Hurricane Katrina: Overview, Major Issues, Preparations, and Results

Hurricane Katrina
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Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a catastrophic hurricane that hit the shores of Southern Louisiana in the early morning of August 29, 2005 (Gibbens, 2019). In the four years that followed, the hurricane destroyed more than 90,000 square miles, contributed to the death of more than 1500 people, displaced more than hundreds of thousands from their homes, and ravaged the history of New Orleans. During the time that the hurricane was at its fiercest, it extended beyond 460 miles with a surge that could have been displacing at a speed of 16 feet every second. During its landfall, Hurricane Katrina was a Category 3 storm. However, the Hurricane storm surge in the Gulf of Mexico was categorized as a five. Consequently, Hurricane Katrina’s surges ashore were at times as high as 27 feet above the sea levels in Mississippi, and 18-25 feet in Louisiana. Notably, the levees or flood walls in Louisiana were not as high as 17 feet (Townsend, 2006). The government response to the disaster was widely criticized as inadequate, and the event brought to light issues of poverty, race, and infrastructure. The death toll from Katrina was estimated to be over 1,500 people, with much more left homeless and displaced. This paper discusses the major issues of the Hurricane Katrina response, the preparations that New Orleans could have taken to minimize devastation, and the results of the hurricane.
Major Issues in Hurricane Katrina response
Search and Rescue
The flooding in New Orleans proved to be a challenge for the search and rescue of survivors. Thousands of survivors went onto the rooftops and attics to await rescue, with several deaths resulting from drowning of the people who were trapped in attics and nursing homes. The rescue teams in Louisiana applied the model developed during the Hurricane Pam exercise that required rescuers to encourage the victims to go to high grounds where they could receive food, medical attention, shelter transport, and water (Townsend, 2006). However, there were issues with search and rescue efforts as the state and federal officials did not receive timely information on where the rescued victims were situated. Notably, the planning for the search and rescue was insufficient with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) failing to provide boats for search teams.
Situational Awareness
Though the authorities managed to decide when to commence the search and rescue activities, they failed to recognize the dimension of the disaster. At the federal level, the Homeland Security Operations Center did not implement a system that could have facilitated the identification and acquisition of relevant information about the situation following the hurricane (Thomas, 2005). Though the local and state resource required to respond to the hurricane had been exhausted, the information did not reach the federal level. In addition, the Department of Human Services did not quickly realize that FEMA had been overwhelmed. The Department of Defense also failed in its response to the situation as it lacked sufficient information about the hurricane and its effects.
Communication Issues
Poor communication between government agencies and the public made it more difficult for rescue teams to locate those in need and for individuals to report their location and needs for rescue. Though the governor requested buses to facilitate post-storm evacuation, FEMA did not direct the Department of Transportation to provide the buses until two days later.
Logistic and Military Support
Delivering the supplies required for the response was highly problematic. FEMA did not have adequate surge capacity, which meant that the adequate level of shipment was only attained after 10 days (Thomas, 2005). More logistical challenges were experienced as the state of Mississippi and Louisiana had designated several pick-up points, but they failed to anticipate the challenges that people faced in reaching the designed distribution points.
Preparations that Could have Minimized Devastations
There are several preparations that New Orleans could have put in place to enhance its emergency preparedness before the advent of the hurricane. First, the state should have hired adequate staff for the various departments that were critical to disast...