Lessons Learned From Katrina

¶ … Hurricane Andrew and Katrina, hurricanes are never a good thing and are always a logistical nightmare. However, those two hurricanes stand out among many others as the death and destruction they rendered was off the charts. Looters and the "strangers" mentioned in the assignment parameters tend to be common as the degenerates of society always take advantage of such calamities. However, some strangers are simply just looking for loved ones.

However, people coming into the area other than trained and well-equipped emergency personnel are the last thing a hurricane zone needs. This and other questions will be addressed in this report. While any hurricane response strategy is going to be controlled chaos, there are some best practices that need to be employed.

Analysis One plan that needs to be implemented right off the top is a cordoning off of the worst areas, especially those that are impassable, so as to prevent looting and additional people from being hurt or needing to be saved. People should only be leaving the area while it is being searched and verified for bodies and such. People that are engaging in any criminal activity should be arrested and taken in for charges.

They should be held as long as is possible so as to keep them from the area and the only way to do that for sure is to keep them detained. People that are in the area but not obviously breaking the law should be warned once and jailed themselves if they disobey the order to vacate the area.

Martial law is certainly an overreach and would not be accepted by the public anyway but people that refuse to keep themselves safe should be restrained from becoming a nuisance or endangered through their own actions or inactions (Dao, 2005). The second plan that will be enacted is a door by door verification that people are not present. Breaking in of doors and such will be avoided but any homes that are obviously flooded or caved in will be checked to insure that nobody is inside.

The use of cadaver dogs and other less intrusive means will be used. Homeowners will be given the opportunity to call in and verify that no one is at their home so that any breaking in or other damages are not necessary to insure that no loss of life occurred. The third part of this strategy will be to let people back in. At least initially, only people that live in the area and people that are directly accompanying them will be allowed in.

This will allow homeowners to assess their damages but will prevent gawkers and media people from clogging the area unnecessarily. Any media or other people not actively engaging in cleanup efforts will be asked to leave as they present a public safety hazard and nuisance by being presence.

Any claims of media censorship or other unfair restriction will be answered with the response that it is not about the First Amendment but rather keeping the area as clear of unnecessary people as possible so as to streamline recovery and search efforts (Fussell, 2010). A fourth part of the strategy will be to elicit help from the national guard from the state who can in turn ask the federal government for assistance should it be needed.

Such was done in Katrina (albeit delayed by bureaucratic waste) and the same can be done for this new disaster even if it is not necessary for all that long. A full court press of help should be started immediately and it should not stop, at the very least, until all body search efforts are done and the area is being repopulated with the people of the area without restriction.

The National Guard can be the people that guard the perimeter and police looters while the local police and search and rescue people do their jobs. Regardless of who is involved, the use of more aggressive means such as teargas and such will be avoided but that is always an option if things get really dicey in certain areas. To avoid public relations disasters, what is being done with the above and why it is being done will be communicated heavily to the populace.

Residents can be informed when their areas will be open for return and they will also be told how to inform law enforcement that their house is clear of people. A missing person line will be set up and that can be used to collect information on who might be missing in the damage path. Those names will be listed on a website so that "missing" people that are not in danger can phone in and make it known where they are and that they are safe.

Done to the proper extent, the true gravity of whom.