Question

When considering what happen in New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina, what factors constrained the authorities’ ability to take the steps before the hurricane and did Hurricane Katrina exhibit the distinguishing features of a cri-sis?

Answer 1

Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans reveals the problems in emergency preparedness and crisis management capabilities of the United States government. The destructive winds ruptured the levees, and as a result, the whole area was destroyed due to flooding. The rescue process was also prolonged, and most of the aged couples were affected due to the devastating incident. Thousands of deaths were observed, which highlighted the lack of protection and rescue activities by the government. After analyzing the whole incident, researchers found that the problem is deep within the government management departments. Several factors constrained the authority’s ability to take necessary steps prior to the catastrophic event.
There was big problem coordination between states and federal activities. Federal government merely coordinated with the state, and there was little discussion done by them. The state government did not take the warning by the weather forecast organization seriously. Lack of monetary help from the federal government was another constraint at that time. According to the federal government bodies, command and control mechanism structures did not work well at that time. The secretary lacked real-time and accurate reports of situational awareness from the disaster area as well as ongoing response activities of local, state and federal players. Moreover, government incident management system lacked strong strategies to prevent the effect of Hurricane.
Yes, Katrina has distinguishing features as it was identified as category five type of hurricane. Winds passed with 170 miles per hour which were expanding over 100 miles from its centre. The hurricane continuously shifted its path, which made it difficult for the forecast team to identify its location.