Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina, which occurred on August 29, 2005, on the Gulf Coast of the United States, caused catastrophic damage to properties and loss of lives in the New Orleans region. The aftermath of the storm resulted in about 80 percent of the city being flooded. Besides the disaster affecting the social, human, and psychological fabric aspects of New Orleans City, the hurricane caused considerable effects on the city’s businesses and economy. The disaster claimed the lives of over 6,000 people (McGraw-Hill, n.d). This paper analyzes the impact the storm had on the Gulf Coast businesses and further presents the importance of backup and recovery in such natural disasters.

Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Businesses

The economy of a country or a city determines the businesses within the town. Therefore, the economic disruption in Orleans City caused by the storm affected trade in the area. Hurricane Katrina destroyed properties, leading to the closure of many companies due to a lack of customers caused by a large number of displaced people and lives lost in the disaster. Moreover, many of the small enterprises had to close down due to a lack of supplies following the destruction of transport and communication lines (Borger & Campbell, 2005). The Louisiana and New Orleans cities recorded high unemployment rates during the first months after the storm in 2005, which resulted in labor shortages caused by the decline in the labor force and rebuilding efforts. The reduction in the labor force led to companies having low labor to run their operations while other firms had to downsize following the market decline that caused a decrease in production.

Also, Hurricane Katrina led to the rise of the operating costs in the city. Many companies had to rebuild themselves to fit into the market after a massive loss caused by the storm. The reduced customer base means that the businesses had to operate in an unpredicted business environment where costs of operation had increased following the reconstruction of the city after the storm. Furthermore, the hurricane caused changes in the cash flow following the city’s economic disruption caused by the impacts of the disaster.

Importance of a Backup and Recovery

A backup and recovery plan helps the authorities prepare for another devastating disaster that may occur again. The lessons learned from the previous catastrophe inform the relevant institutions and those in charge of the disaster management teams of the best disaster management methods. The recovery activities can also assist the disaster management team in formulating more relevant and useful recovery plans. For example, based on their experiences with Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana Community designed a checklist to help college students with disaster preparations (Boin, HART, McConnell & Preston, 2010).

Hurricane Katrina was a surprise to many, including myself. The magnitude of the storm is unimaginable due to the vast region affected by the floods and the damage it caused. It caused severe destruction to the great Orleans City which had a large population and businesses. The disaster management systems within the city failed to respond appropriately to the storm because they were never prepared for such a big disaster. Although the methods may have failed before, the current institutions have improved disaster preparedness by creating capable backup and recovery plans, like the prepared college checklists that help students with disaster preparation. The business community should also use the disaster checklist so that they can always be cautious about when to invest more in their businesses and when to reduce their stocks, this will ensure disasters do not destroy a lot of their properties under uncontrollable circumstances.

References

Borger, J., & Campbell, D. (2005). Why did help take so long to arrive? The Guardian, 9(3).

Boin, A., HART, P. T., McConnell, A., & Preston, T. (2010). Leadership style, crisis response and blame management: The case of Hurricane Katrina. Public Administration, 88(3), 706-723.

McGraw-Hill. (n.d). Hurricane Katrina: Natural Disasters in the Era of Information Technology . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RRnoljqyXA&feature=youtu.be