Verified Document

Hurricane Katrina: Public Policy Environmental Thesis

If this happened, the city would be flooded, leaving all its citizens without the necessary transportation to leave. When Katrina approached, however, the government, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, took no action to help citizens evacuate the city before the hurricane struck. Instead, the clear warnings issues in this regard were simply ignored. Indeed, even after the hurricane struck and the danger became more than potential, government response was delayed for a further two days. In addition, Kay notes that the local government in the city also had no evacuation plan in place when the hurricane struck.

Kay and other critics blame presidential and government incompetence for the consequences of the disaster. Kay also names the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq as evidence of this incompetence as well as lack of accountability for the disaster. The main reason for the government's lack of response, according to Kay, appears to be its incompetence and lack of preparation despite full knowledge of the impending disaster.

IV. SOCIAL ISSUES

Forman and Lewis (2006) identify Hurricane Katrina not only as a natural disaster, but also a social one. The authors estimate that at least one in five of the city's residents had no private vehicle to use as escape in the event of a hurricane. In addition to ignoring the lack of adequate infrastructure in the city, the specific plight of the poor was also not taken into account via an adequate evacuation plan. The authors emphasize that the documented lack of attention to these details is merely symptomatic of a deeper social ill: the long-term neglect and disenfranchisement of the poor throughout the United States. It is this long-term perpetuation of ignoring the plight of the poor that contributed to the death and suffering after hurricane Katrina. The authors however note that this should not be localized only to New Orleans, but rather that the disaster has exposed the hidden truth of countrywide poverty.

The extreme poverty of these communities throughout the country is the result of centuries of racial and ethnic inequality perpetuated...

Indeed, this ignorance and apathy exacerbated the effect of the disaster and subsequent living conditions of the poor.
V. CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS believe that the events and tragedies surrounding the Katrina disaster were unnecessary and can be mitigated in the future. The United States is one of the richest countries in the world. The true disaster is the prevalence of the extreme poverty levels in the country. In order to avoid a repetition of hurricane Katrina, the poverty issue should be the main focus of mitigation measures in terms of all four issues addressed above, namely the environmental, the economic, the governmental, and the social level. All these issues integrated to the cumulative events surrounding Katrina. The government should then focus on mitigating poverty by addressing it from an environmental and social perspective. The poor should be taught to use the environment in a sustainable way to create business and work opportunities for themselves. In this way, they can also be empowered, helped, and indeed help themselves whenever disaster strikes. The main problem was one of poverty; if poverty is addressed, the other issues will be mitigated.

Sources

Esworthy, Robert, Shierow, Linda-Jo, Copeland, Claudia, Luther Linda & Ramseur, Jonathan L. (2006, May 3). Cleanup After Hurricane Katrina: Environmental Considerations. CRS Report for Congress. http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/06may/RL33115.pdf

Forman, Tyrone a. & Lewis, Amanda E. (2006). Racial Apathy and Hurricane Katrina: The Social Anatomy of Prejudice in the Post-Civil Rights Era. Du Bois Review, 3:1, pp. 175-202. http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=462994

Isidore, Chris. (2005, Sept. 6). Katrina's growing economic impact. New York: CNN/Money. http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/02/news/economy/katrina_widerimpact/index.htm?cnn=yes

Kay, Joe. (2006, Feb. 14). Congressional report condemns government response to Hurricane Katrina. World Socialist Web Site. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/katr-f14.shtml

Sources used in this document:
Sources

Esworthy, Robert, Shierow, Linda-Jo, Copeland, Claudia, Luther Linda & Ramseur, Jonathan L. (2006, May 3). Cleanup After Hurricane Katrina: Environmental Considerations. CRS Report for Congress. http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/06may/RL33115.pdf

Forman, Tyrone a. & Lewis, Amanda E. (2006). Racial Apathy and Hurricane Katrina: The Social Anatomy of Prejudice in the Post-Civil Rights Era. Du Bois Review, 3:1, pp. 175-202. http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=462994

Isidore, Chris. (2005, Sept. 6). Katrina's growing economic impact. New York: CNN/Money. http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/02/news/economy/katrina_widerimpact/index.htm?cnn=yes

Kay, Joe. (2006, Feb. 14). Congressional report condemns government response to Hurricane Katrina. World Socialist Web Site. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/katr-f14.shtml
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Hurricane Sandy: Issues and Arguments
Words: 1321 Length: 4 Document Type: Research Paper

So that is one step we can take. Here is a different one. Nowadays we regularly file environmental impact statements showing the insinuation for the environment of this or that responsibility (a new strip mine, an undeveloped establishment another airport, a dump yard…you can provide any one of hundreds of examples). We ought to in this similar fashion file statements showing the force of real estate development; the building of structures,

Environmental Problems and Environment
Words: 1933 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

Sustainability More About Politics Than Science? The environment is a word which refers to the natural effects around us including the atmosphere, seas and oceans, rocks and mountains, plants, ice formations, human beings, stars and several others. These effects are best left in their natural state because when they get disturbed, they could have serious consequences on the atmosphere, electricity, water, weather, fire and the earth's magnetism. Sadly, this is

Analysis: Hurricane Sandy and Katrina
Words: 3679 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy Tropical cyclones can badly destroy settlements and structures along the coast. Recent destructive tropical cyclones such as the 2005 Katrina and the Sandy which happened in 2012 affirm that the destruction caused by a land-falling tropical cyclone is not merely dependent on its categorization on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. The hurricane Sandy of 2012 caused a lot of destruction. Only the hurricane Katrina which happened in

Threat of Terrorism Weighing Public Safety in Seattle
Words: 5948 Length: 17 Document Type: Case Study

Terrorism in Seattle Even before the World Trade Center attack in September, 2011, most major cities in the United States were not only aware, but anticipatory regarding the potential for a terrorist attack. Seattle has been fortunate in that it has never experienced an actual international attack, but has had three major domestic incidents since 1999 that continue to be in the minds of Emergency Management professionals. In 1999, Ahmed Ressam,

Global Warming-Carbon Emissions Environmental Science
Words: 2003 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Switching to solar heating would make a profound change, for heating and hot water can be heated freely and cleanly from the sun. By switching to energy efficient heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration, the greatest power users, consumers could have a huge impact on emissions. Changing to hybrid, fuel-efficient cars, public transportation and walking, when feasible, would have a profound impact on human-created carbon emissions. Penalizing and rewarding consumers and

Human Geography - Aftermath of
Words: 838 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

New Orleans is not alone in exposure to dangerous hurricanes and associated flooding. The worst hurricane in terms of loss of life was that in Galveston, Texas in 1905, which killed over 6,000 people. Galveston at the time was the second-largest city in Texas; subsequent population movements emptied the city in favor of Houston, which was inland, and therefore much less susceptible to flooding. Houston's town planners pushed for and

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now