Sunday, February 26, 2006
Review of Final Report of the Committee
Review of
Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina
Most of American may still remember the fearful incident, 9/11 attact on WTC. After the catastrophe most people have consistently and unanimously been saying “that we should do everything we can do never to meet again this kind of incidents in America”. So they have done, I think, almost everything they could do. For example, they established a new Department, many relative commitees, and a lot of institudes to support security and disaster related policies. Externally they seemed to have done to prepare for disasters.
Eventhough, they were blamed in the process of responding Hurricane Katrina, caused catastrophic damage along the coastlines and killed 1,418 people, because of the failure of the government's response. Finaly on September15, 2005, the House of Representatives approved Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina. And the committee investigated into (1) the development, coordination, and execution by local, State, and Federal authorities of emergency response plans and other activities in preparation for Hurricane Katrina; and (2) the local, State, and Federal government response to Hurricane Katrina. On February15, 2006, this report was released and said that “If 9/11 was a failure of imagination, then Katrina was a failure of initiative. It was a failure of leadership.”
This report designated that (1) the failure of complete evacuations led to preventable deaths, great suffering, and further delays in relief. (2) Critical elements of the National Response Plan were executed late, ineffectively, or not at all. (3) DHS and the states were not prepared for this catastrophic event. (4) Massive communications damage and a failure to adequately plan for alternatives impaired response efforts, command and control, and situational awareness. (5) Command and control was impaired at all levels, delaying relief.
(6) The military played an invaluable role, but coordination was lacking. (7) The collapse of local law enforcement and lack of effective public communications led to civil unrest and further delayed relief. (8) Medical care and evacuations suffered from a lack of advance preparations, inadequate communications, and difficulties coordinating efforts. (9) FEMA logistics and contracting systems did not support a targeted, massive, and sustained provision of commodities. 1)
According to this report, almost all governments involved this incident committed very serious responding errors. I can’t believe why this kind of policy and government failures happened widely here in America, the most advanced county in the world. Moreover, they have enforced their organizations and systems to cope well with disasters. In 2002, they created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and placed FEMA, conducted many of the federal policies related to the management of emergencies, including preparedness, mitigation, disaster response, and recovery, within the new department. And they made a new federal level operation protocol, National Response Plan (NRP) and National Incident Management System (NIMS). The NRP describes the structure and mechanisms for coordinating federal support during emergencies. 2)
In addition to, this crisis was not only predictable, it was predicted. And they even did a simulation practice, named Hurricane Pam, to scale the damages and respond to predicted Hurricane Katrina. These days Information technology is very important to manage disaster effectively. They could get the information whenever, whatever, wherever they want. Why couldn’t they mange the incidents pretty well?
Like this view point, many popular mass media pointed out government failures. Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post Staff Writer, reported that Hurricane Katrina exposed the U.S. government's failure to learn the lessons of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as leaders from President Bush down disregarded ample warnings of the threat to New Orleans and did not execute emergency plans or share information that would have saved lives, according to a blistering report by House investigators.3) Radley Balko in Foxnews identified that Sept. 11 is no longer the most catastrophic failure of government in my lifetime. Its response to Hurricane Katrina is. Government at all levels, run by both parties, regardless of race, inexcusably failed to secure the safety of the people of New Orleans. The lesson here is not the failure of one party or the other. The lesson here is the failure of government.4) CBS news quoted the report and noted that "At every level – individual, corporate, philanthropic, and governmental – we failed to meet the challenge that was Katrina." 5)
After Sept.11 attack, the U.S. government’s policy outcomes were splendid not only in quality but in quantity. In these circumstances they didn’t control the disaster adequately.
Many specialists in the world have wondered why they couldn’t mange well the disaster.
If America couldn’t mange well this kind of disaster, nobody can do it in the world. So I would like to say that there seems to be something serious problems behind a veil more than reported. Actually I expected this report to reveal more than as is.
