Response To Hurricane Katrina Essay

Our responses to Hurricane Katrina was complicated by our federal system of government in so many ways. They were trying to get the situation under control. Of course, before the hurricane hit, the mayor was attempting to evacuate everyone, to no avail. A lot of people in New Orleans are in poverty and were not informed about the evacuation or did not have the means of transportation. The levees flooded and the damage afterwards was made to look minimal. Citizens were stranded in their homes, on their roofs, etc. Some people were ‘rescued’, but for some it was too late. They were placed into the Super Dome and then the Convention Center. They were going over the limit of how many people could be in the buildings at one time. Some people were trying to go across a bridge by foot, but they were told to go back by the police force. There was a minimal amount of lighting, no air conditioning, no showers, etc. There was either no communication between the state government and the citizens or it was extremely limited. The government tried to have FEMA bring food and water for the people who were affected. A lot of people were left to die. The president swore to the people that they were going to get help, yet no help showed up. Many people lost hope for …show more content…
The National Response Plan and the department of Homeland Security tried to help by creating an organized plan of what would happen and how they would help. The Department of Defense was the last resort in that system. The state government was asking for help from the National Guard, but the National Guard was in the hands of the national government. During a time of war, it was a concern that the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq would put the situation in New Orleans on the back burner. The Department of Defense had to make a review in order for a tragedy such as this to never happen again (Balasco, Bowman, Kapp,