The United States Used Lessons Learned from Katrina with Irene

Hurricane Irene has killed 18 people and caused an estimated $5 billion worth of damage. With advance warnings, huge evacuations and suspended public transport, it’s clear: U.S. authorities took this very seriously.

Of all the regions affected by Hurricane Irene, North Carolina has suffered the most destruction both in material possessions and human life. In the East Coast state, the hurricane took six of the 18 lives that have been killed across the country.

Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue ordered the evacuation of 200,000 people several days before the arrival of Irene. In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie evacuated 750,000 residents and in a flippant tone, asked all citizens to “get the hell off the beach.”

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg made four television announcements in 24 hours, and ordered the obligatory evacuation of 370,000 residents from “at risk” areas, more than has ever been seen in the city.

Exceptional measures

Since Friday, Aug. 26, ambulances have come to the aid of hundreds of patients. Measures have been taken to help elderly and disabled citizens get out of the area. At the request of their congressmen, public housing residents benefited from special buses, images which bear resemblance to the evacuation of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

Michael Bloomberg helped out, which some claim was a means of trying to smooth over the sanitary disaster this past winter that followed a strong blizzard in New York. “This hurricane has nothing to do with a blizzard” was his reply to anyone who thought him overenthusiastic.

City councilors, mayors, governors and the president of the United States Barack Obama: Every level of the administration worked hand-in-hand to coordinate the preparation phase.

Criticized for not having reacted quickly enough after the BP oil spill in Louisiana last year, the president cut his holiday short by one day to fly back to Washington. Saturday, on Aug. 27, the White House resident paid a surprise visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters, an organization which was heavily criticized for its poor emergency management in the wake of Katrina.

Return to normal

Lessons learned seem to have been retained. For retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, a veteran of crisis management, the authorities took the right action. “Before Katrina, it was a longstanding tradition in our country for political officials to wait until the last minute to warn, to take action, to evacuate. No more,” he declared on news channel CNN.

Russel Honoré highlighted that if the preparation and evacuation phases are well executed, the third stage, that of returning to normal, is the most delicate. According to early predictions, the bill will be between $5 and $7 billion. Sunday, on Aug. 28, hundreds of thousands of households were still without power on the East Coast of the United States.

Public transport and airports are gradually getting back on track, but some regions are still submerged after severe flooding, and thousands of people will have to deal with the destruction left behind by the water or destroyed roofs.

Barack Obama warned Sunday that they shouldn’t relax too early. He promised the assistance of the federal government for the states affected. The crucial issue still remains of the federal budget for crises, drained after a series of crises these last few years. Less than $1 billion remained in the budget before Irene hit, a fraction of what the hurricane will cost the United States.