Hurricane Katrina Essay

Mike Mulally 10-11-19 In 2005 Hurri domiciliatee Katrina swept with the city of New siege of Orleans and destroyed the lives of thousands. Katrina was matchless of the largest hurricanes and inhering happenings in the history of the United States (Wikipedia, 2009). spell most of the casualties occurred during the actual storm, still a umteen took place long time subsequently, and were do to the fact that the local, assert, and theme governing body were slow to respond. This slow response was due to the nature of federalism. I consider Americans got a glimpse at how federalism and bureaucracy become flaws.These imperfections will be discussed in the pages below. The PBS documentary The Storm, depicts the destruction Hurricane Katrina caused, as well as what went wrong with the evacuation and rescue of New Orleans residents. Local, state, and national government officials were interviewed, much(prenominal) as New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, New Orleans governor Kathleen Blanco , and FEMA Director Michael Brown. for each one official gave his or her version of wherefore events happened the way they did. Some of the their accounts contradicted each other.I believe everyone was safe looking out for him or herself, trying to save face. This seems to be a common problem in American politics. I will next explore how federalisms can be a inconvenience in a situation such as a pictorial disaster. Federalism by definition is a re master(prenominal)s in which governmental powers are divided between a central government and smaller units, analogous states(Greenberg & Page, 2009, Ch. 3). The officials at all levels of the government were somehow confused during Katrina on who precisely was in charge. Was it New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, FEMA Director Michael Brown, was it chairperson pubic hair? (Marcela, 2005). There was also a lack of chat between the different levels of government, which, as was talked about in class, is an obvious downside or barrier to federalism (Oxendine, 2009). In a situation like a natural disaster, communication is key. If one cannot communicate with another, how is anything supposed to be finish? Having several levels of government involved just makes everything in a disaster situation more(prenominal) complicated.I believe the U. S. needs a more centralized form of a disaster agency. If a natural disaster is to happen there ought to be one plan of action carried out by one agency. Having this central organization would have alleviated much of the confusion and frustration that we witnessed with Katrina. According to Director Brown, after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans local government did not communicate very well with FEMA officials. Brown says he was never told what as crystallizements of manpower or supplies were needed (Marcela 2009).However Louisiana National Guard Adjutant commonplace Bennett Landreneau stated in his interview that he particularizedally sent requests to FEMA for what help was re quired. A hardly a(prenominal) days after he was interviewed he sent in the documentation that proves he did indeed ask specific needs from FEMA (Marcela 2009). FEMA Director Brown lied on television. So often politicians lie about issues, why cant they ever own up to their mistakes and just tell the truth. I believe the American public deserves to know the truth on issues, especially when dealing with something like Hurricane Katrina.In a natural disaster it is at first the state that has control. If the state becomes overwhelmed and can no longer control the situation, the state therefore needs to clearly articulate what services they are in need of, and that is when FEMA will then intervene. Several days after the storm, Director Brown apparently believed the state of Louisiana had the situation at a lower place control (Marcela, 2005). While the Mayor and Governor thought FEMA was going to step in and help. There was a period of time where nobody knew who was in command.Conse quently there was a period of time where the some(prenominal) of the people of New Orleans had no food, water or shelter, and that is when many lives were lost. It bewilders one to think that this sort of miscommunication and misunderstanding could happen to a country like the United States. One would assume that our country would have one of the best disaster protocols in the world, considering our global supremacy. I will now touch on another part of U. S. government that I consider to have flaws, and that is bureaucracy.A bureaucracy as be by Greenberg & Page (2009) is A large, complex organization characterized by a hierarchical set of offices, each with a specific task, controlled through a clear chain of command, and where appointment and advancement of personnel is establish on merit (Ch. 13). Individuals are appointed not elected and therein lies a problem. Anyone that the president acquires can be in a position of power. many another(prenominal) believe Michael Brown w as absolutely not dependant for the position of FEMA Director (Greenberg & Page, 2009, Ch. 13).After all he had no formal training in disaster relief or anything of that sort in his resume. Positions like FEMA director should have to have some sort of qualifications. One cannot just be put into that situation like Director Brown was. I believe that positions such as director should be an elected one. When someone who is not qualified is put in charge of one of biggest natural disasters in U. S. history, nothing good can come from it. And indeed that is exactly what happened, total chaos and confusion took place due to Director Michael Browns incompetence.After the attacks of 9/11 President pubic hair reorganized FEMA into a Bureaucracy. FEMA was downgraded and became a sub department of homeland security. Many believe this reorganization really hurt FEMA. Personnel, IT systems and other resources were dramatically reduced due to President Bushs budget garnishting agenda. The Pres ident also cut project impact, a broadcast started by FEMA to help communities become disaster resistant, due to tax cuts (Marcella 2009). In addition 80 million dollars was taken from FEMA and distributed to other sectors in homeland security. This is just another problem of FEMA becoming a part of the U.S. bureaucracy. How would anyone waitress an organization to do their job when they have had significant funds and resources cut? Clearly part of FEMAs inadequacies can be linked to President Bushs choice to make tax cuts and cut parts of their program. Again, the reorganization of FEMA was really detrimental. Hopefully in the future leaders will make more conscientious choices about which agencies should be cut back. Most would believe a disaster relief program such as FEMA should have some of the most funding and personnel available. Apparently former President Bush thought otherwise.Although President Bush does deserves a little bit of a break considering the vaporous size an d complexity of the executive branch. There is so much going on, in so many agencies, involving the activity of tens of thousands of people, that simply keeping abreast of it all is no easy task (Greenberg & Page, 2009, Ch. 13). He is in charge of so much in the U. S. there is no way he could keep an centerfield on everything. So while the President may have indirectly affected FEMA by incentive budget cuts, he cannot be held directly responsible for the governments lack of involvement in Katrina at the national level.The president relies on his appointees to do their jobs, which Director Brown did not fulfill. However, President Bush choose Michael Brown, so maybe Bush is in fact responsible for FEMAs inadequacies. Obviously having a large federal bureaucracy is an inconvenience to say the least. I believe Hurricane Katrina has taught our country a few lessons. First of all that while having a federal bureaucracy has its pluses, it also brings with it its many flaws, and the main one being communication. Our government should be striving for interoperability.The ability for several groups at all levels of the government to communicate what resources are needed during a natural disaster will prove to be the adept most important tool during a relief operation. I hope that in the future, Presidents will choose more wisely when filling high-level positions such as FEMA Director, and not just appoint those who helped with their campaign. I also hope more cities around the country have better evacuation plans than those of New Orleans. I hope National Guard buildings are better equipped with resources and manpower in the future, especially along costal areas that are known to have hurricanes.