Schneider Case Study 3 CA
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Apr 3, 2024
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Schneider Case Study 3 Caleb Amantia
10/9/23
For each of the two locations (Louisiana, Mississippi) impacted by Hurricane Katrina and two locations (South Carolina and Tennessee) for the flooding events …..
1. Determine Implementation Pattern
2. Characterize governmental response (e.g., success/failure, etc.)
3. Characterize human behavior (include Schneider's terms for collective behavior, e.g., milling, keynoting, etc.)
4. Describe major events/characteristics of disaster that led to successes and failures
Katrina Louisiana:
Hurricane Katrina, known to be one of the most famous hurricanes in world history was a Category 5 hurricane that hit the American Gulf Coast in August 2005. Katrina left a trail of devastation following its aggressive landfall. Katrina’s impact was primarily characterized by the failure of levees in New Orleans, leading to widespread flooding and the destruction of Louisiana’s most famous city (Schneider, 2015). The effects of Katrina are still felt today. The evacuation process was filled with difficulties, leaving many without the chance to escape. The response to the disaster revealed significant
coordination and communication failures among local, state, and federal agencies, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) criticized for a slow and inadequate response. Because of this slow and confused response, the implementation pattern was confusion. Although the idea was supposed to be a bottom-up response, starting with the more local and state level, it was never fully achieved, and this left a massive hole in the state's ability to respond to the disaster. The local governments of Louisiana expected a stronger federal response due to the severity of the storm before it hit, but this did not come and left people much more vulnerable to its effects (Schneider, 2015). The governmental response to Katrina in Louisiana was a colossal failure, the federal government as stated before did not react swiftly due to their belief that it would be handled on a lower level while the local governments expected the help from the Federal government. Because of this massive oversight and lack of communication the coastal areas of Louisiana were left to fend for themselves until it was too late (Schneider, 2015). The human behavior as described by Schneider’s terms shown during Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana can be described as keynoting. The public’s perception during the storm’s buildup was that New Orleans could handle the immense wind, rain, and flooding. The city boasted levees that were supposed to protect the public from a storm surge and the flooding that followed and that could not be the furthest thing from the truth. The city was left incredibly vulnerable and became the face of poor preparation. This keynoting that said they would be okay led to the deaths of over 1300 from hurricane Katrina (Schneider, 2015). The biggest event that led to the disaster's effect on Louisiana was the lack of communication from the federal and state government. This lack of communication between agencies has been seen in American history with events such as the terrorist attacks of September 11
th,
where national security agencies did not do their jobs to communicate properly. This similarity is how Louisiana was able to be so destroyed. Katrina Mississippi:
Although Hurricane Katrina is mostly mentioned as a storm that destroyed New Orleans, its effects were felt along the entire gulf coast including the state of Mississippi. Katrina’s intense winds and
storm surge resulted in destruction of coastal Mississippi (Schneider, 2015). Coastal communities, such as Gulfport were severely impacted by the storm which destroyed many buildings and homes. Katrina’s effects caused considerable damage to much of the local infrastructure such as roads and bridges. The response effort in Mississippi was more coordinated and effective compared to neighboring Louisiana, but the disaster still posed significant challenges. The implementation pattern of Katrina in Mississippi was top down compared to the confusion of Louisiana. Because of the nature of Louisiana being a more direct hit and the primary target for the storm the efforts were hindered by mass confusion, Mississippi however was able to escape the brunt of the storm like that due to a stronger response from the federal
government. Agencies like FEMA coordinated much more effectively for Mississippi, allowing the response to be stronger (Schneider, 2015). The governmental response in Mississippi was a success compared to Louisiana although it did come with some issues. Some of the reasons it was a success, however, were because of the immediate response. Mississippi had a much more organized evacuation plan, and this allowed for many to escape the path of the storm compared to Louisiana (Schneider, 2015). The deployment of the Mississippi National Guard is another reason the response was much more successful, these soldiers were able to assist in the rescue, rebuilding, and relief efforts of the state. One final reason it was a success was because of the much better disbursement of the humanitarian aid to the state of Mississippi compared to Louisiana. The human behavior in the response
can be described as Emergent Norms. In some cases, this behavior can be good, and this is one of those cases. The local population really listened to the evacuation orders which were sent out and the emergent norm was that it was going to be too dangerous to stay in the coastal areas. This evacuation due to the emergent norms is why it was so effective (Schneider, 2015). One major event of the storm that allowed for the response to be more effective was the deployment of the Mississippi National Guard. The state deployed over 7000 troops to the affected areas. Adding these higher trained rescuers allowed the rescue and rebuilding efforts to be more effective in the storm's immediate aftermath. This immediate response is what changed the level of response from Louisiana to Mississippi. South Carolina Flooding:
Tennessee Flooding:
Schneider, S. K. (2015). Dealing with disaster: Public Management in Crisis situations
. Routledge.
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