lest we forget or fail to learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina

Written By Eric Holdeman

NPR had a rather good article, It was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history: Have we forgotten Katrina's lessons?

Lessons learned or lessons observed? I’ve found that every generation of emergency managers have to “relearn” lessons from past disasters. It takes the personal experience to drive some things home. Today we have an entire new generation of emergency managers in our profession. If you are one of those—then read this article in detail.

As for our current administration’s approach to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), I can tell you that they are not reading up on what happened back in 2005. If you look at their actions to-date, they are repeating several of them:

  • No experienced emergency manager leading the agency

  • Prioritizing Homeland Security missions over disasters (back then it was terrorism, today it is immigration enforcement)

  • Thinking they “know everything” about disasters while knowing very little

  • Reducing the size and capacity of the agency

  • Letting a political philosophy drive their decisions

We are one big disaster away from the lessons of Katrina being taught again.

Eric Holdeman
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