Through a refined curriculum designed around a set of core competencies , DRLA offers graduate level programs that equip individuals with a comprehensive view of the challenges and best practice approaches to leadership in the disaster resilience and humanitarian aid fields. It applies the knowledge of the context of disasters to leadership that results in resilient, sustainable, post-disaster communities. Students include current and future professionals from a variety of fields who want to develop and hone the skills needed to lead with confidence.
They are looking to start or expand careers in:. Stocking levels of critical materials are increased as storm season approaches. During Katrina, arrangements were made with other companies to provide at least five deployed storerooms at various staging areas. In one day, as many as 60 tractor trailer loads of materials were delivered, and 5, vehicles were fueled.
Average daily fuel consumption was about 80, gallons, with a peak one-day consumption of more than , gallons.
Many homes were destroyed, flooded, or severely damaged Table 3. Knowing that their families and homes were being taken care of enabled many employees to return to work quickly. Communication Communication is crucial in responding to disasters, especially communication with thousands of extra workers. Immediately following Katrina, neither land-based nor cellular phone service was available, and communication with outside restoration resources was very difficult.
For most of the 12 days it took to restore electric service, the only communication system in operation on the coast of Mississippi was SouthernLINC Wireless, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company.
Through this system, Mississippi Power was able to communicate internally and with other operating companies, which relayed messages to outside resources. Therefore, even though it sustained catastrophic damage, it was functioning at near pre-Katrina levels within three days, even with the added capacity to accommodate the dramatic spike in demand.
If communication circuits of another company were down, the information technology group found a way to bypass those circuits and restore critical communications. Vendors procured prior to Katrina were given instructions on where to set up and what to be prepared for, even if communications with Mississippi Power were not available after the storm.
Executing the Plan Mississippi Power began its damage assessment—the first phase of the disaster-restoration plan—as soon as the winds subsided to a safe level. The assessment indicated that the system had sustained far more damage than anticipated. The company needed more than twice that number.
Even as Katrina was still pounding Mississippi and Alabama, repair crews and trucks were rolling in from other states to begin immediate work on damage assessment and restoration.
Approximately 2, outside workers were pre-positioned on the fringe of the storm area ready to move in where needed, with clear authority and accountability for the jobs assigned.
Within 24 hours after Katrina, more than 75 percent of the electric system had been inspected on the ground and from the air. This was possible because of the pre-positioning of outside workers and advanced contracting with several aircraft for inspections. Through mutual-assistance agreements with utilities across the nation, workers from other utilities and contracting companies joined hundreds of company employees.
Within seven days after Katrina, 10, workers from 23 states and Canada were assisting Mississippi Power. These emergency workers were provided with housing, food, tetanus shots, and other necessities to make life as comfortable as possible for them under the circumstances. Six full-service tent cities were erected as temporary homes Figure 3.
Many line-crew personnel were put in charge of directing outside crews and handling restoration for feeder lines or entire areas. Because they were accustomed to making decisions, they were prepared to handle the increased responsibilities. For example, backup plans are in place for when outside suppliers for critical items, such as cots, tents, and food, are not available. After Katrina, the company brought in its own person armed security force to protect people and equipment. By the end of Day 5 September 3 , Mississippi Power was able to communicate to the public its commitment to restore service to every customer who could receive it by September This goal motivated everyone involved, and service was actually restored by September 10—just 12 days after Katrina hit.
Based on a military model, it sends members in teams of 10 to 14 to help nonprofit groups provide disaster relief, preserve the environment, build homes for low-income families, tutor children, and meet other challenges.
Because members are trained in CPR, first aid, and mass care, and can be assigned to new duties on short notice, they are particularly well suited to meet the emerging homeland security needs of the nation. Learn and Serve America provides grants to schools, colleges, and nonprofit groups to support efforts to engage students in community service linked to academic achievement and the development of civic skills.
This type of learning, referred to as service learning , improves communities while preparing young people for a lifetime of responsible citizenship. In addition to providing grants, Learn and Serve America serves as a resource on service and service learning to teachers, faculty members, schools, and community groups.
CNCS is an important initiative for homeland security efforts at the local community level because it provides a significant portion of the total federal funding that goes to volunteer organizations and local communities that are trying to improve their homeland security capabilities. These grants supported 37, volunteers for homeland security in public safety, public health, and disaster mitigation and preparedness.
