Hurricane Katrina vs. Sandy: Government Response Compared

Introduction

Tropical cyclones can badly destroy settlements and structures along the coast. Recent destructive tropical cyclones — such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 — affirm that the destruction caused by a land-falling tropical cyclone is not merely dependent on its categorization on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. Hurricane Sandy of 2012 caused a tremendous amount of destruction; only Hurricane Katrina of 2005 has caused more damage. To reduce casualties from such calamities, the public needs to react promptly to any pre-storm decisions made by authorities (Kantha, 2013).

Government Response to Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was an extraordinary occurrence that brought with it great tragedy. Destroying approximately 90,000 square miles of land, it is the natural disaster that has caused the most destruction in the history of America. To put this in perspective, the area affected is roughly the same size as the United Kingdom. Mississippi saw thousands of people left without shelter after coastal communities were destroyed, and New Orleans experienced devastating floods. At least 1,500 people lost their lives, and thousands along the Gulf Coast were left stranded without essential commodities for nearly one week (Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 2006).

It is important to note that the government's failure to plan, prepare, and respond to the storm caused people to suffer far longer than they would have had officials been more proactive. The government's failures were widespread, and several factors contributed to them. The central ones were:

The government did not pay attention to long-term warnings and negligently failed to prepare for a disaster that had been forewarned. The government took inadequate action or made poor decisions just before landfall and immediately after. The systems relied upon by officials to support disaster response failed. Government officials across all ranks failed to provide capable leadership (Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 2006).

Hurricane Katrina was the single largest catastrophe to befall America in modern times. According to federal disaster declarations signed by President George W. Bush, the affected area totaled at least 93,000 square miles, and 5 million individuals were left without power. Contributing factors to the Hurricane Katrina disaster notably included the lack of preparedness among Americans for a catastrophe of that magnitude as well as the federal government's failures (Cash, 2014).

Hurricane Katrina brought to light serious cracks in emergency response mechanisms, even after the transformation of FEMA, which had previously reported directly to the president but was at the time operating under the Department of Homeland Security. Also revealed was the fact that key federal government leaders did not fully understand the National Response Plan (NRP) (Cash, 2014).

The disaster showed American citizens that the federal government was unprepared to manage certain kinds of large-scale disasters. It was the first occasion where new Homeland Security directives — including the new DHS, the National Response Plan, and the National Incident Management System — were put to the test.

A key factor in the federal government's failure during Hurricane Katrina was that FEMA was not independent but was instead operating under DHS. This hindered communication between the White House and agency officials, causing information reaching the president to sometimes be inaccurate and to arrive late. Had FEMA been independent, some of the disastrous consequences of Hurricane Katrina might have been avoided. There were, of course, other contributing factors beyond FEMA's placement under DHS, but without an effective communication channel between the White House and FEMA, it was difficult for the president to be made fully aware of the catastrophe as it unfolded.

Following Hurricane Katrina, FEMA responded to disasters including Hurricane Rita, the Joplin tornado, and Superstorm Sandy. None of these subsequent disasters caused as much damage as Hurricane Katrina (Cash, 2014).

Role of Governors in Handling Katrina

There have been accusations of personal and political overtones in the handling of the disaster that struck New Orleans in the form of Katrina. According to one FEMA official, Governor Kathleen Blanco was responsible for sending a request for aid and help late in the day. The request — for food, shelter, and urgent necessities — was reportedly sent only just before the hurricane struck the city, and only to President George Bush. Even in this delayed request, there was no mention of the need for evacuation support. An aide explained this by saying that the Governor was under the impression that the local state government was already handling the evacuation needs at the site of destruction (ABC News, 2005).

However, those familiar with the action plans that emerge from such situations assert that in cases of natural disasters, the primary responsibility for immediate safety measures falls on local and state governments rather than the federal government. The local government itself stated that in the event of disasters requiring evacuation, New Orleans would undertake full responsibility to make all possible arrangements with available resources in order to afford the best possible safety measures. All those stranded and unable to fend for themselves would be provided with the best possible aid and assistance. That was the plan the local government professed in its statement (ABC News, 2005).

However, when Katrina struck, the city administration was found wanting in its efforts. All the points in the aforementioned plan were not acted upon when the hurricane hit New Orleans at its worst. The public were directed to reach the Superdome and the Convention Center on their own, even though adequate support systems and amenities had not been arranged. What should have been done was for the city to deploy its own buses to help stranded residents reach safety out of the danger zone (ABC News, 2005). While both city and state governments were slow to respond, they did eventually manage to regain control with the help of the federal government.

Former Mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin stated — in his book Katrina's Secrets: Storms After the Storm — that he was the only one who had fully anticipated the impact that Hurricane Katrina was going to have on citizens, and that he took it upon himself to help residents reach safety. He claimed that his plans describing rescue and rehabilitation in the hurricane's aftermath had mysteriously disappeared. In a damaging statement, Nagin accused others of deferring his requests for rescue operations due to political animosity, noting that he had sided with Blanco's opponent during her run for governor. He also alleged that she had a running feud with the president at the time the disaster struck New Orleans (Associated Press, 2011).

Governor Blanco's riposte to this alleged political vendetta was to call it a false accusation born of frustration. She retorted that Nagin had chosen to act alone and had isolated himself from the governing machinery. She stated she could not believe that anyone would suggest relief operations were withheld for political reasons. She argued it was a false sense of pride that led him to invent excuses for why he was absent when most needed, noting that he had not made any public statement for days after the incident (Associated Press, 2011).

