The Politics of Katrina and Sandy
Katie Dugan
Final Paper
Conley
12/3/13
The Politics of Katrina and Sandy
Devastation. Loss. Starvation. Desperation. The victims of natural disasters all over the world know what it is like to feel completely and utterly hopeless. The rest of us are lucky, we have never experienced the pain of losing next to everything from a real-life nightmare. Most of us cannot imagine something like that ever happening. But it did. And when it happened, there was panic, and no time for messing around with politics. But when relief was a day too slow, people grew angry and frustrated.
Federal response for both Hurricane Sandy and Katrina had been approached differently. In this paper I am going to share the research I found that explains why and how that happened. As well as other criticisms the media had for the federal government during disaster recovery. It is no secret that response after Hurricane Katrina was unacceptable. The aftermath brought attention to a huge hole in our federal government that we were not prepared to fill. In addition, there were many criticisms from an environmental and structural standpoint. Critics said that New Orleans and the Jersey Shore were not structurally prepared for that kind of weather, and they should have been. I am going to look into how the government intended to fill that hole and what new policies were being written so something like this would not happen again. Scholars have brought up a number of factors as to why and how the natural disasters of Hurricane Katrina and Sandy played out the way they did. The three main schools of thought I am going to discuss include; how the federal response to Hurricane Katrina caused a political fallout, how Louisiana was not structurally prepared for a storm of this scale, and how the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina changed the political landscape of Louisiana. Let’s begin with the politics. Typically, a big factor that determines a good president is how he or she responds to
Final Paper
Conley
12/3/13
The Politics of Katrina and Sandy
Devastation. Loss. Starvation. Desperation. The victims of natural disasters all over the world know what it is like to feel completely and utterly hopeless. The rest of us are lucky, we have never experienced the pain of losing next to everything from a real-life nightmare. Most of us cannot imagine something like that ever happening. But it did. And when it happened, there was panic, and no time for messing around with politics. But when relief was a day too slow, people grew angry and frustrated.
Federal response for both Hurricane Sandy and Katrina had been approached differently. In this paper I am going to share the research I found that explains why and how that happened. As well as other criticisms the media had for the federal government during disaster recovery. It is no secret that response after Hurricane Katrina was unacceptable. The aftermath brought attention to a huge hole in our federal government that we were not prepared to fill. In addition, there were many criticisms from an environmental and structural standpoint. Critics said that New Orleans and the Jersey Shore were not structurally prepared for that kind of weather, and they should have been. I am going to look into how the government intended to fill that hole and what new policies were being written so something like this would not happen again. Scholars have brought up a number of factors as to why and how the natural disasters of Hurricane Katrina and Sandy played out the way they did. The three main schools of thought I am going to discuss include; how the federal response to Hurricane Katrina caused a political fallout, how Louisiana was not structurally prepared for a storm of this scale, and how the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina changed the political landscape of Louisiana. Let’s begin with the politics. Typically, a big factor that determines a good president is how he or she responds to
Cited: Daniels, Doug. “After The Floods.” Politics (Campaigns & Elections) 29.10 (2008): 28 MAS Ultra – School Edition. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. Grunwald, Michael. “Katrina: A Man-Made Disaster. “Time.” 176.23 (2010): 70. Middle Search Plus. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. McDermott, Jennifer. “Delay in vote for Sandy, aid irks officials in state, region.” Day, The (New London, CT) 03 Jan. 2013: Newspaper Source. Web 20 Oct. 2013. Zogby, John. ‘Will Katrina Be Our Defining Moment?” Campaigns & Elections (1996) June 2007: 64 MAS Ultra – School Edition. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.