The Homeland Security initiative aimed to engage young people aged 5 to 17 in planning for and responding to health, safety, and security concerns in their schools or communities, including natural disasters, school violence, medical emergencies, or terrorist acts.
Examples of activities supported included engaging students in service learning projects to develop school crisis plans, distributing preparedness kits, conducting school safety audits and drills, providing health education, inventory and maintain emergency supplies, or providing language assistance to non-English-speaking populations.
In February , CNCS announced the renewal of 13 AmeriCorps homeland security grants to support AmeriCorps members serving in public safety, public health, and disaster relief and preparedness projects across the country. The grantees included 12 state or local groups and 1 national organization, the American Red Cross. AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers specially trained in disaster relief have responded to disasters in more than 30 states.
The corporation has a long track record of working with FEMA and other relief agencies in helping run emergency shelters, assisting law enforcement, providing food and shelter, managing donations, and helping families and communities rebuild. CNCS quickly activated its local volunteer base to join the response to the disaster, and also deployed many of its volunteers from other states to take part in the response and recovery operations. Response to Hurricane Katrina constituted the single largest nonmilitary volunteer disaster response in the history of the United States.
Close to , volunteers took part in the response and recovery to Hurricane Katrina of which approximately 35, were participants of various CNCS programs.
Volunteers with diverse skills and training supported many important activities such as management of evacuee shelter operations, food services, basic health-care services, informing disaster victims on available governmental and nongovernmental benefits, and general postincident counseling services.
CNCS did not suspend its efforts in the hurricane-hit region after the response transformed into a long-term recovery operation. Volunteers got involved with donation collection, and warehouse management activities.
The corporation funded volunteer-pilot-operated airlifts to transport patients out of the area, reunite families, and bring in medical supplies to the region. In the later phases of the recovery effort volunteers collaborating with federal, state, and local response units; military units deployed to help with the recovery; and other nonprofit organizations and CNCS volunteers participated in debris removal, helped the elderly and the disabled, repaired damaged roofs, and staffed coordination offices.
American Red Cross response vehicles such as mobile kitchens were also staffed by volunteers in many instances. CNCS encouraged the volunteering of college students during their winter and spring breaks, and created opportunities for their direct involvement in the hardest hit areas as volunteers.
Those students participated in repair and reconstruction projects and enjoyed supporting local communities as they helped them recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina Corporation for National Community Service,, , Corporation for National Community Service,, a , Corporation for National Community Service,, b.
During that time frame, 17 grants were funded for a 3-year period and 12 grants were funded for a 2-year period CNCS, In Falcon Heights, Minnesota, a program that trains residents to respond to potential terrorist attacks is becoming a model for other cities and states. Paul exploring how Americans can protect their food supply, workplaces, and homes. The nation has strengthened security in many ways since the terror attacks of , yet it still needs a greater degree of readiness, he said.
Since the September 11 attacks, the residents of Falcon Heights have worked together to plan a response to terror attacks, Gehrz said. A neighborhood commission worked with the Red Cross to provide free first-aid training for 62 residents. Police have trained 11 residents how to direct traffic during emergencies. Others will receive 21 hours of training in how to respond to emergencies.
Following the tragic events that occurred on September 11, , state and local government officials have increased opportunities for citizens to become an integral part of protecting the homeland and supporting local first responders. Officials agree that the formula for ensuring a more secure and safer homeland consists of preparedness, training, and citizen involvement in supporting first responders.
In January , President George W. Citizen Corps, a vital component of USA Freedom Corps, was created to help coordinate volunteer activities that can make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to emergencies.
It provides opportunities for people to participate in a range of measures to make their families, their homes, and their communities safer from the threats of crime, terrorism, and disasters of all kinds.
The program trains citizens to be better prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities. When emergencies happen, CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims, and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site.
CERT members can also help with nonemergency projects that help improve the safety of the community. CERT training includes disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, and light search and rescue operations. As of , there were more than 2, CERT programs active in many states, counties, and communities nationwide.
Local community leaders develop their own MRC units and identify the duties of the MRC volunteers according to specific community needs. For example, MRC volunteers may deliver necessary public health services during a crisis, assist emergency response teams with patients, and provide care directly to those with less serious injuries and other health-related issues.
