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Katrina Calamity: Case Study Analysis

Hurricanes are not a new phenomenon in the United States, but in 2005, New
Orleans experienced a hurricane that would change the course of history. No one
prepared for the ferocity that Hurricane Katrina brought to the Golf coast. During the
aftermath, it became obvious the government were the least prepared for what was to
come later. Public relations involve the act of informing the public of the calamity as it
unfolds and during the aftermath of the disaster.
In the case of Katrina, the public identified included the residents of New Orleans and all
his or her relatives around the world. Next, the media, the Federal Emergency
Management Association (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
(Seitel, 2007,), were all held responsible for the outcome of Katrina. Last, but not least,
the president of the United States (George W. Bush), the Mayor of New Orleans (Blanco),
the National Guard, and the rest of the Bush administration did not have a full
understanding of the nature of the calamity.
Katrina served as an example of the importance of communicating a disaster
preparedness plan that includes a systematic guide on how to respond appropriately. The
lesson learned by those involved includes the lack of communication between the internal
and external publics. The Internal public experienced a break in communication because
those talking did not express the right amount of concern for those in charge of
listening. The external public was not prepared for what was to come because of lack of
communication on the part of the internal publics and their systems.
Facts about Hurricane Katrina
1.

Hit southeast of Louisiana early on the morning of August 29, 2005

2. Surged from the Gulf of Mexico and landed in the towns of Mississippi and
southwestern Alabama.
3. The strong winds pushed a swollen Lake Pontchartrain into the canals of New
Orleans.
4. The floodwalls failed and the water ran over top of the levees causing flooding and
devastation for months to come.
5.

100,000 residents were stranded without adequate food, water, or shelter.

Katrina caused 1,304 people to die and left $50 Billion in damage, (The US Air Force
Response to Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Daniel L. Haulman, 17 November 2006).

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Responses to Katrina
1.

August 31 the president ends his vacation to respond to the crisis.

2.

August 31 the governor of Louisiana requested 40,000 military troops for assistance.

3.

FEMA gets involved and request military relief for Louisiana.

4.

FEMA assesses damage and dispatches military search and recovery

personnel.
5. The military performed services that included bringing in food, carrying residents to
safety, and transporting injured parties to surrounding hospitals, (The US Air Force
Response to Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Daniel L. Haulman, 17 November 2006.)
.
Lack of Communication
1.

Communications outages made it difficult to locate missing personnel.

2.

Access to and reliable transportation into restricted areas were not always available.

3. Lack of electrical power or fuel for generators rendered computer systems

inoperable.
4.

Multiple facilities were destroyed outright or sustained significant damage.

5. Mail service was interrupted for months in some areas, (Federal Financial
Institutions Examination Council, 2011)
6. More than one thousand cell sites and 37 of 41 radio stations (two AM & two FM
survived) lost in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
7. More than thirty percent of cell sites were disabled, (Discovery Institute,
Wohlstetter, 2005).
Communicating During a Crisis
Public relations planning include communicating with the public through several
mediums, for example the media, the trade press, and the Internet. In the case of Katrina,
the media kept the publics informed but the internal publics did not have a proactive or
reactive plan in place to resolve the dilemma at hand. According to (Lattimore, Baskin,
Heiman, & Toth, 2007), Crisis communication can be viewed as a special application of
media relations. That is, crisis communication involves using the media to preserve and

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strengthen an organizations long-term reputation when its
threatened. Communications used during Katrina:
1.

Phones and Video links to first responders and news companies.

2. Internal Task force implemented by the FCC Chairman to provide regulatory relief,
industry outreach and other special request.
3. The FCC maintained ongoing communications with the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), the National Communications System (NCS) and other
telecommunications groups assigned by the White House, (Discovery
Institute, Wohlstetter, 2005).
Shortfalls in Communications During Katrina
Shortfalls in communications during the Katrina calamity were plentiful, for
instance, in New Orleans three separate parishes could not talk to one another because of
different frequencies used. Second, there was no unified command system; therefore,
area searches impeded rescue efforts insomuch that some responders visited areas more
than once. Last, first responders were ill equipped to deal with a crisis of this
magnitude. The situation could have been handles in a uniform manner allowing first
responders to cover more ground and save more lives.
The same situation Today
Natural disasters are a part of the world and can happen any time. The United
States can learn to deal with any catastrophe by focusing time, energy and resources on
improving communications in times of disaster. Communication outages of massive
proportions happen during crisis; therefore, the government needs to implement a
uniform communication crisis plan in each community. This begins with communication
systems that can withstand the magnitude of severe weather changes that includes radio
capabilities, back-up power sources, and sturdier power lines.
Technology today is capable of creating better systems, but the government decides to
use resources for other agendas. The military needs better disaster training as well as all
others who have chosen careers of saving lives. Government needs to react quicker and
stop shifting the responsibility to others. Emergencies require a special type of public
relations campaign that serves the purpose of bringing the government and its publics
together, but without a way to communicate the job becomes ten times harder.
Summary
In 2005, New Orleans suffered a major catastrophe that caused many people to die and
many others to lose everything they owned. The internal publics were slow to respond to
the crisis and as a result more damage was suffered than necessary. Those in charge of
reacting to a crisis situation were ill prepared to communicate what needed to be done.

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The main downfall for those in charge of planning stemmed from a serious breakdown of
communication and a disconnect in technology. Natural disasters are nothing new;
therefore, for government to fail at proper communication during a major crisis is
unacceptable. This could have been avoided with the assistance and planning of new
technologies that focus on effective communication techniques geared toward natural
disasters.
References

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, (2011) , retrieved

fromhttp://www.ffiec.gov/katrina_lessons.htm, November 13, 2011
Katrina: The Sounds of Communications Silence, John Wohlstetter, Discovery Institute,
September 22, 2005, retrieved fromhttp://www.discovery.org/a/2881, November 13, 2011
Lattimore, D., Baskin, O., Heiman, S., T., Toth, E., L., Public Relations. The Profession
and the Practice, (2nd ed), (2007)
Seitel, F., P.,The Practice of Public Relations, Tenth Edition, by. Published by Prentice
Hall., (2007)
The US Air Force Response to Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Daniel L. Haulman, 17 November
2006, retrieved from http://docs.google.com/viewer?
a=v&q=cache:vvk2eNA9AmUJ:www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-070912046.pdf+hurricane+katrina+facts&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiIfCtYs22HSs6qrU4R1cOHqicJd0D6_R6GpVnMOwmM7iHL6fWzJfUzVTyUUxbVtH7hlymt0
MGFeh8r6TV4RP4cNVmM0nhlLDIEyUSUaVzLgNEDInG1FCxXICO4ERjvqJ6uBmq
&sig=AHIEtbRrTzal9T_A1u7NrNN7dT44LZTwjw November 13, 2011