Chapter Chapter 4
Section Conclusion
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Conclusion
Hurricane Katrina necessitated a national response that Federal, State, and local officials were unprepared to provide. The methods that had been employed successfully for the 243 previous major disaster declarations since January 2001 proved inadequate for Hurricane Katrina’s magnitude.248 The Federal response suffered from significant organization and coordination problems during this week of crisis. The lack of communications and situational awareness had a debilitating effect on the Federal response. Even after coordinating elements were in place, Federal departments and agencies continued to have difficulty adapting their standard procedures to this catastrophic incident. The Federal government’s problems responding to Hurricane Katrina illustrate greater systemic weaknesses inherent in our current national preparedness system: the lack of expertise in the areas of response, recovery, and reconstruction. Insufficient planning, training, and interagency coordination are not problems that began and ended with Hurricane Katrina. The storm demonstrated the need for greater integration and synchronization of preparedness efforts, not only throughout the Federal government, but also with the State and local governments and the private and non-profit sectors as well.
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