A relatively new partner program of the Citizen Corps initiative is the Fire Corps program. Its mission is to help career, volunteer, and combination fire departments supplement existing personnel resources by recruiting citizen advocates. The purpose of the program is to help fire departments expand existing programs — or assist in developing new ones — that recruit citizens who donate their time and talents to support the fire service in nonoperational roles.
Within the first 4 years of its existence, Fire Corps has expanded its organization to many states. Currently, the organization has a division advocate for all 7 divisions across the United States, and 52 state advocates that represent 28 states. The aim of the conference was to bring together local leaders from several states, leaders responsible for shaping homeland security programs and activities in their communities, with representatives from federal, state, local, nonprofit, private, and international organizations working on homeland security-related issues.
The conference allowed all these practitioners, participants, and representatives to voice their concerns and to share their experiences and gave them their first opportunity not only to work together to identify existing problems with homeland security at the local level but also to propose possible solutions to these problems. Four principal areas of concern on the community level emerged from the discussions in the conference:. To create more resources and to use available resources more effectively, the following ideas were developed in the conference:.
Suggestions for improving access to accurate and timely information regarding homeland security issues included the following:. In addition to the homeland security programming currently in place e. Several ideas were considered, including the following:. The existence of voluntary activities for homeland security, such as the SAFE conference, is important because such activities bring together different stakeholders, provide an opportunity to share expertise and best practices, and create an environment in which public—private partnerships can be initiated and brainstorming can occur.
Our responsibility is to prepare a community before a disaster and assist after a disaster strikes. We must train a cadre of emergency prepared individuals who will interface well with first responders. If you want people to listen to you, you have to go to where they live. Said Eileen Garry U. The raw numbers of people required for fundraising exhausts programs. The American Red Cross ARC has always been one of the most important partners of the federal, state, and local governments in disaster preparedness and relief operations.
At the same time, CPC volunteers focused on minimizing intolerance across the country by teaching international humanitarian law and the principles of the International Red Cross Movement humanity, independence, neutrality, impartiality, voluntary service, unity, and universality. Corps members also recruited and trained an estimated new volunteers and instructors who made the educational programs available to additional vulnerable communities.
Ultimately, corps members working through Red Cross chapters will create a network of hundreds of skilled volunteers across the country. Additional grants have since been awarded to Red Cross chapters nationwide. In California, funds have been dedicated to the implementation of homeland security measures in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento.
The Oregon Trail Chapter that was awarded a grant funding new volunteers will perform 1, hours of service to disaster preparedness.
Through the program these communities created disaster response plans. The southeast Pennsylvania chapter received a grant to create an alliance of more than nonprofits in the Philadelphia area to form the Southeast Pennsylvania Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster VOAD to help citizens prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters.
The ARC was the only nongovernmental organization that was invited to the discussions. Throughout , the Red Cross taught 11 million Americans critical life-saving skills such as first aid, water safety, caregiving, CPR, and the use of automated external defibrillators AEDs.
Those programs aim to create safer families and communities. Another initiative from the Red Cross involved expanding to diverse audiences with important preparedness and other information. To achieve this goal, the Red Cross expanded and detailed its Spanish-language website and first-aid and preparedness print materials. In cooperation with the CDC, the Red Cross initiated a multiyear project to develop and disseminate terrorism preparedness materials to the public. In , the year of several major hurricanes, some criticism emerged regarding the way the ARC handled its duties during those disasters.
In the days leading to the landfall of Hurricane Katrina at the shores of Florida, the ARC was initially praised for its proactive approach in prestaging volunteers and mass care resources, but as the disaster unfolded and showed its destructive face in larger geographies, issues concerning the ARC response to the disaster became more apparent.
A Government Accountability Office GAO study that looked at the relationship of the two agencies during and after Katrina sheds light on some of the specific issues. The ARC is directly responsible for mass care. This resulted in tensions between the ARC and FEMA, and in many instances undermined a very much needed partnership between the two agencies. Another issue that the ARC was criticized for was the frequently changing personnel at facilities that required ongoing working relationships with the staff of other agencies, primarily FEMA.
