There are two ways to
learn from disasters. One is to figure out what went wrong and try
to fix it. The second is to profit from what went right and try to
build on that.
In the wake of the flawed response to Hurricane Katrina, we have
spent far too much time trying to fix blame, point fingers and
hyperventilate over our failures than recognize the courage,
determination and creativity of Americans who saved lives and
property. That's a shame. Efforts that worked during Katrina are
the ones most likely to help us to meet future disasters. Emulating
them ought to be our priority.
Washington's response to Katrina has been predictable. Stung by
the criticism of the slow response of the federal government,
Congress and the administration have spent the last year
scrutinizing the failures and vowing "never again." The result is
that by the onset of this hurricane season Washington was on a war
footing, primed to dump assistance on the first state that saw a
rain squall touch its shores. As a result, the government now
focuses on hurricane response out of proportion to all of its other
missions.
After it was created, the Department of Homeland Security outlined
15 catastrophic kinds of disasters where the federal government
needed to be able to provide major assistance. A major hurricane
was only one. Yet since Katrina, federal agencies have spent almost
as much time planning for a major hurricane as they have planning
for the 14 others.
Not only have we fixated on only one kind of disaster; we also
have come to expect that in the wake of any catastrophe, Washington
should be able to solve all of our problems. That's a terrible
idea. In fact, the opposite is true - and Katrina proved it. The
most rapid and effective responses were those of local
communities.
One district in Louisiana, for example, had 40 operating shelters
in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Tens of thousands of
people were sheltered and fed by local groups. Local faith-based
organizations responded quickly and effectively by providing
facilities and resources and by mobilizing volunteers - all without
government direction or assistance.
In fact, Louisiana residents generally rated the assistance
provided by private sources such as nonprofit, community, and
faith-based organizations substantially higher than they did
assistance from federal, state and local governments and national
organizations such as the Red Cross. Local groups are and will
always be the core of any effective response by a community to
disasters large and small.
The worst reaction to the aftermath of Katrina would be to adopt a
more heavy-handed federalized approach that would undercut the very
kinds of responses that proved the most effective.
What Washington should focus on is being ready and able to help
state and local governments when their responders are overwhelmed.
That means not stepping in and telling them what to do, but quickly
providing the assistance they need when they really need it.
Washington should worry about whether its own responders are ready
to go, rather than funnel billions in grants back to state and
local governments.
The Coast Guard offers a case in point. The Coast Guard saved at
least 33,000 lives during and after the storm. They were the first
federal responders on the scene and without question the most
effective. Yet Congress still underfunds the Coast Guard's
modernization budget and sends its men and women into harm's way on
ships and planes old enough to collect Social Security.
Likewise, the National Guard will always be essential to backing
state and local governments in any large-scale catastrophe, as it
did after Katrina. Yet the Guard doesn't have units properly
organized and prepared for this mission. In addition, the war on
terror has made heavy demands on its people and equipment.
Congress, however, has done nothing to ensure that these forces
will be funded adequately so that they can respond to missions at
home and abroad.
The American answer to Katrina was remarkable. A less effective
response by the nation would have resulted in tens of thousands
dead. We should be building on the successes that saved lives - not
simply throwing Washington's time and money at the problem.
James
Carafano is Senior Research
Fellow for National Security and Homeland Security at The Heritage
Foundation (heritage.org), and author of the new book "G.I.
Ingenuity."
First appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer