Final Submission review of the government's failure to help the victims of Hurricane katrina

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Signature Assignment: Epic Failure: FEMA’s Response to Hurricane Katrina
Stacey Troup
Emergency & Disaster Management/MGT-311
June 13, 2017
Dr. Stephen King
Touro University Worldwide

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Case Assignment: Epic Failure: FEMA’s Response to Hurricane Katrina
For this Week 8 Signature Assignment, I will be discussing the failure of FEMA in the
wake of Hurricane Katrina. FEMA’s handling of this situation can only be called an epic failure
on the part of the people who needed them the most and this document will showcase this issue
as well as what they could have done differently in order to properly and swiftly respond to the
people of New Orleans.
Hurricane Katrina
August 29, 2005 was a day of infamy. Hurricane Katrina came barreling down on the
Gulf Coast in the early morning hours. By the time the storm hit land, it was already a Category
3 storm according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Having 100-140 mph winds and
spanning a distance of over 400 miles across, the aftermath of the storm seems to be more
catastrophic than the actual storm itself (History.Com Staff, 2009).
Due to the immense damage from the rain and winds, levees were broken and immense
flooding ensued throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, causing over $100 billion in
damage and displacing hundreds of thousands from their homes (History.Com Staff, 2009).
Hurricane Katrina Timeline
FEMA has been publically under fire for their lack of swift resolution in the wake of this
tragedy. On August 26, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco issued a formal State of
Emergency and followed on August 28 with a letter to President Bush requesting a Federal
declaration of State of Emergency to aide in their much-needed relief efforts (Shoup, 2005).
However, despite valiant efforts by the local governments, they site “communication
breakdowns” within the FEMA chain as part of their issue with receiving help in a timely fashion
(Shoup, 2005).

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On August 27 the Governor of New Orleans issues a voluntary evacuation of homes as
the storm grows in magnitude. By the morning of August 28, the first ever mandatory
evacuation of residents for the City of New Orleans is issued as homeless shelters and the
Superdome are packed with evacuated residents in a “last resort” for saving lives during this
storm (Ruston, 2015).
By August 29, over 30,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and relocated
to the Superdome as winds reach 125 mph. Levies began to break sending floodwater to the roof
level of homes in Mississippi and New Orleans (Ruston, 2015). By the afternoon of the 29th, the
winds and rain are so bad that the roof of the Superdome is ripped off and the relocated residents
are in the worst position of risk to date (Ruston, 2015).
Not until the evening of August 29, after all the damage is done, does President Bush
issue a Federal State of Emergency for the area. By the morning of August 30, 80% of New
Orleans is covered in 20-foot water and rescue workers are redirected from rescue efforts to
cease looting in the area. By nightfall, the Governor issued an Evacuation Order for the
Superdome, again displacing over 20,000 residents who had taken safety in the dome (Ruston,
2015).
August 30 brings the forced evacuation of New Orleans of all residing there and the
Houston Astrodome is opened to rehouse the displaced residents of New Orleans. Local rescue
crews are all that the city has to help in the rescue efforts as federal aid, support, and FEMA has
yet to be dispensed (Ruston, 2015).
FEMA Arrives Three Days Later
FEMA director Michael Brown finally hears of the incident in New Orleans and the
residents who were stuck in the convention center on September 1, but it is later revealed that he

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actually knew about the situation as early as August 31 (Ruston, 2015). FEMA workers were not
dispensed until August 31 (14 Days: A Timeline of Katrina, n.d.) in order to repair the levy and
this came after an SOS for more help came from the Louisiana Governor and Mayor (Ruston,
2015). However, while efforts were being made to rescue those stranded, violence erupted in the
wake of a lawless city and gunshots rang out from criminals looting and stealing from the
victims of the storm, ceasing all rescue efforts until the situation could be contained (Ruston,
2015). Despite having posted publically that they were watching the storm, they failed to
dispense help when it was needed the most (14 Days: A Timeline of Katrina, n.d.).
The first day of rescue efforts included FEMA sending busses to the displaced residents
of the Superdome to move them to the Houston Astro Dome as the Army Corps of Engineers is
dispensed to begin repairs on the 17th Street Levy to help contain some of the overflow water (14
Days: A Timeline of Katrina, n.d.). On August 31, Fema Director (fmr.) Michael Brown
publically stated that his failure to respond in a timely fashion to the needs of Hurricane Katrina
rescue efforts via military assistance to secure the situation as well as aide in rescue efforts is one
of the greatest mistakes of his career (14 Days: A Timeline of Katrina, n.d.)
On September 1, 4600 federal troops were ordered to Louisiana to aid in rescue efforts
but it would be two days before they were able to arrive at the needed location. In addition to
these federal troops, 11,000 National Guardsmen were already on duty or en route to help the
lawlessness that ensued following the tragedy. By September 2, President Bush holds a press
conference above air force one from the devastated area amidst controversy for its lax presence
(14 Days: A Timeline of Katrina, n.d.).

