Hurricane Katrina as a Learning Lesson for the US Government - Research Paper Example

How did Hurricane Katrina influence Homeland Security as it currently operates Introduction Department of Homeland Security is a body of United States, deployed to take care of all security measures required to be taken within the territory of the country. The U.S. government is a federal body, where the power is divided between the local and state governments. Although perceived as effective from generalised perspective, Hurricane Katrina proved that such system of dual government is a big disadvantage for the prompt responses required to be taken by the security departments at the time of the natural calamities. Based on similar grounds, it is often argued that governmental mismanagement and lack of preparation made the natural disaster take the face of a catastrophe (Kahan et al., 2009). The research objective is focused on drawing a balance between homeland security measures before and after the Hurricane Katrina. Expressing the measures taken and the developments introduced to rule out the previous loopholes have been considered as the major areas of discussion in this essay. Threat Identification Hurricane Katrina turned out to be a catastrophe for the US, allegedly due to the inefficiency and delayed reaction of the homeland security, which was designed by the government to meet the national crisis within the boundaries of the country. However, the country’s dual system of government and their inefficiency in communication proved to be fatal for the crisis that they faced (Irons, 2005). The organisation faced problems in reacting at the right time in the right way. Failures to send supplies in the place of need were major challenges the government faced at the time of the hurricane. Due to the heavy bureaucratic system of the government, severe complications were found persisting in the issue of orders and its implementation. State-level, local-level and federal-level systems of government proved to be a backlog for the timely movement of assets and food supplies to the area of need (Moyniha, 2009). The government has all previous intimation of the natural calamity but due to the complexities in the mode of operations, it was difficult for the government to act accordingly. The relief measures were weak as well. The government also failed to do the aftermath as the veto powers to trigger the financial help was vested in different hands, which made the situation even worse (Leeson & Sobel, 2006). The homeland security was trained to be prepared for this type of calamities and was supposedly well acquainted with the measures that were to be taken. However, due to the unorganised governmental procedures and the lack of proper of communication, it proved to be crucial for the homeland security department to work efficiently at time of need (Irons, 2005). Solution Identification Threats from natural disasters like hurricanes are highly unpredictable and can never be avoided. The only remedy is therefore to mitigate the damages caused by such threats. After Hurricane Katrina, in the year 2005, the government took a huge number of measures, when national preparedness emerged as the biggest challenge that needed to be injected to prevent from similar catastrophe in future. Subsequently, a national consensus was built in order to face the natural calamities with immediate effect (The White House, 2005). The main problem at the time of the Hurricane Katrina was that irrespective of the prior indications about the calamity, the responses were minimal in comparison to the standards it should have been. Many measures were taken in the area, which were at red alert. However, even after all the preparations, the actual prevention fell far behind from the requirements (Collins, 2006). However, to curtail down future chances of such failures, homeland security has taken up some principles, which became their mandate to be followed at the time of the crisis (Homeland Security, 2006). Homeland Security stressed mainly on The preparedness of responses Developing an efficient system to carry people and cargo in emergency situations Efficient communication system, both at internal-level and external-level Increasing efficiency within the department in prompt reaction to the crisis (Homeland Security, 2006) Learning from the previous mistake at the time of the Hurricane, the department has worked on to build key infrastructure, communities and resources to safeguard from vulnerabilities while facing calamities, such as witnessed in the case of Hurricane Katrina. Special care is thus taken to assess the risk of the areas, which are prone to face natural calamities and to take special measures to mitigate the effect of the risk to the maximum (Homeland Security, 2011). Accordingly, special coordination measures have been taken to maintain a unilateral flow of communication to increase efficiency at the time of the crisis. Measures have also been adopted to increase the availability of proper guidance and responses to all hazards. Special infrastructural measure has further been taken to minimize the loss due to damages of such catastrophe (Homeland Security, 2011). The Department of Homeland Security has been developing its measure learning from the last catastrophe it has faced at the time of the Hurricane Katrina. The measures relating the communication gap between the different sectors of the organisation was mended up to a great level to prevent similar deficiencies causing similar hazards in future (Homeland Security, 2011). Since the day of incorporation, the Department of Homeland Security has been provided with adequate funds to build capabilities and strengthen the security measures at every level of the country. Funds have also been provided to assist the different sectors of the country against any natural calamity (Homeland Security, 2006). For the funding techniques that are incorporated in the Department of Homeland Security are focused on three basic divisions, viz., State Homeland Security Program (SHSP), Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI), and Operation Stonegarden (OPSG). The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides funds as per the application placed by the individual governments to fund their requirements, wherein different programs are organised to fund the different requirements as per the area, which can be included under the State, Urban or Regional area of administration (FEMA, 2014). Herein, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides suggestion regarding the core funding to the sectors like national preparedness for disaster management, which was to be provided with the maximum funding. This reform is changed every financial year as per the requirements and the development strategies to be followed (FEMA, 2014). After 2005, the most vital change observed in the Homeland Security framework was the emergence of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA was established as the sole authority to decide the allocation of the resources in the affected areas and became the most prominent body for the financial support of the Homeland Security Department to deal with such emergencies. The problem that caused the major issue at the time of the Hurricane Katrina was non-availability of food supplies and other requirements at the right time. Therefore, after its emergence, FEMA was delegated with the authority to supply the required financial as well as resource help for areas of crisis (Leeson & Sobel, 2006). Another problem, which led to failure of Homeland Security measures, at the time of the Hurricane Katrina, was the improper flow of command. This was rectified later making required changes in the hierarchy of command to be followed by FEMA. Accordingly, developments were made concerning the rules regarding the role of the government to maintain a uniform flow of command and a follow proper communication system to increase the efficiency of response, which is considered as the foremost requirement at the time of the crisis (The White House, 2005). Conclusion Hurricane Katrina proved to be a learning lesson for the US government and its other governing bodies including the Homeland Security. The loopholes of the government at the management level were clear from the way the government failed to meet the needs of the people at the time of the crisis. The instant reaction of the government was far below the standard and the natural calamity, which was predicted far before it actually hit, added to the catastrophic scenario (Irons, 2005). Since its occurrence and the failure of the government to tackle the issue, the government has taken effective measures to change its homeland security operations. Learning from their faults, the US has also developed certain structures and strategies to deal with similar natural calamities in future. References Collins, S. M. (2006). Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared .Special Report of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, pp. 21-577. FEMA. (2014). Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP). Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/fy-2014-homeland-security-grant-program-hsgp Homeland Security. (2006). Department Six-point Agenda. Retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/department-six-point-agenda Homeland Security. (2011). Risk management fundamentals. Homeland Security Risk Management Doctrine, pp. 1-31. Irons, L. (2005). Hurricane Katrina as a Predictable Surprise. Homeland Security Affairs, I.2, pp. 1-21. Kahan, J., Allen, A. C. & George, J. K. (2009). An Operational Framework for Resilience. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 6.1, pp. 1-48. Moynihan, D. P. (2009). The Response to Hurricane Katrina. Risk governance deficits: an analysis and illustration of the most common deficits in risk governance, pp.1-11. Sobel, R. S. & Leeson, P. T. (2006). Government’s response to Hurricane Katrina: A public choice analysis. Public Choice, 127, pp. 55–73. Read More