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Making Hurricane Response More Effective: Lessons from the Private Sector and the Coast Guard During Katrina

2008; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.2139/ssrn.1350554

1556-5068

Steven Horwitz,

Disaster Management and Resilience

Many assume that the only viable option for emergency response and recovery from a natural disaster is one that is centrally directed. However, highlighted by the poor response from the federal government and the comparatively effective response from private retailers and the Coast Guard after Hurricane Katrina, this assumption seems to be faulty. Big box retailers such as Wal-Mart were extraordinarily successful in providing help to damaged communities in the days, weeks, and months after the storm. This Policy Comment provides a framework for understanding why private retailers and the Coast Guard mounted an effective response in the Gulf Coast region. Using this framework provides four clear policy recommendations: