Louisiana Katrina Crisis

Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster that impacted many lives along the Gulf Coast in 2005. The damage that was caused would take years to recover from and the lives that were lost still affect the US today. The Louisiana superdome was one infrastructure in New Orleans that was affected the most, because of the inadequate planning of the city on how to handle an emergency situation. The Louisiana superdome is an excellent example of how important crisis intervention is and how proper emergency response, cultural considerations and ecosystems theory all play a role in recovering from and learning from a crisis. The understanding of these concepts assist in the ever growing knowledge base of crisis intervention, which will ultimately save

The living conditions inside the superdome were horrendous. Mostly the smell, because of the amount of people who had no access to showers and over flown toilets. This combined with the terrible heat resulted in a miserable time for all who sought shelter there. This is just one account of the inhumane conditions that these individuals had to endure just to stay alive, all the while hoping for rescue. Bush also recounted actions of the individuals to keep the peace and to remain calm in a time of crisis. Bush tells a story of a woman who led the crowd in a hymn to unify the people and to calm the people who were beginning to get upset. This just shows the resilience of people to endure through a crisis and how one person’s joy can make a world of difference. (Mann

(Nigg, Barnshaw & Torres 2016 p.114) Some flaws with this plan surfaced during Hurricane Katrina, when individuals did not evacuate when they were informed that that was the best way to insure safety. The Louisiana superdome was meant to be a refuge of last resort and was not meant to be the safe haven for over thirty thousand people that it ultimately was. If the initial nine thousand people were the only individuals who were placed in the Superdome they would have been just fine and had enough food and water to last for several more day. However, on August 30th, the levee along the Seventeenth Street Canal was breached, resulting in significant flooding and the relocation of approximately eighteen additional individuals to the Superdome. (Nigg, Barnshaw & Torres 2016 p. 115) This addition of residents resulted in the crisis that is remembered today. Emergency precautions are especially important to have in place in regions of the United States that are susceptible to natural disasters. The responsibility that fell on the residents to evacuate themselves with little assistance from government vehicles is just one example of why evacuation should be a higher priority. Although the residents can be held somewhat responsible for not leaving, the ultimate responsibility lays on the city leaders who