Government response to Hurricane Katrina across local, state, and federal levels

Government Roles in Disaster Recovery

Each branch of the government (local, state and federal) plays a role in emergency preparedness and disaster recovery. At all three levels, accurate knowledge of the emergency will aid each level of government in knowing their limits and whether or not a higher level of response is necessary. Planning is crucial at all levels of government and plans should be set in place for various types of disasters because some disasters are unforeseen (Perry and Lindell, 2003). Even though planning can be a smooth process and look good on paper, until an actual event happens no one actually knows how prepared they are until after the fact.

The United States has suffered through a few disasters in this decade alone. The two prominent ones that most of us immediately think of are 911 and Hurricane Katrina. Both of these disasters were criticized to some degree because of poor preparedness, poor emergency response or both. With 911, the nation was taken by surprise because we could not believe that our country was attacked by terrorists and it made us feel extremely vulnerable. As the events began to unfold, we learned that there was some inkling that some kind of terrorist attack would happen, but no one ever imagined it would be of this magnitude. President Bush and his cabinet took a lot of heat because many felt that this situation possibly could have been avoided.

Hurricane Katrina presents a different scenario because we couldn't watch the news without the weather forecasters predicting that the hurricane would hit the area soon. As we know, residents of New Orleans were encouraged to evacuate because Katrina was believed to be of a high or highest category. No one expected that the hurricane would wipe out the levees causing the destruction that it did. Unbelievable images were shown all over and Americans could not believe that the citizens of New Orleans were going through this ordeal with seemingly very little help in sight. It was inconceivable that a federal emergency was declared yet the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) response was so poor.

Because there was blame on each level of government in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, this paper will examine the event and the three levels of government response to this disaster. The hurricane was predicted to hit the Gulf Coast at least a week before it actually struck. New Orleans is no stranger to hurricanes. Hurricanes and their destruction have been recorded since the 1700's. Some of these hurricanes did considerable damage and claimed lives and some were nothing more than slightly severe wind storms. However, who could have predicted the disaster and heavy death toll after Hurricane Katrina. This hurricane is the worst one in the history of hurricanes in New Orleans thus far.

Local Government Response

Ray Nagin, the mayor of the city at the time is considered by some to have dealt with the Hurricane Katrina situation admirable. Others tend to disagree. Many of Nagin's critics say that had he ordered a mandatory evacuation sooner and made use of the numerous amounts of school buses specifically reserved to shuttle citizens to the Superdome, the death toll would not have reached the high number that it did. Nagin suggested that citizens evacuate and he knew that many people in New Orleans are extremely poor and did not have the financial means to leave the city. He could have been basing his reluctance to order a mandatory evacuation during the earlier predictions of the hurricane's potential for devastation on the events that transpired during Hurricane Ivan.

Nagin did not issue a mandatory evacuation during Hurricane Ivan. He issued a voluntary one and it just so happened that the hurricane missed the city. He may have been seeking to avoid the traffic jams and complaints from citizens by not issuing the mandatory evacuation for Hurricane Katrina early on. He should have played it safe to avoid being sorry later on. Forecasters had been predicting for days that the Hurricane could drive a wall of water of the city's levees. They predicted that the storm surge could reach 28 feet and the levees are only as high as 18 feet. Nagin also knew that the levees were in need of repair, yet he did not heed the warnings of the weather forecasters soon enough.

While many of the citizens of New Orleans did manage to evacuate before the hurricane hit, many more were left behind and those in this group should have been shuttled to the Superdome on the buses reserved for such events as this. The mayor's biggest failure during Hurricane Katrina was not to make use of the school buses. Instead of taking ownership of his part in the loss of lives, he pointed the finger at the federal rescue efforts. While there is some credibility to his rants about FEMA and the slow response to the Hurricane victims, Nagin should admit that most of the devastation could have been avoided had he followed through with the plan that the city had already laid out.