Hurricane Sandy and Government Response

Hurricane Sandy caused the second largest amount of damage in American history. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Hurricane Center, Sandy was the single biggest storm of its kind to ever hit the East Coast. Its effects were felt across many sectors of the region. Telecommunications and data access were halted, affecting numerous businesses and individuals. The storm paralyzed the economy of the greater New York metropolitan area (Hurricane Sandy — Rebuilding Strategy, 2013).

Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast, causing major destruction in densely populated areas such as New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The storm was characterized by storm surges, heavy rains, and strong winds. Millions lost power, roads flooded and restricted transportation options, and thousands sought temporary shelter after their homes and businesses were destroyed. Almost 160 individuals died in Hurricane Sandy, and several of the affected communities are still in the process of rebuilding their lives.

Drawing on experiences from Hurricane Katrina, the federal government — led by FEMA — began placing assets and staff in areas where the storm was predicted to hit well before it made landfall. FEMA worked with state agencies to coordinate emergency response (Ladislaw & Sanok, 2013).

Federal agencies and non-governmental organizations were already working in the New Jersey and New York region on October 26, three days before the storm made landfall. They were preparing for the storm's impact and arranging an elaborate response. On that same day, the president held the first of 15 meetings related to Sandy with representatives from FEMA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and NOAA's National Hurricane Center. They discussed how the government and various agencies were preparing for the storm. The president approved emergency declarations under the Robert T. Stafford Act for Maryland, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, and Massachusetts. This ensured that federal resources were made available to help save lives and property and to safeguard public health and safety. An additional 1,500 FEMA personnel were deployed to the East Coast before Sandy made landfall in order to ensure adequate preparedness (Hurricane Sandy — Rebuilding Strategy, 2013).

States also began preparing for response, recovery, and relief needs. They leveraged connections with the private sector, philanthropic organizations, and media outlets to communicate with citizens and business owners and to resource first responders and essential workers. Public-private partnerships, volunteer organizations, and disaster grants played a very important role in both the rapid initial response and the longer-term recovery efforts. Following Hurricane Sandy, the government enacted legislative reforms and innovations and formed crucial public-private partnerships (Ladislaw & Sanok, 2013).

Two critical pieces of legislation were signed by President Obama in January 2013: H.R. 41 (Public Law 113-1), which raised the borrowing cap for FEMA by close to $10 billion to meet emergency requirements, and the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act (Public Law 113-2), which made $50 billion available to help rebuild areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. A Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force was established in February 2013, chaired by Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The task force coordinated federal support and worked closely with local communities in the affected states (Ladislaw & Sanok, 2013).

The task force released a Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy in August 2013, making various recommendations to assist affected areas in rebuilding and preparing for future weather disasters. These recommendations included supporting small businesses and revitalizing local economies, increasing the capacity of local governments to plan effectively for rebuilding and future catastrophes, and addressing challenges in insurance coverage. The strategy also assessed the hardening of energy infrastructure to prevent power outages and fuel shortages, and how to ensure uninterrupted cellular service. If implemented, these recommendations would address many of the pressing challenges witnessed during Hurricane Sandy and previous catastrophes (Ladislaw & Sanok, 2013).

References

Adamski, T., Kline, B., & Tyrrell, T. (2006). FEMA reorganization and the response to hurricane disaster relief. Retrieved from

ABC News. (2005). Who's to blame for delayed response to Katrina? Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/HurricaneKatrina/blame-delayed-response-katrina/story?id=1102467

Associated Press. (2011). In book, Nagin tells very different Katrina story. Retrieved from

Cash, J. T. (2014). Political failures of Hurricane Katrina. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140708194346-192858373-political-failures-of-hurricane-katrina

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. (2006). Hurricane Katrina: A nation still unprepared. Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-109srpt322/pdf/CRPT-109srpt322.pdf

Cooper, R. (2012). Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy: Comparisons and lessons learned. Retrieved from http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/hurricanes-katrina-and-sandy-comparisons-and-lessons-learned/

FEMA. (2013). Hurricane Sandy FEMA after-action report. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1923-25045-7442/sandy_fema_aar.pdf

Hurricane Sandy rebuilding strategy. (2013). Retrieved from

Kantha, L. (2013). Classification of hurricanes: Lessons from Katrina, Ike, Irene, Isaac and Sandy. Ocean Engineering, 70, 124–128. doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2013.06.007

Ladislaw, S. O., & Sanok, S. (2013). Hurricane Sandy: Evaluating the response one year later. Retrieved from http://csis.org/publication/hurricane-sandy-evaluating-response-one-year-later

National Center for Disaster Preparedness. (2012). After Hurricane Sandy: Lessons learned for bolstering the resilience of health systems and services. Retrieved from http://www.northeastern.edu/kostas/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Health-Systems-and-Services-Resilience.pdf

Newton-Small, J. (2012). As government reacts to Sandy, lessons from Katrina and other natural disasters. Retrieved from

Walsh, K. T. (2012). A tale of two storms: Comparing Bush and Obama's hurricane response. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/ken-walshs-washington/2012/10/31/a-tale-of-two-storms-comparing-bush-and-obamas-hurricane-response