4 865-06 – Tropical Storm Katrina

I feel it is important to digress a moment (small chapter, I promise) into a national disaster which I was not involved with: Hurricane Katrina. There were a ton of changes in our nation – and at the Red Cross – from this horrific disaster. It is a leadership learning set of lessons for everyone – and one I am not the expert on storytelling. I will have some references at the end of this chapter which I think are worth exploring.

The American Red Cross opened the incident number (or DRO) for Katrina in Louisiana on August 23, 2005. It is critical to note that this catastrophe (and I use that term specifically to describe an incident which grows beyond capacities and capabilities for the agencies involved to fully support) spanned just about every state in the nation.

The Red Cross opened DROs everywhere, across the United States. The list starts on the next page.

There were additional DROs established (such as 695-06) in New Orleans and other locations as well, as part of recovery efforts, too.

I am not going to list all of the FEMA DR numbers for Katrina except for FEMA-DR-1603-LA, as there were as many, if not more organized disaster responses by states, territories, etc., than what was organized for the Red Cross. 

Red Cross Response

The largest single disaster relief effort ever undertaken by the American Red Cross was the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm killed nearly 2,000 people and left millions homeless. Hurricanes Rita and Wilma followed soon after, worsening the devastation and leaving behind more than $81 billion in damage.

In the largest sheltering operation in its history, the Red Cross opened nearly 1,400 evacuation shelters in 27 states and the District of Columbia. More than 3.8 million overnight shelter stays were provided. More than 90 kitchens were set up to prepare meals. Five days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the Red Cross served nearly one million meals in a single day. More than 68 million meals were served during the response. More than 244,000 disaster workers, 95 percent of them volunteers, responded to help the hurricane survivors. More than 4 million people received emergency assistance through the Red Cross.^[5]

* * *

I was not active with the Red Cross in 2005 (I started the next year as a volunteer in 2006), but I certainly know – and worked/volunteer with – a number of other volunteers who served in Katrina (‘served’ is one way we describe volunteering in any community, by saying it like it was a country we went to war in – and that’s kind of how it really is). Here’s a story of one of them (courtesy of the American Red Cross):

Unprecedented Generosity

Donor Dollars At Work

(All figures as of July 31, 2007)

Emergency Assistance More than 1.4 million families—more than four million people—received emergency assistance from the Red Cross. This helped hurricane survivors purchase urgently needed items such as food, clothing, diapers and other essentials. Cost: $1.520 billion

Food and Shelter When hurricanes threatened the Gulf Coast, Red Cross disaster staff and volunteers prepared hundreds of evacuation shelters. The organization pre-positioned supplies including kitchens, prepackaged meals and emergency response vehicles and provided millions of people with food and shelter. Cost: $229 million

Physical and Mental Health Services The Red Cross provided both physical and mental health services to hurricane survivors. Trained mental health professionals were available at Red Cross shelters and service centers to help survivors cope with stress, loss and trauma. Red Cross health care professionals delivered emergency first aid and attended to other health-related needs such as assistance with obtaining prescription medications to replace those lost in the storm.  Cost: $4 million

Additional Red Cross Support These funds enable the Red Cross to provide response and recovery resources to disaster survivors including coordinated damage and community needs assessment; deployment of trained workers and supplies; technology support for logistics, communications and information; and support of the disaster welfare inquiry system that helps families reconnect with one another.  Cost: $80 million

Hurricane Recovery Program (HRP) With offices in chapters along the Gulf Coast and in cities with large evacuee populations, HRP seeks to address the needs of survivors. From emotional and physical well-being to proactive case management and beyond, HRP’s mission is to provide survivors with the tools they need to chart their path to recovery.  Cost: $50 million

Fundraising Costs/Management and General Expenses The Red Cross has managed an unprecedented number of contributions from generous donors who are helping meet the needs of people in this record-setting relief operation. These costs are associated with raising the funds that enable the Red Cross to respond to these and other disasters and to fulfill its mission. These costs include expenses such as finance and accounting, legal and auditing fees and public information outreach, all essential services in support of the Red Cross disaster relief effort. The fundraising costs/management and general expenses will be less than 6% of the total budget. Cost: $80 million^[7]

Figure 1 – Source: American Red Cross https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/atg/PDF_s/Publications/Annual_Reports/face_of_recovery.pdf

Lessons Learned

As I mentioned in the introduction part, as a paid employee one of the first managers I had was V ‘G’ H (GH). She served in Red Cross leadership roles in Katrina – as well as at the Pentagon during 9/11. GH has told me many a horror story about Katrina (and it should be strongly noted that all of these were not from Red Cross actions or inactions), which became lessons learned for me – and those cautionary tales helped me lead large scale mass care response and recovery efforts in New Jersey. I was – and am still – truly grateful for her mentoring and guidance. Even now, more than 12 years after she retired from the Red Cross in New Jersey, we still get together at least once a year to reminisce.

The bigger disasters – and the more media attention they generate – increase both the costs and the donations. Usually, the costs far outpace the donations (and/or any governmental assistance to the NGOs to cover their costs). That was the case for Katrina. Does that mean that NGOs should only support humanitarian efforts to the level of the money they have in the bank?^[8] Absolutely not. It does mean however, that others have to step up and fund those NGOs so they can do that work, when and where it is needed.

Most of the lessons I learned about Katrina came from research and reading after I left the Red Cross, as part of my studies for my master’s degree. Yes, I certainly knew about the inequities by government in that disaster – and of course NGOs can only go where they are allowed, supported, etc. FEMA is still supporting local governments (not individuals or families) adversely impacted by Katrina today (2025); with Public Assistance projects and mitigation work^[9]. One of the great lessons I have learned from other disasters – ‘Don’t let a good disaster go to waste’ – has not been really learned and applied across the board by anyone from what happened during Katrina, in my opinion. Yes, the Feds created PKEMRA^[10] and the PETS Act^[11], but the nation has not really applied those lessons systemically – and most importantly, equitably – far and wide.

One can find tons of books, articles, essays, research, etc. on Katrina – candidly, it is not my story to tell.

I recommend the following:

• The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned^[12]
• Sheri Fink’s Five Days at Memorial
• General Russel Honoré’s Don’t Get Stuck on Stupid!: Leadership in Action