Thoughts About Sandy with a Katrina Twist

So we are moments away from Hurricane Sandy making landfall in Cape May, NJ and I cannot help but be reminded of Katrina. That disaster sits in all of our minds, but it was especially important to me as my first ever response to a true Type I Catastrophic incident.  I am not recollecting that time in 2005 because of comparisons of NOLA and NYC or because of the storm of the century titling’s but because I can’t help but wonder if we have learned from the many lessons Katrina taught us.  

Now, I am not calling to question government response because I have a tremendous amount of respect of Craig Fugate and his team.  I am concerned by those that did not heed the warnings of true experts that did not evacuate or take the appropriate actions.  James Lee Witt did a good job of placing the focus on the individual to prepare for disasters and Craig Fugate has returned to that mantra.  I am just not sure if it has worked.

As an emergency manager it is a struggle to convince individuals to invest the time and resources to prepare.  People truly believe that it will not happen to them.  Katrina served as a wake-up call for our nation but the blessing that was a problem in disguise was that we have not had a catastrophic incident since.  The nation has fallen back asleep and it looks like Sandy is our new wake-up call. 

My thoughts and prayers are with those that are in the path of Sandy and my colleagues that will serve them.   I hope Sandy will silence the critics that want to eliminate disaster response funding or those that think their local emergency manager is nicety not a necessity.

I would love to hear your thoughts, so leave me a comment.