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Help Finally Arrives
September 3, six days after the crisis first occurred, marks the beginning of help for the
people of Louisiana. On this date, 4600 Federal Troops finally arrive to help rescue efforts.
They begin evacuating people out of the city through portals but the death toll is unknown at this
time. Rescue efforts are long overdue and the number of people trapped or who may have
drowned is unknown to workers until after day nine when it is revealed that the death toll is
greater than 900, most of which are elderly residents of the area unable to evacuate (14 Days: A
Timeline of Katrina, n.d.).
The private sector began sending in groups of people for relief efforts as well as people
opening their homes out of state for those displaced by the hurricane. Additionally, charities
such as the American Red Cross came to the rescue. They immediately began coordinating
efforts and disbursed 245,000 Red Cross Disaster workers who provided shelter, food, basic
needs, money, and emotional support to help residents recover. During the course of their stay,
they provided more than 3.8 million overnight stays in shelters in 31 states (through moving
people around to aide recovery), they served almost 68 million meals and snacks – four times
more than what they had ever provided during relief efforts previously. They served over 1
million meals in a single day and provided financial assistance to 1.4 million families in need
(Hurricane Katrina Led to Largest Red Cross Relief Response, 2015). Additional agencies such
as faith-based organizations, civil and social organizations, as well as an organization called
Direct Relief responded to the immediate needs. Direct Relief provided over $47 million in
medical aid as well as $4.6 million in cash grants to help rebuild (Benveniste, 2015).

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What FEMA and The President Could Have Done
Surprisingly, as most Americans watched as the storm headed toward the area of New
Orleans and the federal government took little to no steps to take preemptive action against the
storm until days after the damage had been done.
Rather than allow such widespread devastation, the government should have been
watching this with a finer eye and dispensed the military to contain the situation as well as help
search for those who were unable to evacuate. Once the first hours of the storm hit, President
Bush could have provisioned the federal budget he held until 3 days after the storm had passed.
By sending emergency military forces to aide FEMA workers, the situation would likely have
not been as drastic (Edwards, 2015).
By adopting a policy of military support for future natural disasters, allowing FEMA and
the Office of The President to work directly together on needed resources in advance of the
problems, we will strengthen relief efforts and minimize the loss of life. Only by learning from
our mistakes and creating new policies to address such catastrophic measures do we keep such
immense loss of life from occurring in the future (Edwards, 2015).
Federal Aid could have been worked on while the military and support services were
being sent to aid workers trying to save the people who could not evacuate the city. This would
have allowed for the military to not only stop the crime and looting but would allow the other
agencies and volunteers who came to the rescue of the people of New Orleans, better rescue
efforts and relocation of those who were also displaced from temporary housing at the
Superdome, securing the lives and safety of the residents (Edwards, 2015).

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Communication and swift response are key here. By not allowing such a tragedy to
become entwined in bureaucratic red tape while enforcing new regulatory responses to tragedies,
we will overcome such problems in the future.
FEMA’s (then) director resigned over his agency's failure to properly respond and handle
the situation in New Orleans. Although this personal response to the guilt of the tragedy brought
light into the mismanagement and procedural issues within the agency, it does not seem to have
resolved the issues to date.
Conclusion
FEMA waited too long to dispense the needed resources to minimize the loss of life and
contain the situation in New Orleans. Individuals and charities were able to get to the area to
help recovery efforts and rehouse the citizens of New Orleans but they were only able to take
care of so much.
FEMA needed the support of the military to contain the crime that prohibited rescue
efforts and needed a focus on saving the lives of the elderly and infirmed who could not evacuate
the city when it was ordered by the local government. The citizens and government were equally
upset with the President’s response to the devastation they had to endure when he held a catered
press conference in front of Air Force One just outside the city. The residents viewed this as him
caring more about his staff than their lives and the burden to help the citizens of New Orleans
laid on the shoulders of charities who came to the rescue in lieu of federal support.
It is clear that FEMA is need of overhaul beyond the resignation of its then director.
More direct lines of communication, response and assistance are needed before a tragedy strikes
to minimize loss of life, property damage and crime. Only by accepting our previous failures in
situations such as this and making swift procedural resolutions for the future do we ensure the

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safety of our citizens in the wake of a natural disaster. Perhaps we will have someone in a
position of power one day who recognizes this need for change and implements it accordingly.

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References
14 Days: A Timeline of Katrina. (n.d.). Retrieved from PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/storm/etc/cron.html
Benveniste, A. (2015, 08 28). Organizations that Took A Stand Amidst The Disaster of
Hurricane Katrina. Retrieved from AOL News:
https://www.aol.com/article/2015/08/28/organizations-that-took-a-stand-amidst-the-
disaster-of-hurricane/21228352/
Edwards, C. (2015, 08 27). Hurricane Katrina: Remembering the Federal Failures. Retrieved
from Cato at Liberty: https://www.cato.org/blog/hurricane-katrina-remembering-federal-
failures
History.Com Staff. (2009). Hurricane Katrina Facts. Retrieved from History.Com:
http://www.history.com/topics/hurricane-katrina
Hurricane Katrina Led to Largest Red Cross Relief Response. (2015, 08 28). Retrieved from Red
Cross: http://www.redcross.org/news/article/Hurricane-Katrina-Led-to-Largest-Red-
Cross-Relief-Response
Ruston, C. (2015, 08 24). Timeline: Hurricane Katrina. Retrieved from USA Today:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/24/timeline-hurricane-katrina-and-
aftermath/32003013/
Shoup, A. (2005, 09 05). Fema Faces Intense Scrutiny. Retrieved from PBS.ORG:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/government_programs-july-dec05-fema_09-09/