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Running Head: CURRENT ISSUE AND BEST PRACTICE PAPER
Current Issue and Best Practice Paper
Hurricane Katrina
Brittany Whitby
Liberty University
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CURRENT ISSUE AND BEST PRACTICE PAPER
Abstract
Hurricane Katrina began to form in the Gulf Coast on August 23, 2005 and was set to become a
massive storm and would cause extreme damage no matter how the government had responded.
Nevertheless the lack of response from the government will later viewed as wildly incompetent
and the emergency management team would be looked at as allowing the worst catastrophe to
mount with problems and ineffective solutions. This paper will give a brief summary of the
events of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, the best practices that could have been used during this
disaster will be discussed followed by a Biblical Worldview perspective.
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Hurricane Katrina Overview
During the few days that led up to the event of Hurricane Katrina, the American Red
Cross was preparing for the storm to make landfall to the coast of Louisiana. This was a high
alert situation for emergency personnel and anticipation for the storm to hit was becoming a great
concern. As the storm of the hurricane began to grow in size, the NOAA storm prediction center
began to alert the citizens of Louisiana with special attention toward those of the New Orleans
coastline. The citizens were instructed to prepare for this storms magnitude. Unfortunately, many
of those citizens did not adhere to those warnings and most thought they could simply wait out
the storm and decided to not evacuate their homes. According to Namkyung (2012), as the storm
made its way to the Louisiana coastline, emergency managers did not understand the importance
of collaborating with other state organizations and setting up proper preparations during a
disaster that was of great magnitude. Therefore, their efforts were not organized in their
partnering with other emergency organizations; thus, individual’s efforts were severely incapable
in receiving any of the appropriate and necessary assistance from supporting organizations. This
will later prove the importance of the collaboration with other organizations to ensure that an
emergency plan is effective.
Due to the lack of knowledge and preparation, the American Red Cross and other
emergency agencies were unprepared and disorganized during this event. The emergency plan
that was in place essentially fell apart before there had been an effort to attempt to control the
aftermath of the storm. This breakdown began at the beginning of the preparation for the storm to
the aftermath of the event. This paper will go further into what the best practice should have been
during the prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery
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Mitigation
During any major disaster the importance of the preparation to maintain a stable front is
imperative during the face of a disaster. Proper preparation will ensure a reduction of the impact
that the disaster attains as well as promotes the resiliency of the recovery once the disaster has
reached its end. However, during the mitigation phase of Hurricane Katrina, this process was
assembled together in an effective way. The objective during the mitigation phase is to put a plan
into place that will reduce the potential loss of life and decrease the effects of the disaster on the
infrastructure in the community. According to Kahan (2013), “Emergency management guards
communities by organizing and incorporating all key instruments that will be necessary to build,
sustain, and progress the capability to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from
susceptible disasters or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other man-made disasters.”
In addition, establishing programs and policies are necessary to ensure that citizens in the
communities are knowledgeable and aware of the potential dangers of loss of property and lives
and also establishing agreements with neighboring jurisdictions if and when assistance maybe
needed.
At the time of Hurricane Katrina, former President George W. Bush’s administration was
in office. Before Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the state of Louisiana, a disaster declaration
was implemented by President Bush but no declaration was stated for the coastal regions of
Louisiana. Wu, Lindell & Prater (2012) stated that “In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the
National Hurricane Center delivered a hurricane watch for the area at approximately 10:00 am on
August 27th and shortly after at 10:00 pm that same day a warning had followed. This day
emergency mangers had begun establishing an evacuation plan before the hurricane had made
landfall; however there were still many problems during the evacuation stage.” This leads to the
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importance of an all-hazard mitigation approach and in high risk states such as Louisiana this
approach should always be applied. It would have beneficial because of the location of
Louisiana, if emergency managers had plans that could have been implemented and effective
when disaster of that magnitude occurred in Louisiana beforehand and not have waited until one
occurred.
Preparedness
The preparedness phase for any potential disaster is imperative and shouldn’t be taken
lightly in its seriousness. The lack of being prepared can lead to mayhem and chaos with a
community that is suffering from a potential disaster occurrence. According to Letten (2014)
states as well as local partner leaders are critical in the process; and more often than not more
significant due to leading the first responders on the scene to crises in the community. These
emergency personnel can include: sheriff’s departments, state and local police departments,
emergency medical technicians and fire departments. During Hurricane Katrina, chaos did ensue
in New Orleans, LA. This was cause by lack of preparedness during the days leading up to the
hurricane touching land. If there has been a more effective plan alreaday in place, lives could’ve
been saved and many of the citizens that chose to stay would’ve understood the seriousness of
the storm and its magnitude.
During disasters, the National Incident Management System utilizes components of
command and management such as resource management, preparedness support technologies
and maintenance that are resourceful (Kohn, Barnett, Galastri, Semon & Links, 2010). During
the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina, the emergency team that was in place would have
benefited from being trained properly in handling a disaster of this magnitude. For example, a
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good practice would’ve been to have practice/ warning drills that were randomly conducted due
to the location of New Orleans to the coastline and it susceptibility to potential hurricanes. An
effective/ mandatory evacuation route should have been planned and enforced on citizens in the
impact zones. In addition, the emergency team should have also considered its special needs
citizens including the elderly and proper accommodations should have been made available. If
this would have been implemented properly then the response process would’ve been a less
chaotic effort. Notably, most of the organizations were prepared; however, many aspects of the
handling of this disaster did not go well.
