9/11 and Hurricane Katrina Disaster Evaluation

Introduction 

Natural disasters have had disastrous effects on both human life and the environment in the recent past. However, the impact natural disasters have on mental health has been a major focus by past research studies assessing the effects of disasters, both natural and man-made. Ranging from loss of life, separation of families, loss of property, loss of economic activities, among other consequences, the victims of these disasters undergo different levels of trauma as a reaction to their losses. The aftermath of disasters involves healing processes, recovery, and rebuilding of lost social structures such as families and physical possessions, which also take a huge toll on the mental well-being of the victims (Landau et al., 2008). Therefore, trauma has always been common in post-disaster. Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 terror attack on U.S soil are examples of historic disasters which have been covered in past research given the long-term effects they had on the socioeconomic and health spheres of the American people. This paper provides an overview of the two disasters while examining the psychological effects they had on the victims. Most fundamentally, the paper indicates that the U.S government responded to these disasters in ways and in accordance to its preparedness; and that victims were affected psychologically even in the availability of resources that assisted them. 

Discussion 

The 9/11 terror attack event occurred on the 11 th of September 2001 and had immense psychological effects on victims (North et al., 2015). The terrorist attack was conducted by a group of 19 militants hailing from the Islamic terror group, Al Qaeda who hijacked four planes initially headed for California and led suicide attacks on targets in U.S. Two of the four planes were directed to hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the third plane hit the Pentagon near Washington D.C, while the last plane crashed at Shanksville in Pennsylvania. The World Trade Center attack was the first of the four, which occurred on Tuesday morning at 8:45 a.m. on September 11, 2001. An American Airline Boeing 767 loaded with approximately 20,000 gallons of jet fuel was directed to hit the north tower of the World Trade Center near the 80th floor. The impact left by the plane was a hole through the 80th floor that left hundreds of people trapped in top floors. As the evacuation process began, eighteenth minutes later, a second plane, a Boeing 767 United Airline Flight 175 hit the south tower of the World Trade Center near the 60th floor (North et al., 2015). The second plane caused a massive explosion which impacted close buildings and streets with flying debris. After two hours, the twin tower collapsed leaving only six survivors and more than 10,000 people injured. The third plane was an American Airlines Boeing 757 flight 77 which hit the west side of the Pentagon causing a massive explosion from the jet fuel, killing all 64 passengers on board and 125 military personnel. Last, the fourth plane which was a United Airlines 93 was headed to an unknown target before suspecting passengers intervened by fighting the terrorists before the plane went down at 500 miles per hour and crushed in a field in Pennsylvania. All passengers died on board. The victims of the twin tower attack have been reported to be the most exposed to Post traumatic stress disorder and profound shock (North et al., 2015). Based on research done using focus groups for Ground Zero and other Company outside the World Trade Center, the victims got hyperarousal, and intense emotional arousal after the explosions. Most victims reported a recollection of the plane hitting the building and the consequent sounds of people crying and the shattering of shrapnels. From the Ground Zero focus group, victims reported to have nightmares of the event, nostalgia when they saw a cloud and associated it with smoke, panic attacks at work and when they go to bed, and fear when they hear a plane sound. The focus group of companies around the World Trade Center exhibited repeated nightmare, distress, fear, and panic attacks. Some victims reported to get anxious every time they board a plane, fearing that a repeat of the terror attack could occur. The workplace environment was also affected since most of these victims could not sustain working from their initit locations out of anxiety, panic, and fear (North et al., 2015). Employers around the World Trade Center had to adjust by using rotational locations for their staff to allow them avoid re-experiences. 

Hurricane Katrina happened in August of 2005 and had significant psychological effects on its victims (Diaz et al., 2020). The hurricane began as a Tropical Depression on August 23, which intensified as it headed towards Florida, and ultimately becoming a hurricane before a landfall at Louisiana on August 25. The storm had become a Category 5 before weakening into a Category 3 a day later in the Gulf coast for its second landfall at both Louisiana and Mississippi. Initially constructed levees around New Orleans city were overpowered by the floods, hence leading to a submergence of almost 80% of the city. Alabama was also impacted immensely with the floods. The floods destroyed property worth $150 billion which included bridges, houses, among other infrastructure. Also, more than 1500 people were killed while thousands were left injured and displaced. Victims of the Hurricane reported high levels of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders due to various triggers from the hurricane ( Lichtveld & Birnbaum, 2020) . Family is the center of social and emotional support in a society and it was a unit that was extremely affected by the hurricane. Families lost their children, parents, and thousands of them for displaced. Based on these events, FEMA reported that 50% of high level PTSD was observed among children, mothers, and low income families. Approximately 57% of New Orleans was living in poverty before the hurricane, which worsened after the hurricane as most families lost jobs and sources of livelihood (Diaz et al., 2020). There was intense lack of water and food resources among displaced families. These events were reported to be among the most recollected traumatic occasions. Victims showcased a wide range of reactions based on studies conducted. PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, somatization, nightmares, difficult sleeping, restlessness, overly alert, disturbing memories, and less concentration were primary symptoms observed among the victims. 