Also, since a significant portion of ARC personnel are volunteers, it is more difficult to engage those individuals in longer-term deployments than shorter ones. Nevertheless, it is also mentioned that ARC and FEMA are in the process of developing policies and procedures to formalize their agreement on seemingly gray areas of responsibility and ESF 6 operations. Regarding the issues of frequent ARC personnel changes in ESF 6, ARC reports that it has improved the content of its ESF 6 training and hired 14 permanent employees to be trained in ESF 6 procedures and deployed at strategic locations in multiple states to coordinate with state emergency management agencies and officials Government Accountability Office,, , Public Broadcasting Service,, , Department of Homeland Security,, Two other issues the ARC faced during its response to Hurricane Katrina were the fraudulent money transfers by some ARC subcontractors, and unacceptably long wait times on phone-based services.
ARC provides cash payments to disaster victims to help them get through the first few days of a disaster until other means of relief become available. During Hurricane Katrina, ARC established call centers manned by subcontractors to register and provide cash payments to hurricane victims using the money wiring services of a private contractor. The procedure did not have adequate checks and protection against fraudulent money transfers; therefore a group of employees working for the subcontractor staffing the call center found loopholes to transfer money to themselves and their relatives who were not victims of the hurricane.
None of those workers were actual ARC employees or volunteers. ARC has also been criticized by people trying to reach the call centers in that wait times were extremely long, and in many instances, hours.
Some experts explain those management problems are the result of the unique financial structure of the ARC, which heavily relies on donations; donors generally want their money spent strictly on direct assistance of hurricane victims rather than fixing administrative or managerial problems. This may minimize budgets to fix problems related to functions such as operations, finance, and accounting Washington Post, An influenza pandemic is regarded as potentially the next large disaster that may threaten the entire globe and require the involvement of many nations and the international community for effective mitigation, prevention, preparedness, and response.
Pandemic is the global outbreak of an infectious disease. The influenza pandemic is different from the seasonal flu in many ways. Among the differences are:. The urgency for influenza pandemic mitigation and preparedness has increased in the past few years primarily due to two important medical incidents that at least partially shared the characteristics of an influenza pandemic or carried the potential to evolve into a serious global pandemic.
These two incidents are SARS severe acute respiratory syndrome and avian influenza bird flu. While some characteristics of the two diseases seem to be similar, essentially the root causes and the contagious behavior of those diseases are different. While both are potentially fatal respiratory infections that initiated in animals and then made the jump to humans with similar flu-like symptoms such as fever and difficulty breathing, there are two major differences.
First, avian influenza is caused by a flu virus, whereas SARS has roots similar to the common cold. The second and more important difference is that SARS can be transmitted between humans, whereas in most cases of the avian flu, the transmission has occurred from a bird to a human. SARS originated in southern China in late In February , cases were reported in Hong Kong China.
In just a few days, cases were observed in Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, and Germany. Those cases caused deaths in 26 countries — most of which were in the Western Pacific. While most birds are vulnerable to the virus, many wild bird species carry the viruses with no apparent symptoms. H5N1 causes the most dangerous and fatal infections for humans. From to , human cases of the avian flu from 14 countries were reported to the World Health Organization, of which were fatal.
Indonesia and Vietnam had the highest numbers of human avian influenza deaths, with 94 and 47 lives lost, respectively. While H5N1 is still primarily a virus that can transmit from an infected bird to a human, cases of human-to-human transmission have been confirmed in at least three incidents in Thailand, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
In all of those instances, the transmission occurred through extended close contact caretaker and infected person. Scientists are not too concerned about this type of transmission, since it is highly preventable, but the possibility of a mutation in the virus genetic code that makes the transmission among humans much easier and faster is of real concern to public health officials see figure. Because the entire world is at risk of influenza pandemic, every country is expected to enable resources for preparedness and response in case of a potential outbreak.
The World Health Organization supports those efforts by making information, data, knowledge, expertise, research, and guidelines available to the international community.
The checklist is intentionally kept generic to ensure applicability in many nations with varying levels of resources and technical expertise. The checklist includes the following seven items:. Preparing for an emergency : This step involves the completion of preplanning activities such as the creation of political and public awareness regarding an influenza pandemic, the establishment of an overall preparedness strategy, and the appropriation of a budget adequate to sustain preparedness activities and to pay for resources deemed essential in the preparedness strategy.
