Leadership During Hurrican Katrina - 839 Words

Hurricane Katrina was the storm of the century. Hurricane Sandy earned the nickname Super storm Sandy. If anyone had any doubts as to what Mother Nature is capable of, these storms are perfect examples of the fury she can dish out here on planet Earth. The sheer amount of energy those storms had is almost incomprehensible. Katrina had sustained winds of 174 mph and wave heights of over 40 feet in some places. (Knabb) Sandy had winds of 115 mph and dumped over 10 inches of rain (Blake). By all measures, they were both extremely powerful weather systems capable of taking lives. While Super storm Sandy directly killed 148 people, Hurricane Katrina killed 1,200 (United States). The main difference being who the leaders were. The states were the clear leaders during Hurricane Sandy as they should have been. They knew what they needed and they were willing to articulate those needs at the federal level. The federal government has never been good at seeing to the day to day needs of everyday citizens. It was not set up to do so. That role has always been delegated to the states. For some reason during Katrina state and local authorities decided it was the other way around and they suffered for it. Katrina was not only a perfect storm in nature, it was also a perfect storm on all levels of government. During the crisis of hurricane Katrina there was not a clear chain of command. State and local Leaders were looking toward the federal government for leadership in the reliefShow MoreRelatedHurricane Katrina And The New Orleans Police Department1412 Words   |  6 PagesOne of the most horrific storms that ever hit the United States was Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was classified a category five hurricane, which is the worst category a hurricane can be. Since the winds in this category storm will go faster than 157 miles per hour, a category five hurricane means appalling damage will occur. When such a deadly disaster occurs, people look to their government and local officials for help, however, the local police, the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), did not doRead MoreThe Goals of Community Organizing Essay1402 Words   |  6 Pagesgroups; bringing about social justice obtaining, maintaining or restructuring power; developing alternative institutions; and maintaining or revitalizing neighborhoods (Kuyek, 2011). In the wake of the devastating ï ¬â€šooding that followed Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, community organization prospers. Some of this organizing involves addressing and transforming racial and class inequities. As mentioned before local groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) undertook these social development