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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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February
2006
Volume
10 - Number 1 |
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Vulnerable Katrina Perspective
By Danielle Kaplan On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina engulfed the coast of New Orleans. The category 4 storm hit an area of over 90,000 square miles and affected nearly 1.5 million residents in 700,000 households. Specifically, the population affected 70,000 elderly individuals and 124,000 children. Five months later, the results of Hurricane Katrina still remain, victim accounts linger, and displacement continues to be a major problem. What does this information convey to the public? Among a number of things, an Emergency Response System that clearly has holes. With a Federal Response Plan, a Louisiana Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), local hurricane emergency plans, and multiple disaster studies, the American people are still not able to manage certain aspects of a natural emergency. A majority of Louisiana residents that were impacted by Katrina were exceptionally poor. New Orleans had 47 extreme poverty communities before the hurricane hit and was ranked second out of the 50 largest U.S. cities based on the criterion that poor families were clustered in poor neighborhoods! Hence, it is no surprise that a majority of poorer individuals were lacking essential requirements to evacuate the area, such as transportation. Two hundred thousand people throughout Louisiana did not own a car or have access to a vehicle during the time they were able to leave. The Brookings Institute compiled a startling statistic showing that in the center of New Orleans, only one in five individuals had access to a car. Further, the Houston Chronicle stated that there were 550 buses at the city’s disposal but no plans were made to use them to get people out of New Orleans before the storm hit. Of the buses that were utilized, only twelve pick up spots were designated to transport the residents to shelters. Additionally, elderly or hospitalized persons were exempt from the Katrina mandatory evacuation and many were not even given the option to evacuate. Two hundred and fifteen deaths occurred throughout hospitals and nursing homes by people who were abandoned. Further exacerbating the situation, the State of Louisiana Sheltering Plan defined “special needs” individuals as those who could support their own basic care or were not severely ill. In addition, these patients had to administer their own medication and provide for their own special dietary needs if required. This large group of individuals was left without direction or assistance in the face of the hurricane. A “special needs” component of the overall disaster plan must inform, prepare and assist this vulnerable group of citizens on a priority basis in the event of a disaster. The elderly may not be able to move on their own, may be too ill, or need special equipment. Therefore, it is incumbent on the government to take responsibility for the evacuation of nursing home, health care, and elderly residents. Even though the reality of vacating an entire area is extremely challenging, the governments’ goal needs to include an evacuation plan for every locale and means for every individual within a city, town, or state to depart with relative ease. One idea is to have a plan where first responders are responsible for removing special needs residents. If this concept is implemented, we are further ensured that special needs residents will be assisted as soon as a disaster threatens and it will give the responders extra time to prepare for the situation ahead. Katrina was a devastating tragedy but the good news is that we have learned many lessons. We have a basis to begin and improve reconstruction in vulnerable natural disasters regions and implement protective measures throughout the United States. However, the question remains to be seen if this will actually occur. |