How Communication Challenges Affected By Hurricane Katrina

Communication Challenges Hurricane Katrina is considered as one of the most devastating natural disasters that have occurred in America in the past few years. The disaster not only contributed to loss of lives but also damaged property estimated to be approximately $60 billion based on reports by risk management experts. One of the most affected areas by the natural disaster is New Orleans whose people and infrastructure was significantly affected. The natural disaster contributed to the establishment of concerted efforts by several public safety agencies and law enforcement agencies to help mitigate the impact of the disaster. New Orleans Police Department is one of the law enforcement agencies that was significantly affected by the disaster
The vulnerability of the city to the disaster was attributed to the fact that its levees had broken and nearly 80 percent of the city was flooded. The aftermath of the incident was characterized with relatively slow rescue efforts and outbursts of violence and looting, which became major problems throughout the city. Moreover, law enforcement agencies and personnel were accused of not doing enough to provide help to those in need and to stop the growing mayhem. The natural disaster significantly affected people and infrastructure but also affected other important operations in the city such as the operations of major public safety agencies at state and local levels. Actually, the impact was so devastating and huge to an extent that some law enforcement agencies at the state and local levels stopped functioning as feasible public safety agencies for several days following the
At a certain point in the aftermath of the incident, hundreds of police officers from the New Orleans Police Department were attempting to communicate through the use of two radio channels on a backup system. The inadequate communication tools would force the law enforcement personnel and first responders to wait for an opening in the communications traffic in order to send or receive important information. Third, the agency was out of commission because of flooding brought by the natural disaster, which made it more difficult to develop an effective command and control structure resulting in numerous communication