The government may not have been ready for the 9/11 attack and hurricane Katrina but had some resources in place to deal with such disasters. The government had initially put in place measures to help protect New Orleans and the Gulf Coast cuties against hurricanes given previous history of storms in the region. However, most of these efforts were overwhelmed by the hurricane. First, the government had constructed levees in collaboration with the city governments around New Orleans city to help in shielding floods and allowing drainage away from the city in case of a storm. However, the levees' height level were still overcome with the intense floods from the Category 5 hurricane's landfall (Jensen III, 2007). Secondly, the Federal government had also built a Superdome stadium in New Orleans which was placed on higher ground as an emergency shelter during a hurricane. Although the government failed to ensure that the stadium was used maximally as purposed, approximately 15,000 lives were saved by the dome. Most people who got locked out of the dome walked to find places to evacuate to. The government had also stocked the dome with food and water meant to cater for the refugees, although it was later criticized because the food and water was not enough to sustain the people. The government further stepped to occasion in the aftermath through FEMA. FEMA was responsible for evacuation procedures from the flooded areas of the three states (Nusbaum, 2006). Apart from evacuation, FEMA officers helped with removal of debris from damaged buildings and establishment of housing for approximately 163,000 families while liaising with the Housing Area Code (Schechter, 2008). Similar to the reaction during the hurricane, the government had put in place measures to counter terrorism, even though they got overwhelmed. The government had established the CIA in 1984 to collect intelligence in possible threats to the United States National security. However, the CIA lacked the capacity to conduct paramilitary operations using its own personnel and did not expand the scale of the agency before 9/11. The Department of Defense had also been built to engage in missions involving counter terrorism, which had become a major threat to the United States after the bombing of the U.S embassy in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. However, the Department of Defense had not put any attention on al Qaeda even though it had grown to become an extreme threat. Also, the America's homeland defenders, NORAD had been set up to monitor the possibilities of American airplanes being hijacked. However, NORAD was focused more on flights coming from overseas, which is a function that was shortchanged by al Qaeda who hijacked planes internally. The FBI agency had also deployed agents to focus on matters of national priorities. Although FAA had been established to screen every passenger going into the airports and ensure security, the militants managed to pass through check points with knives which they used to harass the pilots in the cockpits. In the aftermath, FEMA also played a key role in evacuation of survivors from the rubble ( Lichtveld & Birnbaum, 2020) . FEMA deployed 25 extraction teams to the twin tower while 1 was deployed to the Pentagon to help with extraction of survivors (Waugh Jr., 2009). The team put in a lot of effort to ensure that they got everyone out, including the dead bodies. Apart from the saving mission, FEMA in cooperation with the government raised money to compensate the families of victims of the attack after 9/11. 

