Time for Accountability
There is definitely a time for accountability; but what isn't fair is to dump on the federal officials and avoid those most responsible -- local and state officials who failed to do their job as the first responders. The plain fact is lives were needlessly lost in New Orleans due to the failure of Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, and the city's mayor, Ray Nagin (Williams, 2005).
The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and her emergency operations center.
The actions and inactions are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved (Williams, 2005).
In addition to the plans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill 13 months before the disasters, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped 300,000 people inside...
Thousands of personnel from Coast Guard units nationwide rushed to the scene to provide 1,380 Aids to Navigation discrepancies, to assist in 1,129 pollution cases (seven major pollution incidents) and provide help to 1,000 salvage cases including more than 200 grounded vessels. More than 3,900 Coast Guard personnel responded to the disaster. While the FEMA effort stumbled and fell far short of its intended goal, the United States Coast Guard
As per IRC Sec. 1033(h), the tax rules for the replacement of those properties destroyed or converted in such cases are eased and the overall replacement period extended as well. "Some rules were also revised like the 'Rev. Rule 95-22' which considers the funds received for the primary residence as well as scheduled property such as jewelry, pieces of art, coins, etc. which had been insured, as funds for
Planning Efforts to Reduce Future Disaster Impacts This paper looks at options for programs to be put in place before to a disaster to avoid major and often poorly-managed expenditures after a catastrophe and to offer suitable protection against the risk of those large losses which do occur. It is important for the government to provide programs that enlightens the citizens on how to deal with the hazards that come with
What they did not anticipate was the levees breaking nor were they aware of the level of immediate need of the people. He also says that with Hurricane Andrew, about two million residents were evacuated and only about 10% we left homeless whereas with Hurricane Katrina approximately the same number of residents were evacuated yet over 90% were left homeless (Halton, 2006). This was much more of a burden
Planning Across Levels of Government: Federalism and the Planning for the Response to Emergencies This paper will be in the form of a governmental response plan to the natural disaster: Hurricane Katrina. Early morning, on the 29th of August, 2005, USA's Gulf Coast was hit by the Hurricane Katrina. When it reached land, it was identified as having "Category 3" intensity, on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, bringing continuous winds of speeds
Schneider Case Study #3Hurricane Katrina in LouisianaOne of the most devastating catastrophes to strike America was Hurricane Katrina that hit Louisiana�s shore on 29th August 2005. This hurricane led to significant havoc and claimed over 1,800 lives (Schneider, 2011). One especially vulnerable city was New Orleans, since it already lies below sea level, although it did have protective measures in levees and floodwalls. But after the storm struck land, the
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