Hurricane Katrina and Use of the Incident Command System

Situation
Hurricane Katrina began on Tuesday August 23, 2005, as Tropical Depression 12. National Weather Service reported "data from an Air Force Reserve unit reconnaissance aircraft...along with observations from the Bahamas and nearby ships...indicate the broad low pressure are over the southeastern Bahamas has become organized enough to be classified as Tropical Depression Twelve" (Tropical Depression Twelve, 2005).

At this point, Louisiana Governor Blanco's staff began tracking the storm. New Orleans net reported "Governor Blanco instructs Ryder to alert her the moment he learns of a tropical depression. Once a tropical depression develps into a tropical storm...Ryder begins providing regular updates while tracking the storm on software provided by the Center" (Governor Blanco's Katrina Documents, n.d.).

Tropical Depression Twelve quickly expanded into Tropical Storm Katrina. On Wednesday August 24, 2005, National Weather Service reported "satellite imagery...Doppler radar data from the Bahamas and Miami...and reconnaissance wind data indicate TD-12 has become much better organized this morning and strengthened into Tropical Storm Katrina" (Tropical Storm Katrina, 2005). At this time, Tropical Storm Katrina was forecasted to cross the southern Florida Pennisula.

In the early evening of Thursday August 25, 2005, Tropical Storm Katrina became Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on southern Florida. National Weather Service reported "...strengthening Hurricane Katrina bearing down on the southeast coast of Florida...new warnings and watches issued for Florida" (Hurricane Katrina Advisory Number 9, 2005). Hurricane Katrina was a Category 1 hurricane when it made landfall in Florida.

Hurricane Katrina entered the Gulf Coast and quickly strengthened. At 11:30 AM on Friday August 26, 2005 Hurricane Katrina was upgraded to Category 2. National Weather Service stated "recent reports from an Air Force Reserve unit hurricane hunter aircraft now indicate maximum sustained winds are near 100 mph...Katrina is now a category two hurricane on" (Special Advisory Number 13, 2005).

Governor Blanco issued a state emergency declaration at 5:00 PM on Friday August 26, 2005. Governor Blanco's emergency activated the state's emergency management plans and placed all necessary assets under the Director of the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Evacuations were being considered as early as Friday. KSLA News reported "Hawkins said the governor is holding a conference call among state agencies starting at 5pm Friday...decisions about possible evacuations will likely be made during that conference call.

Saturday August 27, 2005, President Bush issued a Presidential Declaration for the Gulf Coast region including Louisiana. At 4:00 p.m., Governor Blancho issued an order to begin Contraflow to aid anyone evacuating the area. Mayor Nagin issued a voluntary evacuation order at 5:00 pm. Mayor Nagin expressed concerns over the city's legal liability of issuing a mandatory evacuation.

FEMA began pre-positioning federal assets on Saturday. The congressional investigation into Hurricane Katrina found:

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) positioned an unprecedented number of resources in affected areas prior to Katrina's landfall. Indeed, FEMA's efforts far exceeded any previous operation in the agency's history. A staggering total of 11,322,000 liters of water,
18,960,000 pounds of ice, 5,997,312 meals ready to eat (MREs), and 17 truckloads of tarps were staged at various strategic locations in and near the Gulf region prior to Katrina's landfall. FEMA also pre-positioned 18 disaster medical teams, medical supplies and equipment, and nine
urban search and rescue task forces (US&R) and incident support teams. Rapid Needs Assessment Teams also were deployed to Louisiana on the Saturday before landfall. In Louisiana alone, on August 28, a total of 36 trucks of water (18,000 liters per truck) and 15 trucks of MREs
(21,888 per truck) were pre-staged at Camp Beauregard" (Pre-Landfall Preparation and Hurricane Katrina, 2005).

Saturday evening, Governor Blancho and Mayor Nagin were contacted by the National Weather Service concerning Hurricane Katrina. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Tamara Lush of the St. Petersburg Herald did an interview with National Hurricane Center's director Max Mayfield. Lush states, "On Saturday night, Mayfield was so worried about Hurricane Katrina that he called the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi and the mayor of New Orleans" (For forecasting chief, no joy in being right, 2005).

Hurricane Katrina continued to strengthen through Saturday night and into Sunday. At 1:00 a.m., the National Weather Service declared Hurricane Katrina a category 4 hurricane. At 8:00 a.m., National Weather Service raised Hurricane Katrina to a category 5 hurricane. At 10:00 a.m., Mayor Nagin issues a mandatory evacuation order. Sunday afternoon, Governor Blancho issued a letter to President Bush asking for federal assistance. Mayor Nagin established the Superdome as a "shelter of last resort".
Five Major Organization Activities

Management -
Hurricane Katrina affected a large portion of the Gulf Coast. Geography in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas were damaged. In Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness was in charge at the state level. City of New Orleans Office of Emergency Management was led by Mayor Nagin. City of New Orleans was responsible for issuing evacuation orders, getting out public information about the storm (before landfall), identifying needs, and providing for life safety, incident stabilization, and property conservation (after landfall. City of New Orleans responders were being supplemented by the State of Louisiana Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Federal Emergency Management Agency was tasked with supplementing the Gulf Coast region which included the state of Louisiana.

