After having read the text and any additional research you choose, provide an example of either a
significant event or incident of whatever nature you choose where the operation was handled in
an excellent or poor manner. The event you choose needs to be significant enough in size to have
been reviewed and documented in ample writings. A detailed example of a best practice(s) you
can point to regarding either a model policy (elements or details) such as mutual aid agreements
(MOA) or memorandums of understanding (MOU), etc. that were in place must be discussed. If
there was no such document or agreement, then so state and provide what elements you think
would have made for a good MOU or MOA that would have helped in the event you discussed.
If you do not know if a MOA or MOU was in place and used, then assume it wasn’t and proceed
as such. Consider these things: what protocols or procedures should have been in place or were
in place? What training or exercises took place or should have taken place? Did it appear
National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) where
used as needed?
Introduction
Most times disasters management requires a collaboration between two separate entities
to come together and work to assist in emergency. According to Sylves (2019, p 218) Emergency
management is by its true nature intergovernmental and intercommunity- it demands government
agencies and officials to coordinate and cooperate with each other on the same level to prepare
and respond to a disaster. There are many events to choose from when it comes to significant
events that have occurred in the US, but I choose Hurricane Katrina due to its impact on disaster
policy and how it devastated the state of Louisiana and the United States.
Hurricane Katrina, a category 3 which developed to a category 5 slammed the Gulf Coast where
three states, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana are located on August 2005, but Louisiana
(New Orleans) had the most impact with the lives of over 1800 individuals’ majority being senior
citizens lost and caused 125 billion in damages. It affected about 1.7 million people in the state
of Louisiana which required a pre-fall evacuation. The state of Louisiana evacuated about 1.5
million people before the Katrina hit (Tyrell et al., 2022) however, despite all measures that were
in place, the disaster is still regarded as a failed government attempt to respond to an emergency.
Pre-Planning or protocols that were in place
There were measures in place between the local, state and the federal government before
hurricane Katrina hit. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is expected to establish
and maintain an emergency management partnership with federal agencies, states and local
governments, volunteer organizations and the private sector for pre and post emergency
management to better serve their mission (Sylves, 2019,226). Over its’s history, FEMA has
worked out memorandum of understanding (MOUS) with respective state emergency
management agency…it is a way to ensure coordination and cooperation in intergovernmental
activities (Sylves, 2019, p.238). There was a memorandum of understand (MOU) between
FEMA and Louisiana Emergency Management under the Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act as laid out in the National Response framework (NRF) formerly
National Response Program (NRP) that explains how the Federal government would mobilize
federal resources and conduct activities to assist states and local governments in responding to
disasters (Sylves, 2019, 242). To access the FEMA resources under the Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act, the state governors must formally request by letter to the
president which goes to FEMA. In the letter, the resources required and the assistance that the
state and the local agencies will be providing is also laid out (PBS, 2005). The city Governor
Blanco declared a state of emergency for Louisiana on the 26th of August 2006 and contacted
President Bush to initiate the federal response plan that enabled FEMA to organize and mobilize
resources to assist (Chaudhuri, 2010). FEMA coordinated with other agencies like the National
Guard and the Red Cross, and the Police coordinated evacuation agreement which serves as a
memorandum of agreement (MOA); between the government and Louisiana Transportation
Department in April 2005 to mobilize transportation to support emergency evacuation for at-risk
population” meaning the frail, elderly, disabled and others who will not be able to get out of the
city on their own (Lipton 2006).
Training exercises the took place.
There was also the installation of the levees along the coastline, but they were designed to
withstand a category 3 hurricane. In June 2004, FEMA conducted the “Hurricane Pam “drill
which was a simulation of storm to hit New Orleans. Following the drill was an emergency
planning session in July 2005, sponsored by FEMA state and local officials to discuss evacuation
planning for possible hurricane in the region. At the meeting came a consensus that the local,
state and FEMA were only 10 percent ready evacuation means for only about hundred thousand
people with no means of occurred and at the meeting there was a consensus that all the FEMA
(Lipton, 2006) meanwhile This federal government had been preparing for a large disaster scale
in New Orleans since 2002 (Chaudhuri, 2010)
What went wrong in terms of planning and response
Louisiana especially New Orleans had the most devastating effects of the hurricane. The
Governor of New Orleans after asking the President to issue a disaster declaration on the 26th of
August which will initiate the release of federal assistance (FEMA) did not issue an emergency
evacuation till the 28th of August, a day before the hurricane was to hit and many residents did
not have the ability to leave the city, so the Superdome was used as a site for residents to shelter
from the storm (Chaudhuri, 2010). Moreover, FEMA delayed in their response to the disaster due
to bureaucratic factors and as a result deployed responders were not present till days later. The
state of Louisiana’s pre-planning for the hurricane on the other hand was not enough and it also
played a major part on the reason why New Orleans was severely damaged. For instance,
Mississippi also had an impact from the hurricane but its effects on the state was different due to
its preparation unlike Louisiana. The Florida-Mississippi mutual aid agreement (MAA) created
under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) system. this is different from
the National Response Framework between the federal government and states local government
etc. The Florida – Mississippi agreement supported a unified command structure to support with
responders and logistics, which later evaluations of the identified as crucial to Mississippi’s
response and a deficit in Louisiana. The absence of a hurricane relief program in Louisiana
shows how ill prepared the states was compared to Mississippi (Thomas, 2020). In addition, the
mutual agreement between the government (FEMA) and the Louisiana Transportation
Department was honored initially before the hurricane hit but failed later because those without
access to transportation found themselves stranded and majority were the elderly, disabled and
disadvantaged residents (Lipton, 2006).
Did it appear National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command
System (ICS) where used as needed?
State and local governments are not “preemptively” compelled to adopt and use the National
incident Management System but are encouraged to work with its concept of operation (Sylves
2019, p. 244). NIMS is a product of Department of Homeland Security with state and local
officials to work together with nongovernmental organizations and private sectors to work to
prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from incidents (FEMA.GOV). The
Incident Command System (ISC) which is part of the NIMS was utilized during Hurricane
Katrina. The ICS promotes command and control in emergency management that promotes unity
of local, state, and federal authorities, however there were failure in command and control within
the three levels of government. Many communications system which crucial for to support
effective command and control procedures were destroyed which degrade efforts among many
government agencies. Officials from the local levels complained of lack of leadership from the
federal governments particularly FEMA Director Michael Brown and FEMA turning down
support offered by the police and local emergency crews (PBS, 2005)
References
Chaudhuri, D. (2010). Government- Response to Katrina. Mit.Edu.
http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2010/finalwebsite/katrina/government/government-
response.html
Lipton, E. (2006). Key Documents Regarding the Hurricane Katrina Response. The New York
Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/national/nationalspecial/10katrina-
docs.html?
PBS NewsHour. (2005, September 9). FEMA Faces Intense Scrutiny.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/government_programs-july-dec05-fema_09-09
Thomas, K. K. (2020, August 28). Florida, FEMA, and Fugate. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2020/florida-fema-and-fugate#:
%7E:text=The%20Florida%2DMississippi%20agreement%20supported,and%20a%20deficit
%20in%20Louisiana’s
Tyrrell, K., Hildreth, K., & Oren, S. (2022, May 14). The Storm That Changed Disaster Policy
Forever. NCSL. https://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/the-storm-
that-changed-disaster-policy-forever-magazine2022.aspx
Sylves, R. T. (2019). Disaster Policy and Politics: Emergency Management and Homeland
Security (3rd ed.). CQ Press.
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