1.what role did the national, state and Local Government have in preventing, mitigating and reacting to Hurricane Katrina?
The national government can't really prevent a hurricane but they can prepare for it. They need to have a plan when things like this happen, and they need to communicate with both state and local governments to make sure they are all on the same page. The local government is responsible for getting the people out of doge and warning them ahead of time. Then the state government played a valuable role in taking action and providing assistance after the disaster happened including food and shelter.
2. Evaluate how each level of government performed its duties. Be specific and back up your points with facts and logic.
The local government did not live up to its full duties because they failed to do the following:
- Proper evacuation
- They did not communicate with the citizens
- They did not have and buses
- No reliable resources
State: They did not communicate with the local government and help with a better evacuation plan because the one that's was in place at the time caused many citizens to suffer and some to die. They failed to reach out to FEMA the correct way by giving them a list of things they needed. So this caused FEMA to take longer than they should have.
National: They failed because they did not send anyone to help New Orleans in there time of need. Also they failed by not backing up the local and state government.
3. After reading the "FEMA and Federalism" article, take a stand about the role of the federal government in natural disaster.
I think that the federal government should have made Katrina there 1st priority because we don't pay taxes just so they sit around and not help those who suffer from natural disaster. In some cases the federal government is not always needed. They need to learn how to communicate more. As the article stated the congress should focus on establishing a higher threshold for what triggers a federal emergency declaration. FEMA should primarily focus on preparing to respond to catastrophes not routine emergencies. In 1979 FEMA was created for the support of the federal government after local disasters. All the governments need to learn how to work together to improve FEMA.