential address in 2002, the Department of Homeland Security had four goals that became the responsibility of four of its divisions accordingly. The Border Security Division is responsible for guarding the borders and preventing terrorists from entering the country. The Emergency preparedness and Response Centre has to work in tandem with local authorities to provide effective relief during emergencies. The Nuclear Countermeasures Division works on developing cutting edge technologies that can help detect biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and help protect citizens in time of need. And lastly, the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection division is responsible for gathering updates from various American intelligence and law agencies to come up with a complete picture of the homeland security situation for all other divisions of Department of Homeland Security (Borja 2008; Townsend 2006). Katrina was not a manmade disaster but it still became the responsibility of the Department of Homeland security to clean up the mess afterwards. First of all, these natural catastrophes lead to wide scale looting in many areas. Law enforcement agencies throughout the Gulf Coast failed miserably to contain this problem. Jails were full, communications were down and lawlessness became the order of the day. This had become a national emergency and therefore a direct responsibility of Department of Homeland Security. Its subdivision Federal Emergency Management Agency was also failing to deal with the onslaught of problems brought on by Hurricane Katrina (Townsend 2006). Katrina exposed the extent to which the Homeland Security was prepared to deal with large scale destruction. It is true that no one could have envisioned the sheer magnitude of devastation brought on by the hurricane, but it had also become evident that FEMA and Homeland Security were merely reacting to the situation instead of carrying out a carefully thought out plan. The whole purpose of Homeland security had been defeated. Response to security threats is dependent on preparedness for them. If the agency has not prepared for a particular scenario then no matter how much man power, firepower and international leverage it has, it will not know what to do until it is too late. Same holds true in the case of natural disasters. All of their man power was not enough to keep the violence from occurring until it was too late. There were plans and policies, but nothing proved enough because when push came, the Department of Homeland Security could not safeguard the people of Gulf Coast from malicious elements among them. It is a responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security to “prepare for, protect against and respond to and recover from the natural and man-made disasters that will occur.” (Townsend 2006) Hurricane Katrina compelled a change in the preparedness capabilities of Department of Homeland Security. After the worst was over, Department of Homeland Security evolved into a more synchronized agency with integration in private sector, Federal and State sectors as well as the local community law enforcement agencies. It strived to coordinate its plans and policies across a wide range of partners, all working together to enhance the homeland security (Townsend 2006). Solution identification Katrina left a huge mess in its wake but also left many lessons to be learned for a better prepared Department of Homeland Security. The biggest lesson learned perhaps was that lines of communication should always be kept clear. The local authorities completely exhausted all their resources before asking for federal help. Had they kept the Department of Homeland Security up-to-date with timely and relevant information, help could have arrived sooner and incidences of violence could have been avoided all together (Townsend 2006). To ensure speedy help to disaster struck areas and avoid any law and order situations in the wake of disasters a Joint Information Centre was established in Baton Rouge. Its purpose is to provide correct and timely information on Federal relief efforts and counter any attempts of misinformation. A National Operations Centre was also established to coordinate National response and give an accurate picture of the situation to the Federal government (Townsend 2006). Also, a new position was created with the complete title “Coordinator of Federal Support for the Recovery and Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast Region”. The position was officially announced in November 2005. The purpose was to manage the long term damages of Hurricane Katrina by working with local and state officials (Borja 2008). The Department of Homeland Security is also planning to coordinate with the Environmental Protection Agency to enhance government’s capacity to process environmental data and make quick decisions in times of weather related disasters. This will help the Federal government to determine how soon to start recovery efforts. Furthermore, in the weeks after the disaster, the Department of Homeland Security provided nearly 1500 officers to aid in the rescue and recovery missions. These Federal law enforcement officers not only protected federal property along the Gulf Coast but also assisted the local law enforcement agencies in the rescue missions. However, many of these agencies complained of impediments in immediate assistance as it was unclear whether to follow State or Federal laws (Townsend 2006). Hurricane Katrina forced Homeland Security to rethink its policies and procedures. Although these methods had been tried and tested during many previous natural calamities, what was surprising was that the Federal officials were completely unprepared for a bigger disaster even though many experts had pointed towards it. Hurricane Katrina forced Department of Homeland Security to integrate and synchronize all federal and national policies and plans and establish a unified system that ensures National Preparedness in case such a disaster ever happens again. References Borja, E. C., (2008). Brief documentary history of the Department of Homeland Security, 2001-2008. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, History Office. Retrieved January 22, 2012, from http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/brief_documentary_history_of_dhs_2001_2008.pdf Chertoff, Michael. (2006, February 15). “Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.” U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved January 22, 2012, from http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/testimony/testimony_0046.shtm Townsend, F.F. (2006). The federal response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons learned. Washington, D.C: White House. Retrieved January 22, 2012, from http://http://library.stmarytx.edu/acadlib/edocs/katrinawh.pdf Read More