Hurricane Katrina was declared a natural disaster. That was what it was deemed by the united States government agencies like FEMA and others. However, the natural disaster may not have been as destructive as the manmade disaster in how the entire situation was handled by the United States government.
When you bring up Hurrican Katrina these days, there is plenty of blame to go around. You have the entire state government of Louisiana as well as the city officials of New Orleans and its surrounding cities who could certainly shoulder some of the blame. The mayor of the Crescent City (New Orleans), Ray Nagin went on national TV in a televised press conference to alert the citizens of New Orleans that their city, their home, was in a “state of devastation.” Those were the words of the man who was the top political representative of the people within the city that was submerged in flooding waters. Oddly enough, it makes you ponder and wonder a bit when you think of how many residents of New Orleans never got a chance to see or hear that live broadcast as it was televised and plastered on CNN and other broadcast news stations and on the Internet. With your home flooded and your TV floating down the street as you hold on for dear life to the chimney of your water-damaged home, you may not be able to keep up the latest news updates of the “state of devastation” that was caused by Hurrican Katrina.
There is plenty of blame to go around when you look at the federal government of the United States. There is a Department of Interior. Someone serves as the Secretary of the Department of Interior. Does that include Louisiana? Is New Orleans and its surrounding parishes covered under the “Department of Interior?” I should hope so. Then, as many know, there are the Army Corps of Engineers. These are engineers who survey and analyze existing structures and make recommendations on how bridges, highways, and other structures are to be rebuilt or reinforced against natural disasters like earthquakes, fires and floods, even erosion. Could these engineers have foreseen this disaster in the making? I would imagine so. After all, these men serve the president of the United States. Certainly the President could have reviewed some report or strategic plan that revealed the limits and capacity of the area to handle a catastrophic storm such as Katrina.
Unfortunately, very little was done proactively regarding the Gulf region. Alabama, Louisiana and other neighboring states that surround the Gulf of Mexico suffered. Some of this could have been avoided in many opinions. Much of this simply could have been handled better rather than leaving people to fend for themselves and seek refuge in Houston and other cities, leaving New orleans as a wasteland in the wetlands.
