Hurricane Katrina, the Stafford Act, and the National Response Framework

It is essential to implement effective disaster preparedness plans to improve response to emergencies. However, disaster management requires proper coordination of human resources and infrastructure to safeguard properties and protect lives. The US has formulated laws and regulations besides empowering its agencies to mitigate risks and respond to disasters. The Stafford Act, in particular, regulates the federal government, states, and their organizations in response to emergencies. However, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, raised concerns on the US disaster preparedness and response plans. This landmark event led to the establishment of the National Response Framework (NRF) to provide unified disaster management guidelines. However, the implementation of NRF has enhanced disaster preparedness and emergency response, but more strategies are necessary, especially in the wake of heightened risks, calamities, and catastrophes.

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The lessons that the United States learned from Hurricane Katrina led to the formulation of the National Response Framework. According to Jackson (2014), the US response to the disaster was devastating and pointed out weaknesses in its emergency response agencies. The author, in this case, noted that the event revealed ineffective coordination between the states and the federal government agencies in mobilizing their resources for a robust response. The concerns regarding the performance of the systems in place besides laws and regulations led to the overhaul of the National Response Plan (NRP). In other words, the legislative amendments on the Stafford Act let to the establishment of the NRF, which came into effect in 2008.

Hurricane Katrina is the main landmark event that triggered the establishment of the NRF (Moynihan, 2009). According to the author, Hurricane Katrina is the worst natural disaster among living Americans. Over 1,800 people died during this event, which affected 92,000 square miles. Moynihan (2009) noted that many people died since they were left homeless and without supplies such as food. This situation suggests poor disaster management strategies, the inefficiency of the Department of Homeland Security (DMS), and the National Response Plan.

However, there were numerous emergency declarations and warnings before the landfall, but disaster management agencies still failed to manage significant risk factors (Moynihan, 2009). In other words, the responders such as the DMH were unable to strategize on appropriate levels of preparation through effective utilization of warning information. Also, such organizations failed to mitigate the effects of the impending disasters by minimizing risks. A critical weakness underlying the US intergovernmental disaster management system was a lack of institutional capacity to prepare and respond to national emergencies (Whiting, 2009).

The National Response Framework has streamlined issues and weaknesses that caused failure in managing the Hurricane Katrina of 2005. Bazan (2005) noted that the provisions of the NRF guide all the responses to disasters regardless of their impacts, size, or cause. NRF has 14 distinct Emergency Support Functions (ESF) to enhance the federal government's disaster response capability (McCarthy, Brown, Lindsay, & Petruzzelli, 2013). The elements of the ESF empower all the government agencies through resource allocation, pertinent authorities, and technical expertise to strengthen their ability during disasters. ESF 9 for instance, unifies all the federal agencies towards a shared mission of implementing operations to 'search and rescue' the population during terrorist attacks, earthquakes, hurricanes, or any other disaster (McCarthy et al., 2013). Thus, the components of the Emergency Support Functions address critical issues that contributed to the failure of disaster response plans during Hurricane Katrina.

Although the Stafford Act is closely linked with the NRF, the National Response Framework is distinct and thus does not require the declaration of the Stafford Act (McCarthy et al., 2013). Precisely, the NRF is independent and always in effect without further reference to the Stafford Act. The disasters declared under the federal authorities, and those that require the federal government's coordination are managed through the NRF. Therefore, the structures of the National Response Framework guide all disaster management operations across the non-governmental organizations, local governments, tribes, states, and federal agencies.

However, the Stafford Act supports NRF disaster management initiatives. It authorizes the delivery of logistical, financial, and technical assistance to localities during emergencies. The act provides for the establishment of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which supports the states in disaster response by providing relief assistance. Arguably, the existence of this organization would have prevented the deaths of more people during Hurricane Katrina, where hundreds passed away for lacking critical supplies. Also, the Stafford Act provides for the Presidential Declaration to prevent severe damage and loss of lives. This component empowers the president to declare disasters in response to adverse incidences affecting the people (Bazan, 2005). The Presidential Declaration thus is essential since it authorizes the release of more funds and disaster relief assistance as appropriated by Congress.

Conclusively, there are needs to protect humanity, especially from threats that result from pollution, accidents, and natural calamities. These components adversely impact on national resilience, infrastructure, economic stability, and the people's well-being. The United States, however, experienced weak disaster management efforts during Hurricane Katrina. The federal and state agencies failed to save lives through proper management of critical risk factors because of poor engagement among disaster response agencies. Hurricane Katrina is a landmark event that led to the transformation of emergency response systems through the formulation of the NRF. The Stafford Act enhance NRF Emergency Support Functions through the Presidential Declaration, which authorizes more support in the form of funds and relief assistance during disasters and emergencies.

References

Bazan, E. B. (2005, September). Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act: Legal requirements for federal and state roles in declarations of an emergency or a major disaster. Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress.

Retrieved 19 July 2019, from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl33090.pdf/url/ Jackson, B. A. (2014). Applying Lessons Learned from Past Response Operations to Strengthening National Preparedness. Retrieved 19 July 2019, from https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/testimonies/CT400/CT411/RAND_CT411.pdf/url/

McCarthy, F. X., Brown, J. T., Lindsay, B. R., & Petruzzelli, J. (2013). Congressional primer on responding to major disasters and emergencies. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 19 July 2019, from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R41981.pdf/url/

Moynihan, D. P. (2009). The response to Hurricane Katrina. International Risk Governance

Council, Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved 19 July 2019, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1afc/fecb50d9e95433e8bc9e6df823e976a45a71.pdf/url/

Whiting, W. (2009). Hurricane Katrina: Risk Communication in Response to a Natural Disaster. Effective Risk Communication, 77-89. DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-79727-4_6