Hurricane Katrina Essay

Mike Mul whollyy 10-11-19 In 2005 Hurri tail assemblye Katrina swept by means of the city of revolutionary Orleans and destroyed the lives of thousands. Katrina was superstar of the largest hurri good deales and rude(a) casualtys in the history of the United States (Wikipedia, 2009). While most of the casualties occurred during the actual storm, still a many took place days after, and were do to the fact that the local, secern, and national governing body were slow to respond. This slow response was due to the nature of federalism. I confide Americans got a glimpse at how federalism and bureaucracy hand over flaws.These imperfections pass on 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 in the altogether Orleans residents. Local, state, and national governance officials were interviewed, such as New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, New Orleans governor Kathleen Blanco, and FEMA theater film director Michael Brown. Each official gave his or her interlingual rendition of why events receiveed the way they did. Some of the their accounts contradicted each other.I look at every wiz was skillful looking out for him or herself, trying to save face. This seems to be a common problem in American politics. I will close explore how federalisms can be a inconvenience in a situation such as a natural misfortune. Federalism by definition is a system in which organizational powers are divided among a central government and smaller units, like states(Greenberg & Page, 2009, Ch. 3). The officials at all levels of the government were somehow confused during Katrina on who exactly was in point. Was it New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, FEMA handler Michael Brown, was it chairperson Bush? (Marcela, 2005). at that place was also a lack of communication between the different levels of government, which, as was talked approximately in class, i s an obvious downside or barrier to federalism (Oxendine, 2009). In a situation like a natural disaster, communication is key. If one can non state with another, how is anything supposed to be accomplished? Having several levels of government involved near educates everything in a disaster situation more(prenominal) complicated.I be broodve the U. S. necessitate 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 government activity would work 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 pass very well with FEMA officials. Brown says he was never told what sorts of hands or supplies were needed (Marcela 2009).However Louisiana National Guard Adjutant frequent Bennett Landreneau stated in his interview that he specifically move requests to FEMA for what suspensor was required. A few 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 view the American public deserves to make do 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 under control (Marcela, 2005). While the Mayor and governor thought FEMA was spillage to step in and help. There was a spot of time where nobody knew who was in command.Consequently there was a time period of time where the many of the people of New Orleans had no food, water system 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 outlandish 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 delimitate 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 based on merit (Ch. 13). Individuals are appointed not elected and therein lies a problem. Anyone that the president chooses can be in a position of power. some believe Michael Brown wa s absolutely not qualified for the position of FEMA Director (Greenberg & Page, 2009, Ch. 13).After all he had no formal training in disaster embossment 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, impart chaos and confusion took place due to Director Michael Browns incompetence.After the attacks of 9/11 chairwoman Bush reorganized FEMA into a Bureaucracy. FEMA was downgraded and became a sub department of homeland security. Many believe this shakeup really hurt FEMA. Personnel, IT systems and other resources were dramatically reduced due to President Bushs budget excisionting agenda. The President a lso cut project impact, a program 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 enough a part of the U.S. bureaucracy. How would anyone expect 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 financial support and personnel available. Apparently former President Bush thought otherwise.Although President Bush does deserves a little bit of a break considering the switch off 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 eye on everything. So while the President may have indirectly affected FEMA by inducing budget cuts, he cannot be held directly responsible for the governments lack of affaire 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 peradventure 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 single most definitive 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.