Hurricane Katrina became one of the most influential and damaging natural disasters in the United States. The hurricane destroyed New Orleans causing deaths of more than 1,800 people (Moynihan, 2009). In addition to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, researchers also refer to problems and crises associated with ineffective disaster and recovery management (Berke, Cooper, Aminto, Grabich, & Horney, 2014). Hurricane Katrina was a complex natural disaster that caused the destruction of numerous facilities and industries, and more efficient steps related to recovery planning were required to guarantee public safety. According to Moynihan (2009), several issues can be identified with reference to the disaster in order to ensure the improvement of the approach to recovery planning after Hurricane Katrina. These issues and deficits in planning strategies are the following ones: the absence of response to early warnings, ineffective distribution of responsibilities, and ineffective collaboration (Moynihan, 2009). The purpose of this case study analysis is to discuss organizational functions that need to be involved in procedures associated with disaster recovery planning in the context of Hurricane Katrina’s effects on New Orleans and analyze the role of these organizational functions in preventing disasters and addressing incidents with reference to the case.
Organizational Functions in Disaster Recovery Planning
The response to such complex disasters as Hurricane Katrina usually involves several stakeholders at different levels, including federal, state, and local governments and organizations or private companies that realize their disaster and recovery management procedures at a local level (Erbschloe, 2003). From this perspective, organizational functions to be involved in disaster recovery planning should be discussed at the level of collaboration between governments and agencies and at the level of organizations that became victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. At the level of agencies responsible for addressing disasters in the United States, the executive and coordinating function was performed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The function of addressing the effects of Hurricane Katrina in terms of providing assistance in evacuation, medical services, shelter, food, care, counseling, and other services was performed by a range of stakeholders, including professionals from local, state, and government agencies and volunteers (Moynihan, 2009). Still, the function of managing human resources was performed by several actors who lacked interaction, and this aspect negatively influenced activities of the network. The security function was performed at the governmental level through conducting rescue operations and restoring power and communication.
At the lower level, each organization in New Orleans was expected to involve the following functions in disaster recovery planning: the executive and coordinating function, the facilities management function performed by managers responsible for their units, the human resource management function, and the IT and network security function performed by IT specialists (Erbschloe, 2003). In order to guarantee effective disaster recovery planning, each organizational unit should be focused on performing its function to collaborate in developing and realizing prevention and recovery procedures. The lessons from Hurricane Katrina demonstrate that the lack of coordination of functions and operations and the lack of effective disaster recovery planning can lead to dramatic consequences. It is possible to state that disaster recovery plans at the level of local organizations and agencies, including the FEMA, lacked determining actors or stakeholders to be involved in overcoming such complex disasters with the focus on planning communication among them in the context of the carefully coordinated network.
Roles of Organizational Functions in Disaster Recovery Planning
Each organizational function has a specific role in disaster recovery planning to achieve successful results. At the organizational level, the executive function is performed by executives or top managers, and the main focus is on coordinating and controlling procedures (Erbschloe, 2003). In the case of Hurricane Katrina, many executives failed to coordinate the work of departments to contribute to evacuation. At the higher level, the function of the FEMA was the key one, but the agency demonstrated the lack of capacities in coordinating the work of local, state, and federal stakeholders to organize preventive measures according to the assessed risks and organize and control evacuation and rescue operations.
The role of managing human resources is also important as managers help individuals from different departments or agencies to organize their activities and act according to the recovery plan to avoid uncertainty. In New Orleans, the lack of organization of cooperation between numerous stakeholders led to delays in operations that are typically provided by authorities responsible for rescue and evacuation. At the level of organizations, this function is performed in the context of facilities and security management (Berke et al., 2014). The role of each organizational function is extremely important, but the lack of coordination can lead to minimizing the effectiveness of the recovery plan and activities.
Conclusion
To guarantee effective disaster recovery planning, roles of all stakeholders should be determined in terms of their responsibilities for the organization of prevention procedures, incident responses, or recovery operations. Functions of all actors and their interactions should be clearly documented. Complex networks should be effectively coordinated according to the provided policies. The lack of pre-disaster evaluations, communication between stakeholders, and prescribed procedures can lead to further crises in such areas as New Orleans.
References
Berke, P., Cooper, J., Aminto, M., Grabich, S., & Horney, J. (2014). Adaptive planning for disaster recovery and resiliency: An evaluation of 87 local recovery plans in eight states. Journal of the American Planning Association, 80(4), 310-323. Web.
Erbschloe, M. (2003). Guide to disaster recovery. Mason, OH: Course Technology.
Moynihan, D. P. (2009). The response to Hurricane Katrina. Web.