Surveillance : Surveillance is one of the most critical steps of pandemic preparedness, as early detection of an outbreak is key to minimize further spread of the disease and initiation of a timely response. Unique and complex predictive procedures may be necessary to detect an outbreak in a timely fashion, which should effectively monitor and analyze multiple parameters that may be early signals of an upcoming influenza pandemic.
For example, constant monitoring of daily cases that report to hospitals with flu-like symptoms may help in the creation of confidence intervals that designate normal conditions and abnormal conditions that may be associated with an uncommon demand for medical care related to a new flu outbreak. Case investigation and treatment : This step ensures the creation of capability and resources to complete a first assessment of a virus when it shows signs of a known influenza strain.
Adequate laboratory capability is mandatory. Established communication mechanisms with the World Trade Organization and other relevant organizations should occur to disseminate valuable new information in a timely fashion. Guidelines on clinical treatment of the new case should be established along with adequate training for first-response personnel. Preventing spread of the disease in the community : Identification and initiation of postincident mitigation and prevention activities are crucial to stop dispersion of the disease to the general public, thus preventing an influenza pandemic outbreak.
Some of the activities involved in this step are restrictions to mobility, setup of checkpoints, creation of rules for hospital admissions, creation of a communication system with the general public, and identification of priority rules in case vaccination becomes necessary with a limited supply of vaccine or other preventive medical supplies. Maintaining essential services : Government organizations and other vital services should have internal organizational continuity plans to make sure that they can still provide the services the public expects from them even under the extreme operational conditions of an influenza pandemic outbreak.
Government agencies in most nations have laws that require them to develop continuity plans, but those plans should be revised and improved based on the unique sets of challenges that may be posed as a direct consequence of the pandemic outbreak. Research and evaluation : While countries dealing with an actual influenza pandemic outbreak are very likely to become stretched for resources, an actual outbreak is an important opportunity for research and data collection to improve existing strategies and to test control measures applied for their level of effectiveness.
Therefore, nations should make research and evaluation part of their response strategy and establish relationships and partnerships with other nations to ensure that scientific exchange among research communities is not impaired by the circumstances of the ongoing incident. Implementation, testing, and revision of national plan : Revision of the national plan for applicability and testing it to improve its use during an actual outbreak are necessary.
Make sure to set clear goals and measures of effectiveness that make progress evaluation of the plan easier during actual plan activation. The events of September 11 brought to light the importance of private-sector involvement in crisis, emergency, and disaster management.
Since that time, an ever-expanding list of private entities has begun focusing on their needs in this area. This section discusses the essentials of private-sector business continuity planning and disaster management. Most of the components discussed next have been learned as a result of experience with natural disasters or man-made accidents; however, the September 11 attacks have proved that those important components of classical crisis management are also important for terrorism risk management:.
Business impact analysis BIA : The management-level analysis by which an organization assesses the quantitative financial and qualitative nonfinancial impacts, effects, and loss that might result if the organization were to suffer a business-interrupting event. Performing BIA as a preparedness measure is important because findings from BIA are used to make decisions concerning business continuity management strategy. Crisis communications planning : Decision making about how crisis communications will be performed during an emergency is important because communication is a critical success factor for effective crisis management.
Preventing rumors about your corporation as well as telling your story before someone else does it for you is only possible via a predefined communication policy.
Information technology IT and systems infrastructure redundancy planning : There are different techniques and approaches regarding the enforcement of systems redundancy. Each company is unique, with its own IT and system needs and processes; therefore, customized approaches have to be employed to build more reliable systems infrastructure e. Geographic location and backup sites : The selection of the geographic location of headquarters and offices and the distribution of key executives in those buildings are strategically important decisions with regard to minimizing potential losses both human and physical during a disaster.
The availability of backup sites that allow employees to continue operations in case of physical loss of or damage to a primary facility is a key success factor, but, unfortunately, is usually difficult to justify in terms of cost and benefit. Transportation planning : The transportation infrastructure is one of the most sensitive infrastructures to emergency and disaster situations.
Overloaded transportation infrastructure during crisis is usually a reason for microdisasters in the midst of bigger ones. Therefore, realistic transportation planning is important for a successful response. Crisis leadership : Research and experience have shown that during crisis situations, people e. Strong leadership also helps people to regain self-esteem and motivates them to commit to the efforts to overcome the crisis.
