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Importance of communication in crisis
Strategies to tackle natural and man made disasters
Leadership failures during hurricane katrina
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The relationship between inefficiency and ethical behavior for the decision makers during Hurricane Katrina was none other than a down right fiasco. There were clearly cooperation and communication problems from all levels of government. For example, it was not until 24 hours after the levees broke before the incident was considered a national disaster. By then, communication efforts from the local, state, and federal government authorities were behind the eight ball in a delayed attempt to save hundreds of lives, and minimize millions of dollars in damages. Sufficient warnings as early as two days ahead time gave the decision-makers noticed that Louisiana was in the direct path of Hurricane Katrina. Yet, the Governor and Mayor delayed ordering
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States of America. This tropical storm rendered much of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama a flooded wasteland; in particular, Memorial Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana was sequestered by the floods, leaving hundreds of patients, staff, and visitors without vital resources. Electricity was cut off, and the internal temperatures reached over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, as reported by journalist Sheri Fink (2009). Staff attempted to evacuate the hospital, carrying patients one-by-one down many flights of stairs. Several patients died during this evacuation. In the wake of the flood, it was discovered that 45 patients of Memorial Hospital had perished, and that 23 of these deaths were attributed to a lethal dose of Versed or morphine. Dr Anna Pou, a surgeon on duty during the disaster, was accused of euthanizing these patients during
In a recorded conversation, Williams told Adams he could protect his drug operation, but he needed to bring his partner in on it. In 1994, Davis and Williams provide Adams police protection. The informant Terry Adams delivered about 7.5 kilograms of cocaine to a FBI undercover agent, each officer was paid $500 per kilo. May 4, 1994 two cops, Adams and undercover FBI agent Juan Jackson posed as a New York drug dealer named ‘JJ” he made everyone strip to show that they were not wired.” The cops agreed to hire a uniformed New Orleans police officer to protect the large quantities of cocaine for three days. Davis recommended
Sobel, Russell S., and Peter T. Leeson. "Government's Response to Hurricane Katrina: A Public Choice Analysis." Public Choice 127.1-2 (2006): 55-73. ProQuest. Web. 3 May 2014.
In the late summer of 2005, a terrible tragedy occurred that changed the lives of many in the south-east region of the United States. A Category 3, named storm, named Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August and led to the death of 1,836 and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (Waple 2005). The majority of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Waple writes in her article that winds “gusted over 100 mph in New Orleans, just west of the eye” (Waple 2005). Not only was the majority of the damage due to the direct catastrophes of the storm but also city’s levees could no longer hold thus breaking and releasing great masses of water. Approximately, 80% of the city was submerged at sea level. Despite the vast amount of damage and danger all throughout the city, officials claimed that there was work being done to restore the city of New Orleans as a whole but many parts, and even the people, of the city were overlooked while areas of the city with higher economic value, and more tourist traffic, were prioritized along with those individuals.
There is no doubt in the minds of many people who are familiar with the Rubin "Hurricane" Carter story that he, and the man who was convicted for murder with him, John Artis, are innocent of those crimes. While no one knows for sure who is guilty of the crime, but the one thing that is for certain is that Carter and Artis were victims of racial bias from many people who would see them in jail. This story is truly a tragic one of a promising career, and of a life that was spoiled by prejudice and one that reviles some of the ways in which, society's present legal system can fail to ensure the right of justice for people in our society.
Even though it is the responsibility of the federal and state governments to aid citizens during times of disaster, the people devastated by Hurricane Katrina were not effectively facilitated as according to their rights as citizens of the United States. The government’s failures to deliver assistance to citizens stem from inadequate protection systems in place before the storm even struck. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security were the two largest incumbents in the wake of the storm. The failure of these agencies rests on the shoulders of those chosen to head the agency. These directors, appointed by then president George W. Bush, were not capable of leading large government agencies through a crisis, let alone a disaster the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina. Along with the federal government, the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans did not do enough to lesseb the damage caused by the storm, and forced thousands of poorer citizens to remain in cramped and unsanitary conditions for extended periods of time. The culmination of federal, state, and local government’s failures in suppressing and repairing the damage of Hurricane Katrina to a level acceptable for citizens of the United States is a denial of the rights citizens of the United States hold.
Most of the destructions from the events of August 29th 2005, when Katrina Hit the City Of New Orleans, were not only caused by the storm itself; but also, by failure of the engineering of the levee system protecting the entire infrastructure of the city. The years of poor decision making and avoidance of the levee system led to one of the most catastrophic events in the history of the United States. Throughout our research, we have identified three key players in charge of the levee system design, construction and maintenance. These three organizations are the Unites States Corps of Engineers, the New Orleans Levee District and the Louisiana Department of Transportation. The consequences of the hurricane showed the organizations negligence in the design, construction and maintenance of the protective walls. Later independent sresearch showed that more than 50 levees and food walls failed during the passage of the hurricane. This failure caused the flooding of most of New Orleans and all of ST. Bernard Parish. The Unites States Corps of Engineers had been in charge of the of the levee system and flood walls construction since the 1936 flood act. According to the law, the Louisiana Department of Transportation is in charge to inspect the overall design and engineering practices implemented in the construction of the system. Once the levee systems were finished, they were handed over to the New Orleans Levee District for regular maintenance and periodically inspections. The uncoordinated actions of these three agencies resulted in the complete failure of a system that was supposed to protect the people of New Orleans. The evidence is clear that this catastrophic event did not happened by chance. The uncoordinated response of these...
