Prior to Hurricane Maria, the healthcare system within Puerto Rico was already undersupplied and understaffed. Hospitals were pressured by Hurricane Irma just two weeks prior, and failed to secure critical supplies, backup generators, and manpower before Hurricane Maria hit. In addition, hospitals lacked backup communication, which limited their ability to communicate with other hospitals and medical relief, such as the Navy hospital ship that could have relieved some of their demand. This failure to recognize the fragile health care system, and proper use of risk mitigation tactics to prepare before the storm only heightened the medical pressures after the storm. Finally, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) that ran the island's …show more content…
While the circumstances of Maria were unique, due to Puerto Rico's location and political standing, there were still many basic supply chain tactics that could have been used to make relief more efficient and effective. An example of the impact a poor supply chain decision can have is evident by the fact there were 10,000 cargo ships filled with critical supplies that were left in port, while the people on the island struggled with no form of communication (Gillespie et al., 2017). In the end, using supply chain management practices such as emphasizing communication, understanding a system's weakness, and employing risk mitigation tactics early on could have drastically changed the relief efforts impact, and potentially decreased the $90 billion cost the storm was estimated to have …show more content…
In other words, after conducting risk assessment and communicating with various stakeholders, it is important to follow through with the plans while carrying communication and flexibility throughout. The lack of such response preparation can be seen post Maria and Katrina, while P&G and Walmart had stronger preparation that helped them be successful. In the case of Maria, for example, the issue of 10,000 shipping containers worth of supplies stuck at the San Juan port was exacerbated by people’s unwillingness to take action. Since there was no previous preparation or communication when the issue formed, people pointed fingers and waited for the next person to make the decisions rather than troubleshooting themselves. This can be seen on an even wider scale within Katrina. Due to FEMA’s lack of logistical processes in place, when the storm hit, there was limited preparation in terms of resource allocation. This led FEMA to continuously make mistakes without accountability, which led to relief that was increasingly being delayed. However, P&G and Walmart stuck to their plans even in the face of extreme uncertainty. This led to P&G increasing their market share post Katrina, and Walmart being the first stores to reopen and provide critical support for local communities. The success of both company reliefs was also due to their flexibility. For
But Wal-Mart’s care for us goes beyond that simple relationship. As many of us have seen if we have been to a Wal-Mart, they hire people who normally would not be able to get a job. The company knows that by broadcasting itself as positive and helpful in nature it can increase its revenue and in turn increase the amount of assistance it provides to us the consumer. “In 2004 Wal-Mart donated over $170 million. More than 90 percent of these donations went to charities in the communities served by Wal-Mart stores.’ Even more heartfelt than this, Wal-Mart was the leader in goods based relief efforts for victims of hurricane Katrina. “Walmart’s response to the hurricane was lauded even by its critics: it donated more than $20 million worth of merchandise, including food for 100,000 meals, and it promised jobs for all of its displaced workers.” And the first supply truck to arrive at the superdome was a Wal-Mart truck.
Wal-Mart Inc has done a great job at bringing together what is local to the area and what isn’t and bringing to many small towns. So when a Wal-Mart stands up, it isn’t just Wal-Mart Inc who benefit, but the community.
Hurricane Katrina was considered as the worst hurricane in the history of United States. The winds and the rain were shattering people’s homes which collapsed and flooded. Thousands of people were suffering and dying. People were starving, and becoming dehydrated. Many people were left on the street and became homeless. After the hurricane, so many questions were left regarding the widespread damage and loss of loved ones. This devastating disaster destroyed the city of New Orleans and nearby cities and was estimated to cost $80 billion dollars in damage. State and local emergency in the affected area were struggling to perform urgent response missions such as emergency medical services, search and rescue, firefighting, giving food and water,
The Coast Guard, for instance, rescued some 34,000 people in New Orleans alone, and many ordinary citizens commandeered boats, offered food and shelter, and did whatever else they could to help their neighbors. Yet the government–particularly the federal government–seemed unprepared for the disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took days to establish operations in New Orleans, and even then did not seem to have a sound plan of action. Officials, even including President George W. Bush, seemed unaware of just how bad things were in New Orleans and elsewhere: how many people were stranded or missing; how many homes and businesses had been damaged; how much food, water and aid was needed. Katrina had left in her wake what one reporter called a “total disaster zone” where people were “getting absolutely
Wal-Mart including around 3,400 stores has made some job opportunities but think of all the jobs lost because of p...
