SUBJECT: Hurricane Katrina: Failing to Plan led to Plan to Fail
1. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide major lessons learned concerning Hurricane Katrina’s response efforts.
2. Importance of the Issue: The lessons learned are important because Hurricane Katrina was not the first hurricane to threatened New Orleans and will not be the last. Given the well-known risk that New Orleans’ topography poses to its citizens, these lessons need to be incorporated into future plans in order to increase the resilience of the city.
3. Key Definitions:
(A) Mitigation: The capabilities necessary to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters.
(B) Vulnerability: The probability that an unwanted event will occur.
(C) Preparedness: A continuous cycle of …show more content…
(D) Emergency management officials planned for Category 3 storms and found that their emergency operations plan was fleshed out well in some areas but sketchily done it others. They did not follow up on additional planning due to budget constraints.
(E) The hurricane left the city relatively intact; however, levee breeches flooded the city.
5. Lessons Learned:
(A) Key Takeaway: Funding must be devoted to hurricane emergency management in New Orleans. A lot of the issues that led to Hurricane Katrina being a catastrophe were due budget cuts and emergency management not being a priority.
I. This is not the first time that a hurricane has threatened New Orleans and will not be the last time.
II. It is less expensive to increase resilience via mitigation efforts and response efforts than it is to rebuild a city every few decades.
III. A series of incremental funding decisions led to New Orleans’ elevated vulnerability during Hurricane Katrina.
(B) Incremental Decision 1: Lack of Levee Maintenance
I. Lesson Learned: Given that levees are heavily relied on to protect the city of New Orleans, levee maintenance must be made a
1. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide major lessons learned concerning Hurricane Katrina’s response efforts.
2. Importance of the Issue: The lessons learned are important because Hurricane Katrina was not the first hurricane to threatened New Orleans and will not be the last. Given the well-known risk that New Orleans’ topography poses to its citizens, these lessons need to be incorporated into future plans in order to increase the resilience of the city.
3. Key Definitions:
(A) Mitigation: The capabilities necessary to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters.
(B) Vulnerability: The probability that an unwanted event will occur.
(C) Preparedness: A continuous cycle of …show more content…
(D) Emergency management officials planned for Category 3 storms and found that their emergency operations plan was fleshed out well in some areas but sketchily done it others. They did not follow up on additional planning due to budget constraints.
(E) The hurricane left the city relatively intact; however, levee breeches flooded the city.
5. Lessons Learned:
(A) Key Takeaway: Funding must be devoted to hurricane emergency management in New Orleans. A lot of the issues that led to Hurricane Katrina being a catastrophe were due budget cuts and emergency management not being a priority.
I. This is not the first time that a hurricane has threatened New Orleans and will not be the last time.
II. It is less expensive to increase resilience via mitigation efforts and response efforts than it is to rebuild a city every few decades.
III. A series of incremental funding decisions led to New Orleans’ elevated vulnerability during Hurricane Katrina.
(B) Incremental Decision 1: Lack of Levee Maintenance
I. Lesson Learned: Given that levees are heavily relied on to protect the city of New Orleans, levee maintenance must be made a