Public Safety Plannin

Research/Analytical Paper

Instructions

One of the most catastrophic weather events in the past 15 years occurred in August of 2005 when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Florida, Louisiana and for a third time near the Louisiana/Mississippi border. While more than 15 states were affected, the most catastrophic losses occurred in the city of New Orleans, Orleans Parish and the surrounding Parishes. The issues surrounding the losses in the New Orleans area have been the some of the most discussed and debated emergency management topics since then.

For this paper you should research and discuss how and why planning efforts in this area were not effective. You should consider the following points:

• Were there plans in place?
• Were the plans effective for a storm of this magnitude?
• What specific areas of planning worked and what didn't?
• Were plans translated to effective action (was it planning or execution)?
• Were plans and actions in other states (Mississippi, Alabama, Florida) more effective and why or why not?

While there are hundreds (if not thousands) of articles written about the failures or perceived failures during this storm, YOU MUST concentrate on the planning aspects as closely as possible. This week's readings include a few articles about the topic, but please do some in depth research to provide insight for your paper. Also please provide your personal insights learned from this class about the role planning plays in this incident.

This paper should be prepared following current APA guidelines. The body of the paper should be 8-10 pages (this does not include Title Page, Table of Contents, References, etc.).