Response
When the response phase is initiated the disaster has been confirmed and the state/cities
have been given an alert. The emergency teams in the warning area should already be and place
and the community’s emergency plans and evacuations should be reviewed and ready to execute.
The best practice in this incident would be to ensure the emergency preparedness plan is resilient
and ready for implementation. If the plan that has been developed is not initiated properly, then
the actions that follow will not be carried out in the best possible manner. The response plan
should have several checkpoints so that every team member has an area to oversee.
According to Namkyung (2012) while responding to the events of Hurricane Katrina,
organizations had to understand and realize where they had failed and the challenges that they
would now have to face. This demonstrations how emergency management teams in the response
process could effectively elevate their abilities and the structuring of collaboration with the
necessary modifications in its policies and practices that have been learn from the failures in
procedures that did occur during Hurricane Katrina. During the storm of Hurricane Katrina, 80%
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of New Orleans Louisiana was beginning to see significant flooding, and the response effort that
was rendered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was later severely judged
and harshly criticized by many that looked on to this disaster. Hurricane Katrina would be
viewed as the possibly FEMA’s most heavily criticized disaster and its response was its
unproductive relief effort that did not happen in a swift and timely manner nor bared the
necessary supplies that were certainly needed at the disaster site. This criticism would later be
confirmed by the former Secretary of Homeland Security Chertoff. Chertoff attested that
“FEMA’s logistics systems simply were not up to the task”, and also by former FEMA Director
Brow who in addition stated that “FEMA has a logistics problem” (José Holguín-Veras & Jaller,
Ph.D., 2012).
The response phase was broken during Hurricane Katrina. It is certainly fair to say that
many factors went wrong. However, this was a lesson that was learned and proves the
importance of an effective plan and a swift response time. The best practice would have certainly
been to have better communication with the people and collaboration with all organizations. In
addition, the government would have to assume blame for their lack of responding to the
response of this disaster.
Recovery
When acting in the recovery phase, necessary actions would include; rebuilding of the
city’s infrastructure, providing aid to affected areas and assisting in the restoration of the citizen’s
lives by providing counseling and disaster recovery. In Robert T. Strafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (2017) it ensures that the federal government is to provide assistance
to those states that have been declared as a major disaster zone and emergency area. Some of the
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assistance would include debris removal so that the safety of the first responders and the citizens
is occurring. Damage assessment should also take place during this stage so that it is documented
on what supplies may be needed or what area is in need of rebuilding and revitalizing. During
the recovery phase, the best practice for citizens and business owners should be to have their
insurance companies assess the damage and evaluate the damages to homes and businesses in the
area. If any citizen that has been affected by the disaster is in need of counseling, this should be
provided as well. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina many faith-based organizations
came together to assistance by donating their time and resources that many felt that the
government fell short on providing.
In addition, the financial issues can create huge burdens on citizens and cities who are
involved in a disaster. It is helpful and thorough by documenting all of your belongings in each
home and keeping a record of important documents on a jump drive that is located in “ready to
grab “area. When considering rebuilding, it is wise to make certain any contractors that are hired
to do repairs are reliable and licensed to work in that field. However, not only should it be in the
best practice of the government to assist affected disaster areas, but it is also the responsibility of
the people in the community to educate themselves on procedures and adhere to the warnings
that are passed down by emergency management managers. Also, emergency management works
best when it is in direct correlation with the community. All phases of the emergency
management phase should include the public.
Biblical Perspective
There is certainly a biblical perspective that can be learned from the events of Hurricane
Katrina. The best practice and a lesson that could be learned from any disaster should be that
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outside help is important. It is this writer’s belief that this is the reason that many faith-based
organizations sprang into action. The church community helped citizens throughout the
community by donating their time, food and supplies. The Bible states in Acts 20:35 (NIV), “In
everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak,
remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
The importance of citizens being involved in the recovery process of emergency management is
imperative. The government cannot do it all and it is the best interest of the community to engage
themselves in the process. Proverbs 11:14 (NIV) reads, “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but
victory is won through many advisers.” All organizations must come together and work together
to ensure that the planning, preparation and response/recovery of a disaster is effective so that the
mayhem that occurred during Hurricane Katrina does not happen again.
Conclusion
Many lessons were learned from the disaster from Hurricane Katrina. Chief, Burton,
Campbell, Phd. & Boatright (2014) stated that “Emergency preparedness must take persistence,
patience, and dedication within the agency to form a good coalition” It would’ve have certainly
been in the best interest of the emergency management team in Louisiana to be more prepared
for an even of that magnitude. The communication during the disaster was definitely ineffective
and broken and as a result, evacuations were unsuccessful and chaotic, lives were loss and
infrastructure was damaged (Cole & Fellows, 2008). However, the mistakes that occurred
before, during and after the storm has now become a tool that has taught others how to avoid
those same mistakes and to ensure that others understand the importance of an emergency plan
and to execute it in an efficient and effective manner. Corinthians 10:11 (ESV) reads, “Now these
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things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom
the end of the ages has come.”
References
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Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center and the Oklahoma inter tribal
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