In 2005, Louisiana was hit by Hurricane Katrina, a powerful and deadly storm. Both the federal and state governments' responses were criticized for being too slow and disorganized. Read this excerpt from a federal report made by the White House in 2006 in response to this criticism. When you are done reading, carefully respond to the questions that follow. Soon after Katrina made landfall, State and local authorities understood the devastation was serious but, due to the destruction of infrastructure and response capabilities, lacked the ability to communicate with each other and coordinate a response. Federal officials struggled to perform responsibilities generally conducted by State and local authorities, such as the rescue of citizens stranded by the rising floodwaters, provision of law enforcement, and evacuation of the remaining population of New Orleans, all without the benefit of prior planning or a functioning State/local incident command structure to guide their efforts.
The Federal government cannot and should not be the Nation's first responder. State and local governments are best positioned to address incidents in their jurisdictions and will always play a large role in disaster response. But Americans have the right to expect that the Federal government will effectively respond to a catastrophic incident. When local and State governments are overwhelmed or incapacitated by an event that has reached catastrophic proportions, only the Federal government has the resources and capabilities to respond. The Federal government must therefore plan, train, and equip to meet the requirements for responding to a catastrophic event.
—The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned1
1. According to the report, why did federal efforts conflict with state efforts to respond to Hurricane Katrina?
2. Based on the summary in the report, describe the relationship between the federal and state governments in responding to a disaster.
3. Based on your research and the summary in the report, write a paragraph that describes how government responses to disasters relate to the rise of cooperative federalism. Be sure your response also includes information about the overlapping responsibilities and relationships between FEMA and GOHSEP.