Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center

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Hurricane Katrina Catastrophic Impacts
Alarming Lessons
Kathleen Tierney Department of Sociology
Institute of Behavioral Science Natural Hazards
Center University of Colorado, Boulder,
CO Disasters, Environment, and Public
Policy University of MassachusettsAmherst
April 10,2006
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Presentation Themes

• Hurricane Impacts
• Broad Issues of National Concern and Lessons
  Learned
• Implications for Future Disasters Catastrophic
  Events

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Portrait of a Catastrophic Storm

• Estimated 1,319 KilledBut Hundreds Still Missing
• Bodies Continue to be Found, and Katrina
  Continues to Kill
• At Least 7,500 Injuries, Illnesses in First Month
• Failure of Levee System in New Orleans Largest
  Contributor to Life Loss

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Portrait of a Catastrophic Storm

• 416,000 Housing Units Destroyed
• 85,000 Units with Major Damage
• About Half of Those Destroyed were Rental
  Unitsas High as 55 in New Orleans
• 71 of Lost Units Were in the Low Income or
  Affordable Housing Range

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Portrait of a Catastrophic Storm

• Estimated Insured Losses 40-60 Billion
• Total Estimated Losses Over 125 Billion
• Congressional Supplemental Appropriations 62.3
  Billion
• Numbers Do Not Reflect Indirect Losses, Costs
  Beyond Immediate Emergency Period, e.g., for
  Rebuilding Infrastructure

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Portrait of a Catastrophic Storm

• 163,000 Businesses in Area Affected by Katrina
  and Rita
• 2.7 Million Jobs Initially Affected
• Better Statistics on Katrinas Impacts on
  Businesses, Employment, Wages Needed

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Lessons Learnedand Re-Learned

• Emergencies, Disasters, and Catastrophes Are
  Qualitatively Different
• Social Inequality, Vulnerability Structure
  Disaster LossesRelevance of Vulnerability
  Science
• The Nation Has No Effective Plan for Responding
  to Catastrophes
• Elite PanicRather than Public PanicIs a Major
  Problem in Large-Scale Disasters

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Emergencies, Disasters, and Catastrophes
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Importance of the Vulnerability Science
Perspective

• Victimization, Damage Result from the
  Intersection of
• Vulnerability of Place
• Vulnerable Built Environment
• Vulnerable Populationsa Construct that Includes
  Social Class, Race, Health Status, Integration
  into Mainstream Society, Social and Cultural
  Capital

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The Nation Has No Effective Procedures for
Responding to Catastrophes

• Planning Process for Current Federal Plans Was
  Inadequate, Hasty, Lacking Expert Input
• All Planning Scenarios Assume that Key Officials
  Will Recognize a Catastrophe When They See One!
• Federal Planning Highly Myopic With Respect to
  Terrorism
• Plans as Fantasy Documents (Clarke, 1999)

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Disasters and Elite Panic

• Elites Fear Disruption of the Social Order,
  Challenges to Their Legitimacy
• Forms of Elite Panic in Major Crises
• Fear of Social Disorder
• Fear of Poor, Minorities, Immigrants
• Obsession With Looting, Property Crime
• Willingness to Resort to Deadly Force
• Actions Taken on the Basis of Rumor, Urban
  Legends, Racial/Ethnic Prejudice

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After Katrina Elite Panic Continues

• Scapegoating, Blame Game
• Search for Answers Government Investigates
  Itself
• Lessons LearnedBut Will They be Implemented?

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Question

• If the U. S. Intergovernmental System Could Not
  Respond Effectively to a Catastrophic Natural
  Disaster for Which it Had Many Days of Warning,
  How Well Will it Respond to Suddenly-Occurring
  Events, Unfamiliar Hazards?

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Question
To What Extent Will Poor and People of Color
Trust and Heed Government Instructions, Guidance
in Future Crisese.g., Avian Flu. Bioterrorism?
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Question

• What Are the Likely Consequences of Elite Panic
  in Future Large-Scale Disasters, Other Extreme
  Events, e.g., Disease Outbreaks, Pandemics?

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Questions

• How Will Institutions Respond to the Lessons
  of Hurricane Katrina? What New Initiatives are
  on the Way, and Whose Interests Will They Serve?
  Will They Help or Make Matters Worse?

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Questions

• Why Isnt Disaster Exposure and Victimization
  Framed as a Form of Environmental Injustice?
  Shouldnt EJ Executive Orders and Regulations
  Apply, Especially With Respect to Assistance,
  Recovery?

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Question
What New Surprises Will the 2006 Hurricane
Season Bring?
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• Natural Hazards Center
• Institute of Behavioral Science
• Program on Environment
• Society
• University of Colorado
• 482 UCB
• Boulder, CO 80309-0482

Phone [phone] Web www.colorado.edu/hazar
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