Fema and hurricane katrina essay

Research from Dissertation:

Katrina

The problem with all the response to Hurricane Katrina was not that a Countrywide Response Plan (NPR) was not in place or that a Nationwide Incident Management System (NIMS) did not exist. It absolutely was that the National Emergency Administration Agency (FEMA) had been in decline for many years, was suffering from significant yield among top rated leaders, as well as the individuals who were in charge was missing the appropriate command experience and knowledge to oversee an effective response to an organic disaster like Hurricane Katrina (Lewis, 2009; Select Bipartisan Committee to check into the Preparing for and Response to Typhoon Katrina, 2006). This daily news will 1) describe 3 major good examples regarding the command demonstrated in regards to preparing for and responding to Typhoon Katrina, provide an evaluation of each and explain for what reason each was pivotal inside the responses result. It will also provide an assessment of how each could have been increased. 2) It is going to describe several examples of interagency collaboration shown in regard to preparing for and addressing Hurricane Katrina, assess every single one and explain so why each was pivotal inside the responses end result. 3) The paper can consider the challenges pertaining to the leader associated with an interagency group involved with operating in such an environment and expand this watch beyond the specific response effort, then brand and talk about 3 significant issues intended for an IA leadernamely, details sharing, skill of effort, and controlling personnel aimed by several leaders.

a few Major Types of Leadership

First, FEMA had inadequately educated staff and New Orleans Incident Command word System (ICS) was not all set or ready to respond to a disaster like Katrina, and this was the fault of management under both equally Director Michael Brown, who have resigned right after Katrina, and New Orleans local government. Second, FEMA had been unable to provide adequate shelter for all those impacted by the hurricane and the pursuing flooding, which was a consequence of leaderships failing to organize. Third, leadership failed to provide satisfactory logistics in handling the response and had to rely on the management of the U. S. Seacoast Guard to accomplish anything of substance inside the aftermath of Katrina (Samaan Verneuil, 2009). The U. S. Coast Guard did and exceeded expectations inside the wake of Katrina since it acted because an independent, independent organization with a single purpose and soul of objective (Samaan Verneuil, 2009). This kind of spirit, perspective, organization and independence was what FEMA needed to show show it absolutely was ready.

Pre-Katrina, the Event Command System (ICS) in New Orleans was only being used for fire-related incidents rather than for significant flooding or hurricane pain relief. This could have been completely improved with some hurricane response and surging response in the concept. As a result of this inability, response was delayed for the as clubs struggled to comprehend what to do (Samaan, Verneuil, 2009). Additionally , the emergency operations center (EOC) was not trained in ICS possibly, which meant that the EOC ended up being a liability rather than an asset. The challenges the hurricane taken to the ICS concept were that it revealed the lack of practical prep and planning between agencies at the local and federal levels. Secondly, FEMA was unable to provide shelter for the homeless, that was pivotal inside the response mainly because hundreds of thousands had been without homes and must be relocated. FEMA should have synchronised with neighborhood leaders to ascertain where and how to provide unexpected emergency shelters. Thirdly, logistical procedures crumbled correct out of the door as there is confusion about who was in charge, a lack of communication among organizations, and mishandling of possessions. Few were prepared to put the ICS principle into practice and ICS training had to be given at that moment, and too little on-site coordination among various departments included with the difficulty of putting the idea into practice (Samaan, Verneuil, 2009). For ICS to work properly, it must be comprehended, embraced, and utilized by most agencies concerned. At Katrina, this was not the truth as only the US Shoreline Guard had demonstrated successful understanding of emergency response.

a few Examples of Interagency Collaboration

Interagency collaboration was shown underneath Admiral Allen of the U. S. Shoreline Guard, who have managed a highly effective collaboration using three degrees of agency response. As The Brooking Organization (2007) observed, the Coastline Guard save teams got pulled approximately 33, 000 stranded Katrina victims off rooftops and overpasses. [Admiral Allen] was personally responsible for injecting some capacity for interoperability among the various civilian organizations at several levelslocal, condition and federalintegrating with that an effective military response (p. 3). This collaboration was pivotal to the response because it helped bring civilian agencies in line with the Coast Protect to allow every one of them to follow one objective: singleness of purpose allowed for prompt rescue of 1000s of stranded individuals.

Another example was that of collaboration between your Department of Defense (DOD) and FEMA. As the E-PARCC Collaborative Governance Initiative (2008) revealed, the DOD was lethargic both in the periods before landfall and soon after Katrina strike. Then it made a decision to spring in action. But even as the DOD became more strongly involved in the response, it succeeded on its own terms. It founded its own command word, and frequently would not coordinate with FEMA