Deriving from the government's failures and response to the Hurricane Katerina disaster, I can derive several feasible measures to improve the response disaster. The possibility of eccentric catastrophe was reported by National Hurricane Center (NHC), but due to a failed response system, the effects were severe, including the loss of many lives and property damage (Ingeno, 2015). From the foresight, I think the government should have increased its preparedness by, for example, establishing a robust evacuation strategy and transportation within all the areas that were along the path of the hurricane. An effective plan and movement would have enabled the evacuation of all people in the areas, including the poor and aged, and could have saved many lives, and damage could have been minimized. The government should also have enacted policies and incentives to encourage people to settle in flood-prone areas like New Orleans to relocate to safer areas. Also, the government should have increased its disaster funds which could have ensured supplies such as food, water, and shelters. An appropriate response to the scientific predictions could have enabled the disaster response to suppress the damage that the disaster caused.
From the severity of the Hurricane Katerina disaster, I think that only the federal government could manage the disaster. Unlike the local and state governments, the federal government can react in real-time to disasters and reliably provide the necessary resources for managing disasters regardless of where disaster strikes (Ali, 2016). For example, in New Orleans, the hurricane-damaged roads and the police could not access the areas, and as a result, criminal acts such as looting prevailed uncontrollably. Fortunately, the army had the required resources to rapidly reconstruct the damaged roads and bridges and restore order in the state.
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Inherently, disasters are local and in impact; thus, it is incumbent upon the local and state governments to respond to them. Local jurisdictions ought to provide the city's initial response, first aiming to ensure the safety of lives and essential resources (IOM, 2012). Under the jurisdiction of the local and state government, non-governmental organizations can also use their capability to enhance the government's efforts in managing the disaster. Effective disaster management largely depends on the coordinated efforts of the various response groups. For example, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security has helped in the faster response in times of disasters and emergency management. The benefits of having the DHS in disaster management have helped make the community safe as it helps in the community recovery through a number of ways, such as providing monetary aid to the public.
References
Ali, S. F. (2016). 9 - Hurricane Katrina. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316227008.010
Ingeno, L. (2015, August 28). Hurricane Katrina 10 Years Later: Are We More Prepared for Disaster? GW Today. https://gwtoday.gwu.edu/hurricane-katrina-10-years-later-are-we-more-prepared-disaster
Institute of Medicine (IOM). (2012). Crisis Standards of Care: A Systems Framework for Catastrophic Disaster Response. Washington (DC), US: National Academies Press (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201073/
