Crisis Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Crisis Management - Essay Example governments all over the world have initiated disaster management programs that are focused upon providing early warning signs about an imminent disaster and have also introduced action plans to educate members of the public and make them aware of measures they need to institute in order to be effectively prepared in the event of a natural disaster occurring. While there have been several disasters in the United States, one of the most memorable ones is the Katrina disaster, which resulted in losses of life and property that could have been easily prevented. Federalism is the system whereby certain portfolios are designated under State authority while others such as defense are under the Federal Government’s control. The Katrina disaster caused havoc in the state of Louisiana in particular and has come under sharp criticism because it was ineffectively managed. There was a lack of effective coordination between federal and State agencies in executing the Disaster Management Plan that was already in place. The FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in the United States has been subject to sharp criticism on account of its bungling and mismanagement of the Katrina disaster which struck on August 29th, highlighted especially in the incident at the Convention Center in New Orleans where 25,000 people remained stranded for four days before they were rescued.(www.abc.go.com). The State of Louisiana has an exhaustive Hurricane Disaster Plan. [Tapscott, 2005] which called for citizens to be evacuated early, however, none of the guidelines were followed, neither did the FEMA respond quickly and effectively to the disaster [Editorial, 2005]. Losses of life and property have been reported on an unprecedented scale. Although Federal response to disasters had already been initiated in past years for flood and earthquake control, the efforts were still largely decentralized until 1979 when the FEMA came into being. The Katrina problems however, arose because of