EMM301-0500 Homeland Sec.Emergency Mgt Week 3 Sean Meredith
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Apr 3, 2024
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Senate Report On Hurricane Katrina
Deficiencies, roles, and recommendations post Hurricane Katrina
Main Objectives
Cover the major deficiencies in preparedness, communication, and the operations of response to the disaster.
Explain how the Incident command system (ICS) functions and its effectiveness.
The role of first responders in emergency management and the needed improvements.
Recommendations to prove flaws in preparedness, mitigation, and response.
Major Deficiencies in Preparedness
Long known warnings went unheeded and officials neglected their specific duties to for the known catastrophe.
The government took insufficient actions and made bad decisions in the days prior to Katrina making landfall.
Systems which officials relied on to support their efforts failed.
Failure to provide effective leadership.
The Department of Homeland Security failed to bring a sense of urgency to the officials in preparation for Katrina.
More engagement was needed from all levels of response overall.
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Major Deficiencies in Mitigation
The U.S. had most of its mitigation focused on terrorist prevention and had mishandled planning for natural disasters.
9/11 made us hyperfocus on terrorist presentation and attacks that we did not properly prepare for natural disasters that we knew were historically prevalent.
The NRP-CIA is responsible for providing a proactive federal response plan for catastrophic events, but it was never implemented (109
th
Congress, p. 7).
The emergency plan for FEMA Region VI, which includes Louisiana was investigated and it was found that there was not indication of the hurricane plan being updated in recent years.
A Lack of Effective Assessments/Hazard analysis worsened the devastation
Despite extensive understand of the catastrophic hurricane that was going to hit New Orleans, emergency managers were not prepared when Katrina struck
We should have been overprepared since Hurricane Pam was recent and brought training exercises.
Due to poor hazard analysis, FEMA failed to provide boats for search and rescue teams even though knowledge of flooding was confirmed days prior.
Emergency managers pushed the need for a hurricane plan more than a mitigation plan, but due to budgeting issues, resigning of staff, and disagreements a plan was never established or well implemented (Haddow, p.557).
Problems With Communication and Operations in the Response Phase
The storm flooding severely damaged the communication infrastructure for public safety responders (Haddow, p. 289).
Katrina decimated the towers and electronic equipment supporting mobile radio systems, which were the primary means of communicating for the first responders.
Satellite phones were available, but their was a combination of user error and objects that were obstructing the satellite signals.
A further issue is that the higher echelon was not aware of the communication issues for quiet some time.
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Role of the Incident Command System and how it functions in New Orleans
The Incident Command System places a command post at or near the site of incident and is where the orders are issued and directives for the disaster are managed.
Unfortunately the training for the responders were not trained until two days after Katrina made land fall so there was low effectives from the employees at the Incident command post (ICP).
The ICP is supposed to be able to coordinate with all levels of government and mediate orders given from above, while providing the situation on the ground given from the first responders to leadership.
Due to poor communication equipment and lack of training, this communication was next to none.
Role of the Incident Command System and how it functions in New Orleans (Continued)
Other roles of the ICS are:
Creating/using common terminology
Integrated communication and unified command structure
Resource Management and action planning
Management systems (Command, Operations, Planning, Logistics, Finance)
Command – Include developing, directing, and maintaining communications with multiple agencies on site and working with local officials, public, and the media in order to provide current information regarding the disaster
Operations- Handles the tactical operations and coordinated command objectives.
Planning – Provides information to command center to develop action plans to complete objectives.
Logistics – Provides personnel, equipment, and support for the command center.
Finance – Responsible for accounting for funds during response and recovery.
Roles Of First Responders During The Response Phase Of Emergency Management
First Responders are among the first on scene at any disaster equipped with the necessary communication devices and are trained to be observant (Haddow, p. 291).
Provide immediate care and treatment.
Use training to assess the scene and guide the next steps in triage, treatment, and rescue.
Administer care until the patient has arrived at the next echelon of care.
Driven by procedures and protocols developed by each individual agency
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Roles Of First Responders During Recovery Phase Of Emergency Management
Remain at scene to manage short term and long-term recovery issues
Destroyed buildings
Road clearing
Removing hazardous materials
Planning to rebuild
The Fire Chief is needed to make sure that the building that is left is meets building safety requirements.
This information lets the builders know if you can use the remains or need to demolish the building and start from foundation.
Major Problems With Short Term Recovery From Disaster
Disaster can invoke the “fog of war” metaphor and create conflicting reports given to homeland security operations center and this can make it difficult to develop a sense of grounded data.
In crucial areas the situational report was incorrect and incomplete.
There were reports that even stated the levees were not breached in New Orleans (Haddow, p. 303).
This information lets the builders know if you can use the remains of the building or need to demolish the building and start from the foundation.
Years of short-changing federal, state, and local emergency functions left responders and managers incapable of carrying out the mission to protect and serve the public and victims (109
th
Congress, p. 5).
Major Problems With Long Term Recovery From Disaster
The Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (LOHSEP), the state counterpart to FEMA, suffered chronic staffing problems and employee turnover due to underfunding (109
th
Senate, p. 13).
Numerous witnesses testified that FEMA’s budget was far short of what was needed to accomplish its mission, and that this contributed to FEMA’s failure to be prepared for a catastrophe (Haddow, p. 341).
FEMA’s relationships with state and local officials, once a strength, had been eroded in part because certain preparedness grant programs were transferred elsewhere in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
FEMA did not have the ability to employ sufficient resources from federal agencies, the private and nonprofit sectors.
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Major Lessons Learned From The Devastation Of Katrina
Improper planning creates further chaos.
We need to have up to date training and response plans in place
Lack of communication creates poor response and the primary responsibility of all personnel within the DOH is to understand their duties and how to effectively complete the plan and mission.
To act immediately and swiftly we need to have many means of communication in case the first or second method of communications fail.
Do not allow personnel to go untrained and begin their roles without proper understanding of disaster response.
Recommendations To Improve Weaknesses in Preparedness and Mitigation
From the federal level down, take a comprehensive all-hazards plus approach to emergency management.
Strengthen the plans and systems for the nation’s response to disasters and catastrophes.
Build a true, government-wide operations center to provide enhanced situational awareness and manage interagency coordination in a disaster.
Strengthen the plans and systems for the nation’s response to disasters and catastrophes.
Recommendations For Training And Exercises
In person training, not self-paced online modules that come with little accountability.
Proper training in communication methods at all government levels.
Frequent in person roll playing to understand timelines and to estimate the quickest possible response time.
The regional offices should provide coordination and assist in planning, training, and exercising of emergency preparedness and response activities. (p.611)
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In Conclusion:
We covered that the major deficiencies during Katrina were communication, preparedness, as well as operations in recovery/response planning.
How the Incident Command System is supposed to function amid disaster.
Lessons learned from the short comings of operations during Katrina.
The roles of emergency responders and how to improve their functionality.
Recommendations to improve weaknesses in preparedness, mitigation. and response
References:
George, D. Haddow (2017). Introduction to Emergency Management
(sixth edition). Elsevier Inc.
109th Congress. (2006).
HURRICANE KATRINA: A NATION STILL UNPREPARED
. https://www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved August 28, 2023, from
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-109srpt322/pdf/CRPT-109srpt322.pdf