Insurance : It is important for companies to have a feasible but protective insurance policy. Realistic risk assessments and modeling are necessary to establish this economic feasibility.
There surely are other components of private-sector risk mitigation and preparedness that are not mentioned in this text; however, these are the most important across the broad range of business types and sizes Kayyem and Chang, , Smith, The Department of Homeland Security released the following antiterror checklist for the private sector in its May Homeland Security Information Bulletin:. The act is in direct response to financial fraud discovered in the cases of both Enron and WorldCom.
However, it was created to cover issues beyond fraud establishing a public company accounting oversight board, auditor independence, corporate responsibility, and enhanced financial disclosure , and is now a driving force behind corporate business continuity planning. Although the phrase business continuity planning is not once mentioned in the language of the act, continuity professionals claim that Section of the act implies that such measures must be taken for compliance.
Section of the act reads as follows:. An attestation made under this subsection shall be made in accordance with standards for attestation engagements issued or adopted by the Board.
Section of the Sarbanes—Oxley Act requires companies to include an internal control report that states the responsibility of management for establishing and maintaining an adequate internal controls structure and procedures for financial reporting in their annual report. In addition, it requires management to ensure that the effectiveness of the internal control structure is assessed on an annual basis. Compliance with the act became effective in April for most companies.
Even though the section still focuses on financial record management and process control, in order to really ensure those things, it is almost a prerequisite for the company to ensure adequate protection and continuity of its entire core processes. To protect the financial processes and records from misconduct or fraud, and to ensure data integrity and resilience, the first step is to identify the risks, threats, and vulnerabilities that may endanger those expectations defined by the act. This is possible through a comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessment followed by a BIA to identify the business consequences of possible adverse incidents.
The BIA is usually considered as one of the main building blocks of business continuity planning, because its findings usually help the corporations identify and prioritize the risks it has to mitigate, and provide an understanding of recovery goals. At present, it is too early to comment on whether there is full consensus between what the Sarbanes—Oxley Act demands from corporations and how the corporations interpret those expectations and what they are going to do about it.
But it is true that business continuity concepts will adequately address some of the expectations of the act. Business continuity service providers seem to capitalize on this connection and enlarge the market for their services and products.
The fact that the Sarbanes—Oxley Act places responsibility for compliance on top management makes it inevitable that these corporations will increase investments aimed at compliance. Business continuity is one of the answers. However, the thousands of people in New Orleans who were either unable to move due to health reasons or lack of transportation, or who simply did not choose to comply with the mandatory evacuation order, had significant difficulty finding suitable shelter after the hurricane had devastated the city.
Overall, Federal, State, and local plans were inadequate for a catastrophe that had been anticipated for years. Despite the vast shortcomings of the Superdome and other shelters, State and local officials had no choice but to direct thousands of individuals to such sites immediately after the hurricane struck. The Federal shortfall resulted from a lack of interagency coordination to relocate and house people.
Using established Federal core competencies and all available resources, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, in coordination with other departments of the Executive Branch with housing stock, should develop integrated plans and bolstered capabilities for the temporary and long-term housing of evacuees. The American Red Cross and the Department of Homeland Security should retain responsibility and improve the process of mass care and sheltering during disasters.
The many professionals at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA and the National Hurricane Center worked with diligence and determination in disseminating weather reports and hurricane track predictions as described in the Pre-landfall chapter.
However, more could have been done by officials at all levels of government. Further, without timely, accurate information or the ability to communicate, public affairs officers at all levels could not provide updates to the media and to the public. It took several weeks before public affairs structures, such as the Joint Information Centers, were adequately resourced and operating at full capacity.
In the meantime, Federal, State, and local officials gave contradictory messages to the public, creating confusion and feeding the perception that government sources lacked credibility.
On September 1, conflicting views of New Orleans emerged with positive statements by some Federal officials that contradicted a more desperate picture painted by reporters in the streets. The Department of Homeland Security should develop an integrated public communications plan to better inform, guide, and reassure the American public before, during, and after a catastrophe.
