Unprepared for the worst: Remember how, in the wake of Hurricane Wilma, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush castigated South Floridians for being unprepared for the storm, despite having three full days’ warning? Well, a new study by New York University’s Center for Catastrophic Preparedness and Response found that witnessing such disasters as Hurricane Katrina does not tend to make us better prepared to handle them when they hit us.
The report was based on two surveys — one before and the other following Katrina’s landfall on the Gulf Coast. Here is a summary of the report’s findings:
According to the October survey, which repeated many, but not all of the questions asked in July, the “Katrina Effect” was mostly negative:
- Americans did not receive a wake-up call from Katrina — more than half said they were no better prepared after watching the event than before.
- Many Americans have lost confidence in their local government, police departments and local businesses to help those who need assistance following an emergency. Only fire departments and charitable organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army held on to their pre-Katrina levels of confidence.
- Americans were generally split on who was to blame for the federal government’s lack of preparedness post-Katrina — 60 percent said it was impossible to be very prepared for hurricanes, terrorist attacks or a flu epidemic, while 40 percent blamed the government.
- Among those who blamed government, the vast majority said that the problem was mismanagement, a lack of leadership, and an unwillingness to make preparedness a priority.
Key Recommendations:
CONGRESS SHOULD
- give the president authority to create a new Citizen Preparedness Directorate.
- give the president greater authority to strengthen the federal government’s human capital in the preparedness effort.
- reform the presidential appointments process to assure that key positions are filled rapidly with qualified personnel.
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS MUST
- be clear about who “owns” the emergency preparedness task.
- make their emergency management functions as visible as possible.
- establish local command centers.