Both the 9/11 attack and hurricane Katrina had individual long-term effects on the victims and the country as a whole. Apart from death, the disasters led to physical harm of thousands of victims. Other victims were exposed to PTSD which majority if them are still coping to date. Affected families have also been left scared, which is a consequence of the recollection bof events and nostalgia. The economic effects of both disasters were immense since they all costed U.S. more that a hundred billion in reconstruction and revenue lost. Hurricane Katrina interrupted all economic activities in the affected states, especially in New Orleans where more than 600,000 non farm jobs were lost. The implication of this was that the economy lost more than 600,000 tax payers. Also, the country's oil business got ruined, hence causing an economic toll. Oil production, importation, and refining at the Golf coast had to be halted due to power outages caused by the hurricane. Without power, distribution of oil and natural gas by pipeline pumps from Houston to other parts of the east coast was interrupted. Apart from distribution, more than 20 offshore oil tanks sank and drifted away towards the Mexican gulf. More than 147,000 barrels of oil transported everyday was put to a hat resulting to approximately 500 million of dollars in losses per day. Other businesses such as gambling and entertainment also got shut down leading to loss of revenue by locals and the government in taxes. Similarly, the 9/11 terror attack led to huge losses in the economy. Majorly affected sectors included the finance markets, tourism, insurance, and the airline industry. The insurance industry experienced $40 billion in losses from claims made while tourism plummeted by approximately 40% which automatically led to a reduction in revenue from tourism. Given the fear of airline attacks, the demand for flights reduced by more than 50% hence costing Airline companies revenue and the government money in taxes (Litchtvelt & Bernbaum, 2020). The New York Securities Exchange was also at the center of the aftermath of attack where airline companies reported a sharp decline in share prices, as well as other trade items such as gold. Additionally, the rebuilding process not only consumed money but also a lot of time and effort that could have been applied elsewhere. For instance, New Orleans has never yet recovered from the impact of the hurricane. The government through FEMA and other NGOs have been rebuilding community areas in the city for fourteen years now, yet there has not been a complete return to normalcy. A ward such as ninth ward in the city has one grocery store serving more than 1400 people (Litchtvelt & Bernbaum, 2020). Businesses have stayed away from New Orleans while people have also moved from the city. Similarly, it has been eighteen years and the World Trade Center has never been completed yet. The government has put efforts since then in building a hallmark to stand for victory iver terrorism as well as maintain the purpose of the site. Also, the government took nine months to clean up the 1.8 million tons of wreckage from WTC, and years to rebuild Ground Zero and other nearby buildings. Fortunately, the government has managed to attract investors to the new site once again. 

These disasters affected children and adults in varied ways. Parents lost their children, while children lost their parents too. Approximately eight children died from the hijacked planes, while others died at the World Trade Center. Moreso, apart from the 3,000 adults who died, an additional number of parents died years after the attack. For instance, by 2011 more than 200 firefighters had died out of the effects of the work they did to save lives at the World Trade Center. These deaths have robbed families off their loved ones. Hurricane Katrina had mire disatrous effevts since there was a higher exposure, even though the exact number is unknown. Also, mental health issues were present in both groups such as PTSD, and depression. Based on previous studies, women and children were the most affected in both disasters with high levels of PTSD. 

The role played by media was integral in psychological well-being. The media focused more on government responses than the victims. The media focused on unfolding events happening at the sites, and the response of the government in rescuing victims and survivors of the two disasters. Key information such as the failure of the government to respond to the New Orleans situation after hurricane Katrina was picked up by many media houses, which at the sane time ignored the welfare of the victims. Less follow up has been done and covered by the media to report on PTSD challenges experience by these victims (Barnes et al, 2008). Also, the same applies to the 9/11 attack where the media concentrated more on analysing conspiracy theories about the fourth plane, and criticizing FEMA leading to the resignation of the head, while neglecting the survivors' psychological well-being. 

Conclusion 

The 9/11 terror attack and Hurricane Katrina are among the worst disasters to ever occur in the United States. Although the government had laid structures and processes to protect the country from such attacks, they still overpowered these processes and led to a disastrous aftermath. The country is still recovering and rebuilding from the two attacks while at the same time victims of the attacks are undergoing coping. The most fundamental consequences are the economic effects which are estimated at hundreds of billions in losses, and the psychological effects in survivors and Americans. A large number of survivors are still battling PTSD and depression, which is a problem the government is still working on to help the victims in collaboration with other organizations. 

References 

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Diaz, J. H., Brisolara, K. F., Harrington, D. J., Hu, C. Y., & Katner, A. L. (2020). The Environmental Health Impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. American Journal of Public Health, 110(10), 1480-1484. 

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North, C. S., Barney, C. J., & Pollio, D. E. (2015). A focus group study of the impact of trauma exposure in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 50(4), 569-578. 

Schechter, L. (2008). From 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina: Helping others and oneself cope following disasters.  Traumatology ,  14 (4), 38-47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765608323736 

Waugh Jr., L. W. FEMA in Shambles: 9/11 and the Nation’s Capacity to Deal with Catastrophic Disasters, in Morgan, M. (2009).  The impact of 9/11 on politics and war . Palgrave Macmillan.