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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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Personal Experience and Perception of Hurricane Katrina and Disasters Going Forward By Nathan A. Reimers I began my employment with the American Red Cross
two days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Until that point in
time I had none, zero disaster or emergency experience. Beginning a
new career in a new field with a new organization was an experience to say
the least. Although I was not and have not physically been in New Orleans
during any point of the disaster or the recovery I have been an active part
of the response as an Operations Supervisor for the American Red Cross Response
Center and have learned an incredible amount about emergency response and
crisis management.
Katrina was from a new mold one that had not been previously imagined or designed, and the response initiatives that were taken were the ones used to fit the previous mold. Everyone can agree that Hurricane Katrina was a disaster beyond scope or imagination. It was and hopefully will remain an anomaly the A-typical disaster of our lifetime. Katrina was such a beast of a disaster that the standard operating procedures various agencies typically used in responding to events were instantly irrelevant, infrastructure was completely annihilated and communication was poor at best. Inter and Intra communication within and between agencies at all levels was frayed and lives were lost as a result. I shudder to think at how much extra work the Red Cross and FEMA made for themselves and one another by not knowing or communicating with each other and other agencies as to what services they were independently providing to the victims and what it was the victims were in most need of. One thing that really stands out to me is that after the storm initially hit the gulf coast there was a genuine out pour of concern and compassion throughout the nation for those affected. There was also a sense of pride within those involved in the relief effort. But as the days and weeks went on and turned to months and now years that has gone. Now the relief effort is more about resources, dollars and politics and less about the human beings and rebuilding the lives that were shattered. When I think about the obstacles and hurdles the various government and NVOAD organizations faced during Hurricane Katrina I start to wonder, how would a response shape and take form if a WMD were detonated within our borders in a major metropolitan area like New York, Dallas, or Chicago? There are many different approaches the Department of Homeland Security is taking to prevent a catastrophic terrorist event from occurring within our borders. I always question when I hear of New York, Washington, and Los Angeles major metropolitan cities receiving most of the funding and attention what about the other cities while in comparison may not have the population of New York but are still large highly populated cities. Very rarely do you hear of what measures are being taken to ensure the safety of cities like St. Louis, Denver, and Omaha. Terrorists want to strike and instill as much fear as they can within our borders so logically the biggest cities make the most sense, but large Mid-West cities may be targeted. If the majority of focus is placed into a smaller number of urban areas and even if they are made impenetrable from terrorist attacks other cities may be left under prepared. The experiences I have had and knowledge I have gained since Katrina has been and will be invaluable for me in my career. If emergency management is going to be the profession of my choice what better way to have been baptized than experiencing first hand the most devastating and catastrophic disaster of our nation’s history? |