The Department of Homeland Security should enable this plan with operational capabilities to deploy coordinated public affairs teams during a crisis. First, the NRP-guided response did not account for the need to coordinate critical infrastructure protection and restoration efforts across the Emergency Support Functions ESFs. In fact, the Federal government created confusion by responding to individualized requests in an inconsistent manner. For example, an energy company arranged to have generators shipped to facilities where they were needed to restore the flow of oil to the entire mid-Atlantic United States.
However, FEMA regional representatives diverted these generators to hospitals. While lifesaving efforts are always the first priority, there was no overall awareness of the competing important needs of the two requests. Fourth, the Federal government lacked the timely, accurate, and relevant ground-truth information necessary to evaluate which critical infrastructures were damaged, inoperative, or both.
The FEMA teams that were deployed to assess damage to the regions did not focus on critical infrastructure and did not have the expertise necessary to evaluate protection and restoration needs. Federal, State, and local officials need an implementation plan for critical infrastructure protection and restoration that can be shared across the Federal government, State and local governments, and with the private sector, to provide them with the necessary background to make informed preparedness decisions with limited resources.
The Department of Homeland Security, working collaboratively with the private sector, should revise the National Response Plan and finalize the Interim National Infrastructure Protection Plan to be able to rapidly assess the impact of a disaster on critical infrastructure. We must use this knowledge to inform Federal response and prioritization decisions and to support infrastructure restoration in order to save lives and mitigate the impact of the disaster on the Nation.
The Federal clean-up effort for Hurricane Katrina was an immense undertaking. The storm impact caused the spill of over seven million gallons of oil into Gulf Coast waterways. Additionally, it flooded three Superfund 81 sites in the New Orleans area, and destroyed or compromised numerous drinking water facilities and wastewater treatment plants along the Gulf Coast. While this response effort was commendable, Federal officials could have improved the identification of environmental hazards and communication of appropriate warnings to emergency responders and the public.
For example, the relatively small number of personnel available during the critical week after landfall were unable to conduct a rapid and comprehensive environmental assessment of the approximately 80 square miles flooded in New Orleans, let alone the nearly 93, square miles affected by the hurricane. Competing priorities hampered efforts to assess the environment. Moreover, although the process used to identify environmental hazards provides accurate results, these results are not prompt enough to provide meaningful information to responders.
Furthermore, there must be a comprehensive plan to accurately and quickly communicate this critical information to the emergency responders and area residents who need it. State and local governments are normally responsible for debris removal. However, in the event of a disaster in which State and local governments are overwhelmed and request assistance, the Federal government can provide two forms of assistance: debris removal by the U.
Hurricane Katrina created an estimated million cubic yards of debris. In just five months, 71 million cubic yards of debris have been removed from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. In comparison, it took six months to remove the estimated 20 million cubic yards of debris created by Hurricane Andrew. However, the unnecessarily complicated rules for removing debris from private property hampered the response. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security should work with its State and local homeland security partners to plan and to coordinate an integrated approach to debris removal during and after a disaster.
Our experience with the tragedies of September 11th and Hurricane Katrina underscored that our domestic crises have international implications. One hundred fifty-one nations and international organizations offered financial or material assistance to support relief efforts. Not surprisingly, foreign governments sought information regarding the safety of their citizens.
We were not prepared to make the best use of foreign support. Some foreign governments sought to contribute aid that the United States could not accept or did not require. In other cases, needed resources were tied up by bureaucratic red tape.
Absent an implementation plan for the prioritization and integration of foreign material assistance, valuable resources went unused, and many donor countries became frustrated. Nor did we have the mechanisms in place to provide foreign governments with whatever knowledge we had regarding the status of their nationals. Despite the fact that many victims of the September 11, , tragedy were foreign nationals, the NRP does not take into account foreign populations e.
In addition, Federal, State, and local emergency response officials have not included assistance to foreign nationals in their response planning. Many foreign governments, as well as the family and friends of foreign nationals, looked to the Department of State for information regarding the safety and location of their citizens after Hurricane Katrina. The absence of a central system to manage and promptly respond to inquires about affected foreign nationals led to confusion.
The Department of State, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, should review and revise policies, plans, and procedures for the management of foreign disaster assistance. In addition, this review should clarify responsibilities and procedures for handling inquiries regarding affected foreign nationals. Over the course of the Hurricane Katrina response, a significant capability for response resided in organizations outside of the government.
Non-governmental and faith-based organizations, as well as the private sector all made substantial contributions.
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