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Hurricane Katrina and the Paradoxes of Government Disaster Policy: Bringing About Wise Governmental Decisions for Hazardous Areas
Author: Raymond J. Burby
Date: January 2006
Institution: Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Bibliographic Entry: Raymond J. Burby, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “Hurricane Katrina and the Paradoxes of Government Disaster Policy: Bringing About Wise Governmental Decisions for Hazardous Areas”, Invited Paper Prepared for Publication in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, January 2006. http://www.floods.org/PDF/Burby_Katrina_WiseGovernmentalDecisions.pdf
Electronic Link: http://www.floods.org/PDF/Burby_Katrina_WiseGovernmentalDecisions.pdf
Key Words: Hurricane Katrina, Disasters, Public Policy, Hazard Mitigation, Comprehensive Plans, Building Codes, State Planning Mandate, National Flood Insurance Program
Summary of Key Issues, Points, Conclusions:
This paper uses two paradoxes to explain the losses from Hurricane Katrina:
• The safe development paradox – the government has, through its efforts to safeguard areas, actually increased the potential for large-scale damages
• The local government paradox – even though their constituents lose the most in the event of catastrophes, local officials pay inadequate attention to policies that would limit this susceptibility
The author claims that if local governments were to prepare all-encompassing plans to alleviate risk, they could limit losses despite the paradoxes. He proposes two amendments that he thinks would help with disaster management:
• The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 should be changed to require that regular mitigation plan updates be integrated into local comprehensive plans
• The Flood Insurance Act could be amended to contain the preparation of local all-inclusive plans with vulnerability alleviation requirements as a condition for continued involvement in the program
Name of Researcher: Kyle Ritter
Institution: Integrative Center for Homeland Security
Date: February 13, 2006