Federal Response

Out of all three levels of government, the federal level seems to have received the most criticism in how it handled Hurricane Katrina. President Bush and FEMA were the scapegoats for many during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Where Bush failed miserably was not exercising his right to federalize the National Guard. Had he done this, the citizens of New Orleans would not have suffered needlessly. The city would not have suffered so many loss of lives had it been evacuated properly at the local level by Mayor Nagin. but, instead of playing the blame game, pointing fingers, and getting into power struggles with the governor, President Bush should have taken command of the situation. If he had done so, many lives could have and would have been saved. While the people of New Orleans were dying, he was in a senseless struggle for power with Blanco.

Former Acting Director of FEMA, R. David Paulison states that the organization was pre-prepared the disaster with excess equipment, manpower, food, water, etc. What they did not anticipate was the levees breaking nor were they aware of the level of immediate need of the people. He also says that with Hurricane Andrew, about two million residents were evacuated and only about 10% we left homeless whereas with Hurricane Katrina approximately the same number of residents were evacuated yet over 90% were left homeless (Halton, 2006). This was much more of a burden than FEMA had anticipated and it was a result of poor emergency response at lower levels of government.

Even still, FEMA should have been better prepared to handle the situation. They should have been called in earlier than they were and if this were the case they situation would have been easier to manage. Paulison says that FEMA was not fully aware of what was needed and where. This is a result of poor communication. By the time they were called in, the situation was the main story on all media outlets, especially television. FEMA should have had a strong sense of what was going on and what the immediate needs of the people were. There is no excuse for people going without food and water for days if FEMA had an abundant supply of these things.

Along with FEMA at the federal level of government, President Bush probably received the most criticism for the way that the situation was handled. He has been accused of everything from a slow response to Hurricane Katrina because the majority of the residents were African-American to the National Guard was short staffed because too many were service overseas in the war on Iraq. Many regard the fact that Bush remained on vacation two days after the hurricane hit as his lack of concern for the suffering citizens of New Orleans. The president even refused help from international governments saying that America can fend for itself. Even the president's wife, Barbara Bush came under fire for her flippant remarks about how the residents should be used to living in the conditions that were at the Superdome because, according to her, those conditions were probably much better than where they lived before.

Although President Bush cannot take all of the blame for Hurricane Katrina, he certainly bears a substantial amount of the blame. His apparent lack of concern is what stays with most people as many have expressed disbelief that this country rushed to the aid of the Tsunami victims in 2004, yet it did not appear to be concerned about its own. His refusal of international help solidified for many that he really did not care about the residents of New Orleans or their welfare. What Bush should have done was take control of the National Guard from the state of Louisiana instead of having a bickering match with the governor. It was obvious that the people were suffering and in need of relief and if Bush saw that Blanco was dragging her feet, he should have exercised control and allowed the federal government to take over the relief and recovery efforts.

Not only did the majority of the American public blame Bush for the Hurricane Karina fiasco, political cartoonist threw their hat in the ring, too. According to Kelley-Romano and Westgate, "Political cartoons fulfill a unique function in an age of instantaneous media. During times of crisis, as citizens are able to watch disasters unfold on television and computer screens, political cartoons critique situations, make attributions, and attack those presumed to be responsible." (2007). This statement became evident after the many caricatures of President Bush were seen in the aftermath. Most of them portray the president in a negative light and as a buffoon.

Conclusion

No one can accurately predict the devastation that will be caused in a natural disaster such as a hurricane. This does not imply that emergency preparedness should not occur at all levels of government. The purpose of planning for a disaster is to follow through with the plan in case a disaster actually strikes. The city of New Orleans is no stranger to hurricanes. They have been experiencing them for years with some being mild and some severe. There was poor preparation and response on the part of all three levels of government, but the local level should bear the brunt of the blame because of the mayor's lack of follow through with the plan already set in place. Because he did not do as he should have, this disaster escalated into a tragedy that could have been avoided. Everyone pointed fingers at the other party and all three levels should share in the responsibility because all failed the citizens of New Orleans on some level during this ordeal. Hopefully, lessons were learned so that a tragedy of this magnitude will never be repeated.