Mekayla Brooks
SW 2650
4/21/13
Reaction Paper
The Botched Response to Hurricane Katrina
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans, killing at least 1,833 and causing an
estimated property damage of 81 billion dollars. There were several critical policy decisions
made before this disaster that contributed to the response to the disaster. First, during
President Bush’s presidency, people who had little experience in handling disasters were put in
top positions at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Budget cuts were then
made in 2004 to Exercise PAM, a disaster preparation plan for New Orleans. No one put the
recommendations into effect and the Army Corps did not fortify weakened levees.
During the disaster response period, several policy decisions affected the victims of
Katrina. Buses and other transportation were no made available when the evacuation was
called, so 15,000 people were stranded in New Orleans during the hurricane. The African
American population was particularly affected.
Social workers were involved in policy advocacy after Hurricane Katrina. There were
also dozens of policy advocacy groups involved in helping vulnerable populations. One social
worker involved was Russell Henderson, who founded the Rebuilding Louisiana Coalition.
Policy advocates, as well as social workers, worked to get issues, problems and solutions onto
the agenda of city council, the mayor’s office federal agencies and the legislature.
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