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Hurricane Katrina, formed as a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean on August 23, 2005, over the southeastern Bahamas. After passing over the southern tip of Florida, "the hurricane entered the Gulf of Mexico and quickly rose in intensity to category 5, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Its predicted track took it straight up the delta of the Mississippi River toward New Orleans" (Mazzeno, 2013, para. 2). Officials at every level of government feared the effects of Katrina given much of the city sits below sea level; especially areas between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. Katrina made landfall on August 29th as a category three hurricane hitting the extreme southeast of Louisiana then veering slightly eastward to strike the Mississippi Gulf coast (Mazzeno, 2013).

At the height of the hurricane, the storm surge exceeded 25 feet, whereby, it obliterated nearly every building within a mile of the cost. Subsequently, this surge placed inordinate stress on the levees guarding the Greater New Orleans area and within hours the stress became too much; as a result, the levees breached bringing flooding to 80 percent of the city (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2016). Hurricane Katrina resulted in 1,833 fatalities and left tens of thousands homeless and without basic supplies. Additionally, Katrina affected 92,000 square miles and caused $108 billion in damage (un-adjusted 2005 dollars), and a total economic loss reaching as high as $250 billion (National Weather Service, 2016). Although hurricane Katrina is a story of mass devastation, the disaster response would take on a story in and of itself.

With that stated, it's my opinion the emergency response was not successful; however, it's important to point out that the procrastination displayed by the city's mayor, Ray Nagin, significantly complicated response efforts. Notably, his decision not to issue a mandatory evacuation order until the day before the storm hit resulted in excess of one hundred thousand people stranded in New Orleans (Mazzeno, 2013). Subsequently, individuals had little choice but to seek refuge in attics, rooftops, flee to higher ground or make the passage (when /where possible) to the Superdome, which was designated as an emergency evacuation center (Mazzeno, 2013). The latter proved extremely challenging when considering the city's Lower Ninth Ward and the affluent subdivision of Lakeview was inundated and made uninhabitable.

Arguably, had Mayor Nagin heeded governmental concerns and issued mandatory evacuation orders sooner, I feel confident in suggesting the death toll would have been reduced, as too would the numbers of persons in need of rescue. The latter presented a significant challenge for those responding to the disaster. Also, the risks of a major hurricane striking New Orleans were well known; especially, concerns about the levee's, which were in need of reinforcement. Despite this knowledge and the fact,

there was enough warning of the threat of Katrina that declarations of emergency were made days in advance of landfall. However, responders failed to convert this information into a level of preparation appropriate with the scope of the impending disaster. (Moynihan, 2009, p. 1)

However, the response failure extends beyond Mayor Nagin's errors and the errors regarding preparation given there were failures at all levels of government. Notably, "the key institutional capacities to manage the response at every level of government were inadequate. In particular, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had been weakened during the Bush administration" (Moynihan, 2009, p. 1).

In closing, hurricane Katrina was devastating not primarily because of human failures, but because of the size and scope of the tasks created by Katrina. While good management might modify disasters, it cannot eliminate them; that aside, it does not excuse the fact there was poor coordination among the network of responders, key players did not act with a sense of urgency, and related risk factors were overlooked due to defunct management and policy. Sadly, despite knowledge of the risk, a major hurricane would bring to the city they failed to take proactive measures, which unquestionably would have minimized the losses caused by Katrina (human and structural). Thus, I would argue the response failures correlates with the procrastination to resolve in advance these know risks.

Yours in learning,

Cliff

References

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2016). Hurricane Katrina. Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-katrina

Mazzeno, L. W. (2013). Hurricane Katrina. Salem Press Encyclopedia, Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=d79fb824-c62b-4787-ad85-2d81704c1799%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=89138967&db=ers

Moynihan, D. P. (2009). The response to hurricane Katrina. Retrieved from https://www.irgc.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/04/Hurricane_Katrina_full_case_study_web.pdf

National Weather Service. (2016). Extremely powerful hurricane Katrina leaves a historic mark on the Northern Gulf Coast: A killer hurricane our country will never forget. Retrieved from https://www.weather.gov/mob/katrina