Hurricane Katrina was the most expensive hurricane that hit the United States ever. The hurricane was the third strongest of the season, behind both Hurricane Wilma and Rita. The hurricane was the third strongest of the season, behind both Hurricane Wilma and Rita.
Katrina is the costliest U.S hurricane, with estimated damage over $81 billion and costs over $160 billion.” The people that were affected the most was the poor people, children, the sick, and the elderly. Most of New Orleans was underwater; it was going to take a long time for the city to come back from this. “The The rescue and recovery efforts following Katrina became highly politicized, with federal, state and local officials pointing fingers at one another.” People didn’t get the proper warnings to evacuate. After the hurricane “Government officials have sought to learn from the tragedy and implement better environmental, communications and evacuation policies.” Ten years after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the city is still dealing with still trying to recover. The have lost a lot when the hurricane hit and it affected them financially, because of the popular areas that are in New Orleans. In all, almost everyone that evacuate from New Orleans fled to Houston which led to the population to grow, but also those that came to Houston had a different feeling about things. Houston has also had its fair shares has had 27 disasters- eight hurricanes, eight floods, six severe storms, three
To begin with, anybody privy to the events in New Orleans that ensued after Hurricane Katrina struck knows that horrible things that had nothing to do with natural causes happened: there were murders, gunfire directed at a rescue helicopter, assaults and, courtesy of New Orleans’ city police department, a myriad other crimes that most probably went unreported (Katrinacoverage.com).
In summary, the events of Hurricane Katrina had left a lasting and devastating impact on not only the general public, but also those within public safety including local, state and federal agencies. The storm had affected nearly hundreds of square miles resulting in thousands of casualties, and people misplaced with no homes to go to as well. In addition, there were many contributing factors that had resulted in major life, including the geography of New Orleans, how the levees around New Orleans were built, as well as the lack of coordination between local, state and federal officials.
There comes a time in the world where the outcome of certain events can cause a huge social change, one of those events is Hurricane Katrina. The events that took place prior to, during and after Katrina although impact only a few places physically it was left in the minds of everyone in the world. There were many actions that could have taken place to prevent the damage of such a catastrophic event, however nothing was done. Hurricane Katrina, a category 3 hurricane struck Louisiana and parts of the Mississippi. New Orleans in particular, due to various reasons received the most damage. Katrina first started off as a small hurricane formed in the Bahamas as it moved towards Louisiana and Mississippi it became a category 5, which is the strongest it can become, then decreased to category 3 once it finally struck. The storm caused an incredible amount of damage that Hurricane Katrina was noted as the most destructive and costly natural disaster in US history. The death toll was 1,836 people with 200 bodies left unclaimed as well as over 700 people unaccounted for. Hurricane Katrina was a source of social change as people have learned from the impact it had on the mind and body of the citizens of New Orleans, the mismanagement and lack of leadership the government showed, and the substantial immediate and long term economic damage it caused the country.
There were two things specific points in module 1 that stood out to me. One came from the textbook reading, and the other from the lecture. The first thing that I found interesting was the sociological stance or outlook on Hurricane Katrina. I am from New Orleans ans witnessed the devastation of this event first hand, so naturally, to read about it in my textbook is very intriguing. The Hurricane had a major impact on the city and to natives of New Orleans, it will never be the same again. I was surprised to learn that in the years following Katrina, the crime rate dropped to an alltime low. If you were a resident of New Orleans or someone who followed any news outlets after Katrina, crime was portrayed as out of control and on the rise in
I believe the principle of federalism did and did not work in the case of Hurricane Katrina for the following reason. The government planned for everything in advance before the hurricane hit the New Orleans coast. The Mayor of New orleans Ray Nagin gave a speech advising everybody in the city to evacuate immediately. The Mayor also established task forces and set up emergency shelters locally across the state of Louisiana. People evacuating the city caused huge traffic pile ups because the plan of evacuation was really unorganized.
I believe that one of the things that make federalism a complex system is the conflict of authority, which is as the same time one of its weaknesses. Throughout the video, confusion on the local, state and federal level was obvious. Clearly, this confusing is a result of sharing power that leads to overlapping of responsibilities. In other words, some officials were in doubt about who is in charge to step in and manage this natural disaster? Moreover, one thing I noticed on the local, state and federal level is the poor communication. The inability to communicate with other level of government causes many damages to the people of New Orleans and their home land as well. At the end of the video, there was a guy saying “we are going to eat each other”, this is a reference that all the suffer and pain of the failure of all levels of government was paid by the citizen themselves. They had to give up their lands, home, properties and sometimes their lives as well. Another weakness of the federalism system,