Get Hurricane Katrina: Plans, Decisions And Lessons Learned - Voa News

The hurricane left hundreds of thousands of people without access to their homes or jobs, it separated people from relatives, and caused both physical and mental distress on those who suffered through the storm and its aftermath, such as Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

One of the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina was that public officials need to lead in crises by communicating confidence to the public and delivering on promises.

The Federal government should work with its homeland security partners in revising existing plans, ensuring a functional operational structure - including within regions - and establishing a clear, accountable process for all National preparedness efforts.

Preparations for Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi involved an array of actions, including county and state preparedness and disaster response training in the months leading up to the storm; the establishment of local, state, and federal command structures by way of emergency proclamations; activation of emergency ...

The international community also responded quickly, with over seventy countries pledging monetary donations or other assistance. Kuwait made the largest single pledge, $500 million; whilst India sent tarps, blankets and hygiene kits.

Besides the death toll, hurricane Katrina left many people homeless as more than 800,000 housing units were destroyed or damaged in the storm. Katrina is the costliest U.S hurricane, with estimated damage over $81 billion and costs over $160 billion (2005 US dollars).

Lesson Learned - To be realistic, disaster drills should include all critical functions and areas. How thorough should disaster drills be? Disaster drills should be relevant to a specific location (considering infrastructure, population centers, weather, threats of terrorism, natural disasters, etc.)