When a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005 the shock of the destruction quickly became evident with the storm’s aftermath. There was the need for an organized response, however the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was not ready for the magnitude or the severity of damage to adequately and successfully react. FEMA was confronted with a series of events following the disaster in which the agency failed to take control and communicate in helping remedy the catastrophic situation. There was the lack of management in coordinating transportation evacuation measures, supplying needed materials and food as well as housing to the citizens, specifically in New Orleans. The failure of our nation’s Federal Emergency Management Agency to efficiently respond to Hurricane Katrina led to a serious of negative events caused by insufficient planning.
Howitt, A. M., & Leonard, H. B. (2006). Katrina and the core challenges of disaster response. The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, 30:1 winter 2006.
Even with all the damage that has been done, there are relief efforts for Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico’s government made a presentation of all the supplies they are going to need to help. The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Catholic Charities are all accepting donations for places that have been affected by the recent hurricanes. There are several more organizations working to help with relief in Puerto Rico: The Hurricane Maria Community Recovery Fund, UNICEF, One America Appeal, Habitat for Humanity, and Caritas de Puerto
Having investigated the case studies of two natural disasters, Hurricane Katrina & Typhoon Haiyan, I have noticed that MEDCs and LEDCs respond much differently to a certain situation. Katrina and Haiyan both happened in countries with contrasting levels of economic development, therefore reacting much differently to the circumstances. In this essay, I will be discussing the various reasons to why LEDCs and MEDCs behave in such a contradictory manner.
The leadership during Hurricane Katrina was riddled with inconsistencies, unpreparedness, and lacking in the knowledge to deal with emergency management situations from the White House, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FEMA, the Governor’s Office in Louisiana and the City of New Orleans. This event emphasizes the importance of preparedness, response, recovery, communications, emergency plans, and political indifferences during pressing times.
The purpose of this report is to assess BP’s crisis management and communication plan to primarily analyze the possible failures in their response through a gathering of secondary data collected from various sources such as online journals, newspaper articles, blogs and case studies.
In a hurricane, the infrastructure may be destroyed making impossible to get new supplies. Increased the price during this pe...
There are three factors that affect contingency plans. The first of these key components is the environmental factor. The next factor is the organizational factor. The environment is bound to change and have an impact on how an organization is run. For example, when FedEx Express went through the September 11, 2001 situation, they boosted security throughout the hub and raised shipping prices to offset the security budget. The same can be said when the president created the new cabinet of Homeland Security to fight the 9/11 attacks. The Unit...
The communication process is not something that begins when a crisis rears its ugly head rather it is a process that takes place in preparing for a crisis before it happens. While the term crisis represents a blanket term used to describe many situations, each situation is unique, thus presenting different obstacles to overcome. However, with a well-established advanced plan in place an organization places itself in a position to overcome and work around obstacles. The development of a comprehensive crisis management plan is one achieved through effective communication where each member of the crisis management team has an advanced shared understanding of his or her role and responsibility during a time of crisis (du Pr'e, 2005).
Emergency management is often described in terms of “phases,” using terms such as mitigate, prepare, respond and recover. The main purpose of this assignment is to examine the origins, underlying concepts, variations, limitations, and implications of the “phases of emergency management.” In this paper we will look at definitions and descriptions of each phase or component of emergency management, the importance of understanding interrelationships and responsibilities for each phase, some newer language and associated concepts (e.g., disaster resistance, sustainability, resilience, business continuity, risk management), and the diversity of research perspectives.