Mother Natures Daughters Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mother Natures Daughters - Essay Example s actually admitted their failure to respond immediately, to wit: â€Å"our system clearly has structural flaws for addressing catastrophic incidents† (The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, 2006, p. 66). Therefore, the result was a loss of 1,300 lives and properties destroyed amount to about $96 billion (The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, 2006). The estimated cost of properties destroyed were later revised to reach $148 billion and the total number of lives lost apparently reached 1,833 (Newman, 2012). On the other hand, the federal and state officials’ response to Hurricane Sandy were deemed to be far better since the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina enabled legislators to make the necessary changes in emergency and natural disaster preparedness and response. Due to the marked improvement in response, there were only 132 deaths which were reported and an estimated damage amounting to about $71 billion (Newman, 2012). The greater coordination and concerted collaboration among federal and state agencies were instrumental in the improved response. As acknowledged, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was tasked to â€Å"work with our federal, state, tribal and local partners, as well as voluntary organizations, the private sector, and others to respond to the aftermath of Sandy† (FEMA, 2012, par. 1). The Federal responses were better with Hurricane Sandy as could be deduced from the extensive collaboration and cooperative efforts that transpired since the time that the tropical storm was reportedly monitored. Upon review of the timeline of events during Hurricane Sandy’s path of entry to the United States, it could be assessed that FEMA, as the main coordinating agency, seriously adhered to its role and responsibilities through closely coordinating with local state officials, especially the states of New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Boston, among others. It is kept in close contact with other