References
1. Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and
Response to Hurricane Katrina / Report by the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina (page 3-5)
2. National Response Plan / December 2004 / Department of homeland security (page1)
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/11/AR2006021101409.html
4. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168732,00.html
5. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/13/katrina/main1308008.shtml
Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina
Most of American may still remember the fearful incident, 9/11 attact on WTC. After the catastrophe most people have consistently and unanimously been saying “that we should do everything we can do never to meet again this kind of incidents in America”. So they have done, I think, almost everything they could do. For example, they established a new Department, many relative commitees, and a lot of institudes to support security and disaster related policies. Externally they seemed to have done to prepare for disasters.
Eventhough, they were blamed in the process of responding Hurricane Katrina, caused catastrophic damage along the coastlines and killed 1,418 people, because of the failure of the government's response. Finaly on September15, 2005, the House of Representatives approved Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina. And the committee investigated into (1) the development, coordination, and execution by local, State, and Federal authorities of emergency response plans and other activities in preparation for Hurricane Katrina; and (2) the local, State, and Federal government response to Hurricane Katrina. On February15, 2006, this report was released and said that “If 9/11 was a failure of imagination, then Katrina was a failure of initiative. It was a failure of leadership.”
This report designated that (1) the failure of complete evacuations led to preventable deaths, great suffering, and further delays in relief. (2) Critical elements of the National Response Plan were executed late, ineffectively, or not at all. (3) DHS and the states were not prepared for this catastrophic event. (4) Massive communications damage and a failure to adequately plan for alternatives impaired response efforts, command and control, and situational awareness. (5) Command and control was impaired at all levels, delaying relief.
(6) The military played an invaluable role, but coordination was lacking. (7) The collapse of local law enforcement and lack of effective public communications led to civil unrest and further delayed relief. (8) Medical care and evacuations suffered from a lack of advance preparations, inadequate communications, and difficulties coordinating efforts. (9) FEMA logistics and contracting systems did not support a targeted, massive, and sustained provision of commodities. 1)
According to this report, almost all governments involved this incident committed very serious responding errors. I can’t believe why this kind of policy and government failures happened widely here in America, the most advanced county in the world. Moreover, they have enforced their organizations and systems to cope well with disasters. In 2002, they created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and placed FEMA, conducted many of the federal policies related to the management of emergencies, including preparedness, mitigation, disaster response, and recovery, within the new department. And they made a new federal level operation protocol, National Response Plan (NRP) and National Incident Management System (NIMS). The NRP describes the structure and mechanisms for coordinating federal support during emergencies. 2)
In addition to, this crisis was not only predictable, it was predicted. And they even did a simulation practice, named Hurricane Pam, to scale the damages and respond to predicted Hurricane Katrina. These days Information technology is very important to manage disaster effectively. They could get the information whenever, whatever, wherever they want. Why couldn’t they mange the incidents pretty well?
Like this view point, many popular mass media pointed out government failures. Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post Staff Writer, reported that Hurricane Katrina exposed the U.S. government's failure to learn the lessons of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as leaders from President Bush down disregarded ample warnings of the threat to New Orleans and did not execute emergency plans or share information that would have saved lives, according to a blistering report by House investigators.3) Radley Balko in Foxnews identified that Sept. 11 is no longer the most catastrophic failure of government in my lifetime. Its response to Hurricane Katrina is. Government at all levels, run by both parties, regardless of race, inexcusably failed to secure the safety of the people of New Orleans. The lesson here is not the failure of one party or the other. The lesson here is the failure of government.4) CBS news quoted the report and noted that "At every level – individual, corporate, philanthropic, and governmental – we failed to meet the challenge that was Katrina." 5)
After Sept.11 attack, the U.S. government’s policy outcomes were splendid not only in quality but in quantity. In these circumstances they didn’t control the disaster adequately.
Many specialists in the world have wondered why they couldn’t mange well the disaster.
If America couldn’t mange well this kind of disaster, nobody can do it in the world. So I would like to say that there seems to be something serious problems behind a veil more than reported. Actually I expected this report to reveal more than as is.
References
1. Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and
Response to Hurricane Katrina / Report by the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina (page 3-5)
2. National Response Plan / December 2004 / Department of homeland security (page1)
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/11/AR2006021101409.html
4. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168732,00.html
5. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/13/katrina/main1308008.shtml
