Mother Natures Daughters - Essay Example

Mother Nature’s Daughters al Affiliation Mother Nature’s Daughters Compare how the and local officials responded to the Hurricane Sandy disaster versus the state and local response to Hurricane Katrina. The state and local officials’ responses to the Hurricane Sandy disaster was reportedly significantly better than the state and local responses to Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was noted to have caught public officials off-guard. According to the report on the lessons learned, “Hurricane Katrina not only damaged far more property than any previous naturaldisaster, it was also the deadliest natural disaster in the United States” (The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, 2006, p. 6). As such, the federal and state officials actually admitted their failure to respond immediately, to wit: “our system clearly has structural flaws for addressing catastrophic incidents” (The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, 2006, p. 66). Therefore, the result was a loss of 1,300 lives and properties destroyed amount to about $96 billion (The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, 2006).

The estimated cost of properties destroyed were later revised to reach $148 billion and the total number of lives lost apparently reached 1,833 (Newman, 2012). On the other hand, the federal and state officials’ response to Hurricane Sandy were deemed to be far better since the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina enabled legislators to make the necessary changes in emergency and natural disaster preparedness and response. Due to the marked improvement in response, there were only 132 deaths which were reported and an estimated damage amounting to about $71 billion (Newman, 2012).

The greater coordination and concerted collaboration among federal and state agencies were instrumental in the improved response. As acknowledged, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was tasked to “work with our federal, state, tribal and local partners, as well as voluntary organizations, the private sector, and others to respond to the aftermath of Sandy” (FEMA, 2012, par. 1).Were the Federal responses better with Hurricane Sandy? Why or why not?The Federal responses were better with Hurricane Sandy as could be deduced from the extensive collaboration and cooperative efforts that transpired since the time that the tropical storm was reportedly monitored.

Upon review of the timeline of events during Hurricane Sandy’s path of entry to the United States, it could be assessed that FEMA, as the main coordinating agency, seriously adhered to its role and responsibilities through closely coordinating with local state officials, especially the states of New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Boston, among others. It is kept in close contact with other state emergency management partners, including: Homeland Security officers and personnel, members of the Cabinet, the U.S. Geological Service, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Guards, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the American Red Cross, as well as “governors and mayors from affected states, and many others to ensure states and local communities have the resources they need to recover from this storm” (FEMA, 2012, par. 2). It was likewise emphasized that “more than 1,032 FEMA personnel were positioned deployed along the East Coast working to support disaster preparedness and response operations, including search and rescue, situational awareness, communications and logistical support” (FEMA: Sunday, October 28, 2012, par. 6), Thus, the extensiveness and comprehensive depth of interagency collaboration made the emergency disaster preparedness and response during Hurricane Sandy evidently better.

ReferencesFEMA. (2012, December 7). Hurricane Sandy: Timeline. Retrieved from fema.gov: http://www.fema.gov/hurricane-sandy-timelineNewman, A. (2012, November 27). Hurricane Sandy vs. Hurricane Katrina. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/hurricane-sandy-vs-hurricane-katrina/The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned. (2006, February). Retrieved from library.stmarytx.edu: http://library.stmarytx.edu/acadlib/edocs/katrinawh.pdf