Hurricane Katrina vs. Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Katrina vs. Hurricane Sandy
Walter Stewart
Grantham University

















Hurricane Katrina vs. Hurricane Sandy
Doing a comparison of the response of Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Sandy is a very deep and varied subject. The response for Hurricane Sandy that was conducted by state and local authorities was by far a better response than what was done for Hurricane Katrina. The effect of what the devastation would be from Hurricane Katrina was extremely under estimated even after the projected fallout and anticipated damage was predicted. The before landfall response of Hurricane Katrina was thought to be prepping the region to be sufficient, however after landfall it was found that the preparation was in no way enough for the anticipated storm.   Hurricane Katrina was thought of as not being not the "typical " hurricane as it approached landfall. The preparation for Hurricane Katrina was very extensive in the sense of there were door to door notification to ensure that all citizens were aware and knew what was headed thier direction. The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs believes that leadership failures needlessly compounded these losses. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco – who knew the limita- tions of their resources to address a catastrophe – did not specify those needs adequately to the federal government before landfall. For example, while Governor Blanco stated in a letter to President Bush, two days before landfall, that she anticipated the resources of the state would be overwhelmed, she made no specific request for assistance in evacuating the known tens of thousands of people without means of transportation, and a senior State official identified no unmet needs in response to a federal offer of assistance the following day.