Operations -
Fire Departments involved included New Orleans City Fire Department, numerous mutual aid agencies from surrounding parishes.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) involved included New Orleans City Ambulance, numerous mutual aid agencies from across the country. Ambulance crews were distributed from Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and as far away as California.

Law enforcement agencies involved included New Orleans Police Department, Louisiana State Highway Patrol, , Louisiana Fish and Wildlife, and numerous other law enforcement agencies provided officers.

Government agencies involved included Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. FBI, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Public Health Service

Support services involved included American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Emergency Response, Citizen Corps, Medical Reserve Corps, Americorps, and numerous other volunteer agencies.

Planning and Intelligence -
Government officials (at all levels) were receiving intelligence about Hurricane Katrina's potential. Government had to rely on reports from the National Weather Service to decide the actions for their geographic area. National Weather Service provided the information they had as quickly as it was available. Local and state government issued warnings and even evacuation recommends. These recommendations were on a shorter than optimal timeframe but gave people time to get out. Local and state government in Louisiana did not make these evacuations mandatory in time to get everyone out.

Logistics -
Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Buildings in large portions of the Mississppi and Louisiana were dessimated. Gulf Port Mississippi was almost wiped completely clean of any standing building. New Orleans survived the initial storm, howerver, their levies did not hold against the winds. A barge broke from its moorings and slammed through a levy wall in the lower 9th ward. Due to the warning time, some resources at the local and state levels had been activated. Federal resources had been put on alert but not moved into the state due to the lack of specific requests from the Louisiana Governor.

Once the storm hit and the levies broke, many response agencies did not wait for specific requests along ICS lines. Federal government sent in multiple agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard, military, FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Teams, Border Patrol, and many more to help in any way they could.

Finance and Administration -
Who will pay for what is still being debated. Due to the size and scope of the incident a Presidential Disaster Declaration was declared. This declaration gives FEMA the ability to cover a large portion of many costs. The issues with funding have come from unusual requests for funding. For instance, the City of New Orleans had a request for casinos to be built in their recovery plan. The city did not have casinos before Hurricane Katrina.

Assessment
Media outlets were in the Gulf Coast well before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Shortly after the levies broke in New Orleans, media stories began to place blame for people being stranded, evacuees left on bridges, even whether they should be called refugees or displaced persons. Media outlets quickly decided that the blame should be placed with the federal government. One major outlet even ran an interview with a resident that stated the levies were not breached. He stated the President had them blown up.

Media coverage of the federal government's response forget one important fact. Federal Emergency Management Agency was not created as a first response agency. In keeping with the U.S. Constitution, first response power was meant to be kept at the states. Federal Emergency Management Agency was created to support the state agencies monetarily. When I began my career FEMA's emergency planning course referred to FEMA as a "checkbook". Along with our societies beliefs, this course has drastically changed. Geography, size of our nation, and cost are all factors that hinder FEMA from becoming a first response agency.

With the intent of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in mind, let us consider the local and state government actions. Emergency Management begins with preparation. City of New Orleans did have an emergency plan before Katrina. However, the plan gave only lip service to evacuation, and did not mention any faults in the levies in the hazard assessment. State of Louisiana had a plan for large scale evacuations. Their plan did not take into account that many citizens would ignore the warning and what to do in that event. Mandatory evacuations can assist with this. However, the governor and mayor were reluctant to issue them.

These are just a few issues with the response to Hurricane Katrina. One of the most important lessons that needs to be learned in that emergency management begins and ends locally. Local, county, and state governments have to prepare to protect their populations to the best of their ability. This includes devising volunteer systems and training that are capable of supplementing career first responders. When this is complete, the federal government can then step in and provide the funding to activate and pay these individuals during an emergency.

References
Tropical Depression Twelve. National Weather Service Retrieved on April 5, 2009 from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al122005.discus.001.shtml?
Tropical Storm Katrina. National Weather Service Retrieved on April 5, 2009 from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al122005.discus.004.shtml?
Advisory Number 9. National Weather Service Retrieved on April 5, 2009 from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/pub/al122005.public.009.shtml?
Special Advisory Number 13. National Weather Service Retrieved on April 5, 2009 from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/pub/al122005.public.013.shtml?
Governor Blanco's Katrina Documents. NOLA.com Retrieved April 5, 2009 from http://www.nola.com/katrina/viewhtml.ssf?/katrina/blancodocs/govsresponse.html