Hurricane Katrina is the third deadliest hurricane to occur in the U.S. history. A tropical depression, which is known as a group of thunderstorms forming in the right atmosphere with wind staying constant in the middle, started near the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. Two days later, approaching the coast of Florida, the hurricane reached Category 1, a term used to describe the severity of the storm as fairly weak. Then, it drastically changed from a Category 3 hurricane when it was around the Gulf of Mexico to Category 5 when heading towards southeastern Louisiana. On August 26, Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans announced an evacuation due to the prediction of the Category 3 storm heading toward them. Those who could not leave the city went to the Louisiana Superdome for shelter. However, the Superdome only had room for 26,000 people and a damaged roof due to the harsh wind. After causing the levee system to fail, Hurricane Katrina flooded 80% of the city. More than 1,800 people died, and 800,000 housing units were destroyed, leaving many people homeless. Overall, if the federal government dealt with the Hurricane Katrina more efficiently, many of those people would have survived and would still have their homes. It is a result of them failing to use the time they had to prepare, preventing non-government organizations from helping citizens, and failing to communicate well.
To start off, Hurricane Katrina could have been dealt with more efficiently because there was time to better prepare before the storm. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) responsibility was to protect the life and property of others during tragic events such as Hurricane Katrina. They had known about the storm in advance by weather forecasters but did not prepare in the best way possible. They conducted a simulation called “Hurricane Pam” in order to prepare for a hurricane similar to Hurricane Katrina. The simulation was supposed to help for future storms but an officer who was in the Superdome during the hurricane had said, “This city knew something like this would happen a long time ago. They did nothing to prepare for this. They just rolled the dice and hoped for the best.” There was chaos inside the stadium: shootings, rape, horrible odors, limited medical supplies, and the roof was damaged. The federal government could have prevented these problems when they conducted Hurricane Pam one year in advance and reported a storm was coming by weather forecasters. They could have made the stadium sturdier and safer after the simulation. Another thing they could have done was come up with situations that could have happened in order to plan ahead such as getting more medical supplies when knowing the amount of people who might be in the Superdome. There are many resolutions the government should have chosen.
The federal government prevented non-government organization from helping the citizens. They blocked emergency supplies from the Methodist Hospital from being sent several times. There were doctors who volunteered to help but were prevented to do so because their names were not in the database of the government. “FEMA seemed almost unwilling to accept help from non-government organizations. For example, the American Red Cross was not allowed into New Orleans following the disaster and was unable to supplement the government’s response (American Red Cross 2005).” Walmart is another company that FEMA turned away when they had trucks loaded with water being sent to New Orleans during the storm. FEMA could not let these organizations take part of the aid of the victims because they had to make sure what is being delivered is safe but had little time to make a decision. If the federal government did allow supplies to be shipped or doctors being able to help people, victims of Hurricane Katrina would have felt safer and tolerated the Superdome more better regardless of the violence. All of the people who were hurt from shooters were not able to protect their wounds because of low medical of supplies. The problems happening within the event of the storm could have been solved for the safety of others.
The federal government failed to communicate well during Hurricane Katrina. Agencies could not communicate due to equipment failure. The equipment was used to give command and control in order for people to know how to handle situations during the storm. An article from Cato Institute by Chris Edwards stated, “These problems occurred despite the fact that FEMA and predecessor agencies have been giving grants to state and local governments for emergency communication systems since the beginning of the Cold War.” The federal government should have prepared every system and role just in case the situation failed to do its job. Federal agencies had been confused on what their role was and had little experience on how to deal with the disaster. If there was a better communication system, people would have known what to do and there would be less chaos.
The federal government could have organized Hurricane Katrina with a more efficient situation. There was time to prepare before when knowing the possibilities of a storm like Hurricane Katrina blocked non-government organization from sending supplies or volunteers to help the citizens during the storm because the were not sure if those organizations are safe enough to receive their aid. The federal government also unsuccessfully communicated when being donated grants for the improvement of their communication system. They should have done things differently when given the options before the storm and during. FEMA is a government organization that prepare for tragic events such as a hurricane to make people safer should learn from their mistakes. With making the right decision, many lives could have been saved which what FEMA’s job was to do but unsuccessfully did during Hurricane Katrina.