Hurricane Katrina Leadership

Hurricane Katrina Leadership

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Hurricane Katrina Leadership Lessons

Hurricane Katrina has been termed as one of the most disastrous natural occurrence to have happened in the United States in the past 100years.The massive hurricane achieved its peak on August 29th 2005 and was characterized by overwhelming destruction of homes, properties and loss of several lives. It caused widespread devastation along the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain and therefore the effects were mainly felt in New Orleans, Los Angeles and Gulfport and Mississippi. It initially developed as a tropical depression in the Southeastern Bahamas on the 23rd of August then strengthened into a severe tropical storm on the subsequent days. Later it proceeded towards the North West through the Bahamas as the strength also increased (Palser, 2007).

At approximately 6.30p.m EDT two days later, it became a category one hurricane with a storm surge of 4-5feet and winds of 74-95mph.The storm then moved Southwest across the tip of The Florida Peninsula before regaining strength at the Mexican gulf. On the afternoon of 26th, it attained a major hurricane status and continued to strengthen moving forward in the next 48hours.The hurricane peaked on the morning of August the 28th with over 170mph with maximum wind speeds, thus becoming a category five which progressed over to the subsequent day. It led to massive loss of life, flooding, power outages, displacement of the occupants from their homes due to the severe destruction of their homes. Everyone was equally affected, from the simple civilian to the police and the county administrators. It barred movement and travel and therefore help was difficult to obtain from both around the affected regions and from afar (Wapple, 2005).

The cause of the damages was attributed to both the hurricane and the failure of the man-made leaves meant to protect the city since it was built under sea level. The original inhabitants were the French who did their constructions along the crescent city in a place that was originally swampy. Days prior to the storm, the national weather channel had given early warnings but this was marred with several uncertainties. When the storm became serious, the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi declared states of emergency. The President, George W. Bush at that time declared a state of emergency and voluntary evacuations began. The local leaders also reinforced this and urged the residents to move to other safe regions and either stay with their relatives and friends elsewhere but some were reluctant to leave (Wapple, 2005).

On the 28th morning, the mayor of New Orleans ordered a mandatory evacuation with the Superdome as a refuge of last resort. Search and Rescue operations began on the following day as the storm had started to subside. Earlier before the disaster, the residents of the high risk areas were advised to evacuate however only 60% of the population were able to move. The remaining were unable to move out citing many reasons such as lack of transportation, unwillingness to leave their homes and properties and lack of outbound road capacity. The city established 10 pick-up stations where buses were to take people to the emergency centers but the service was unreliable. Also, the superdome ran out of capacity to maintain all the displaced people that had taken shelter in it. There was therefore insufficient food, medical care, security and water (Wapple, 2005).

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) provided the media with critical information regarding the storm as it progressed. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) then activated its National Response Coordination Centre (NRCC) in Washington DC and Regional Response Coordination Centre (RRCC), Georgia and Denton, Texas. They then tracked the storm and began preparations to coordinate the response. State emergency officials in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana then activated their Emergency Operation Centers (EOC) to prepare for the second landfall. These then activated 15 Emergency Support Functions (ESF) and a Defense Coordinating Officer (DCO) who then acted as a military liaison. As soon as the conditions became bearable, lifesaving efforts began and Rapid Needs Assessment Teams assessed the damage in the affected areas. Roads and bridges were severely damaged and the main access to recue individuals was mainly via air or the flooded water (Rilvin, 2015).

They also transported Emergency Management Teams (EMT) to the most affected areas. Communication was drastically affected and therefore the magnitude of the damage could not be pictured by the teams that were located further apart. FEMA’s national US&R task forces, the U.S. Coast Guard, National Guard troops, and state and local firefighting first responders were able to rescue 50,000 victims during the first week. Approximately 50 Medical Assistance Teams were deployed to assist. Disaster Mortuary Operations Teams and Mortuary Units were then set up to assist in the recovery of bodies and their identification. FEMA also facilitated search and rescue of people with special needs. Later on, it organized the transport of water and other commodities to the affected regions (Palser, 2007).

The local police and fire agencies suffered massive destruction both at their facilities and in their homes. The Grand Isle fire department was destroyed. All the neighboring states and their fire and police departments also experienced the destruction with others losing their vehicles as well. Others were reported missing and others worried because of their families. They were dealing with both the losses of their loved ones and their homes even as they assisted in the rescue efforts. Later on the entire police force was ordered by the Mayor, Ray Nagin to abandon the search and rescue efforts and deal with the incidents of looting and stealing. This followed most police handing in their badges and two officers having committed suicide by their own firearms. The firefighters were also drastically affected. They were among the first people to respond to the emergency and many of them lost their homes as well as their family members. Most personnel were forced to work in make shift tents on higher grounds together with their families that had survived and their belongings camped next to their work stations which were flooded with dirty water, compounded with chemicals with no electricity (Rilvin, 2015).

With the failure of communication, a good emergency response could not be established and this could have led to the most part of the delays in post hurricane evacuation.911 and other emergencies were impaired since these responses rely solely on good communication. Six days after the hurricane had struck, on September 5th, the rescue teams moved from door to door in an effort to save those who were still in the wreck. Approximately 10,000 people were rescued, with some refusing to leave and others found dead. Many families were separated and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created a website and a hotline in an effort to reunite the families (The University of Southern Mississippi, 2007).

The Emergency response seen during the hurricane was not at its best. There was a lot of miscommunication seen and poor preparation on how to hand the disaster. It was advocated that a better emergency training project be enacted since this, despite all the efforts made, received major challenges. Despite the fact that a good protocol was in place and teams dispatched to the affected regions, the local personnel were unable to mount an efficient response system. Themselves, they were severely affected and this limited their functioning. Their own disaster recovery plan faulted due to several reasons as mentioned above. An emergency response training program would have been very useful in this scenario as it would have helped in the safe deployment of personnel to assist in the evacuation post recovery. It also would have looked at the safety of the families of the firefighting first responders and their families at large. Next, it would have aided the locals and the fire and police officers to work efficiently before the federal government set in In this scenario, had the federal government nit had stepped in to assist, The results of the hurricane would have been catastrophic. The emergency training should also be given to the individual inhabitants of such susceptible locations such as New Orleans to enable them to acquire certain important skill in the rescue and preservation of life in the event of a replication of a similar catastrophe as they await help from the local officials or the emergency response (The University of Southern Mississippi, 2007).

References

Palser B. 2007, Hurricane Katrina: Aftermath of a disaster, Snapshots in history, Capstone.

Rilvin G. 2015 Katrina: After the flood, Simon and Schuster.

The University of Southern Mississippi, 2007, The New Orleans Police Emergency Response to Hurricane Katrina: A Case Study Proquest.

Wapple A., 2005, Hurricane Katrina, National Climatic Data Centre, Asheville, NC.