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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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March
2007
Volume
12 - Number 3 |
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Katrina and What Went Wrong By: Eric Hostelley August 28th and August 29th produced one of
the worst natural disasters the U.S. has ever witnessed. Hurricane Katrina
ripped through New Orleans and the Gulf ports of Mississippi and Louisiana.
New Orleans by far had the most damage and the most residents displaced out
of all the areas devastated by Katrina. My biggest concern about the
situation is; what were the local and federal government doing before the
Hurricane came crashing to land? I know I’m not the first person to
ask the question but until we know for sure the same fatal mistakes are not
going to happen again the question has to be continually asked. How
though are we to be sure the mistakes aren’t going to be made again?
There is no way of telling until the next big natural disaster hits the U.S.
Numerous government agencies, local, state and federal are responsible for the lack of response time to the city for help. A disaster of this stature and the amount of destruction that took place someone must be held accountable. Who is that person or persons going to be? My vote is for the President, or more specifically the Republican Party itself. I know Democrats hold elected positions and seats in those areas as well. But the buck has to stop somewhere and what better place to start than at the top. Future leaders must know the American people are going to be held accountable for their actions or in this case their lack of action. The American people spoke late in 2006 when the Democrats took over the House and the Senate. The next elected official is the President. The difficult thing is President Bush’s term is up in 2008. So since we can’t vote him out of office a message needs to be sent to the Republican Party they screwed up along with their President. CEO’s, Head Coaches, Managers, etc. get fired all the time and the person doing the hiring hires someone who is the complete opposite of the person just fired. That is what the American people must do. Vote someone into office completely unlike George W. Bush. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco declared the Louisiana in a state of emergency a full two days before even the storm surges began to hit the Gulf Coast. The first storm surge was beginning to hit the coast at approximately 1600 hours, Aug. 28th. It took until Tuesday after the storm had hit and gone was the state of Louisiana able to federal help from FEMA and other agencies. While I believe the federal government, during a natural disaster, must be there to help people who are unable to help themselves, the local and state governments are better able to handle the people and their surroundings. As a person who comes from a small town in PA along the Susquehanna River I believe strongly in grassroots effort. Nobody knows an area better than the people who live there. More money needs to be spent educating, training and supporting the local first responders and city emergency planners to prepare the next disaster. Command Centers need to be run by a state or local emergency responders. Most of the money comes from the Federal government, so allow that person in charge of cost analysis. The Feds will be in the room but not making the final decisions on procedure. Ultimately, though they do have the final word because the money is coming from their resources. The only way for local control though is through continuous education and training. The American people just want to know they have control over their own lives and the residents of New Orleans had no control. They were unable to handle the situation with out the Federal government. The Hurricanes path was unavoidable for the city of New Orleans, what was avoidable was the response time of the federal government and the resource made available before Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Gulf Coast. |