The costliest natural disaster in United States' history was Hurricane Katrina. Not only did the economy take a hit with an estimated $81.2 billion in damages, the death toll reached 1,836. The government issued a series of voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders; however, there were certain rural and coastline areas which did receive proper warning. Not only were these people left in the dark, there was a huge number of people who were already trapped because they did not have the means or the time to leave.
Because there were so many people hurt by this tragedy, the U.S. government has put into place a free evacuation plan for Hurricane Ike that was instituted by President Bush. At first, Texas officials were following the example of Louisiana in that they only called for mandatory or voluntary evacuations, but did not provide help to those who were financially unable to leave. This is when the federal government declared Texas as being in a national state of emergency before the hurricane hit.
During Hurricane Katrina, the government was placed largely at fault for the significant losses endured by this tragedy. This time, U.S. officials have offered free bussing and other aid to the people of Texas, both before and after Hurricane Ike hits. What is the responsibility of the individual who chooses not to leave when there are means to evacuate? What is the responsibility of the government in terms of assisting the people who will refuse to leave?
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My response is simple. The superior figures of whatever country a person lives in are responsible for its subjects. This is the reason why presidential and other various elections are important; because we are placing our trust in leaders that we believe have our best interests at heart. I commend the United States for trying not to make the same mistake again and taking the initiative to provide relief and aid to hurricane victims.Other natural disasters that aren't planned and expected, such as tornadoes or earthquakes, don't give their victims any sort of warning, but since hurricanes can be predicted and monitored days in advance, it is the responsibility of a country's superior power to provide evacuation plans and other sources of aid.
In defense of those who choose not to evacuate their homes, it's quite understandable that's it is an extremely emotional decision to leave your home and belongings. I don't believe that the government should be able to force someone out of their home, but the government should instead give the option to leave. If someone wants to try to survive through a hurricane, their fate is in their own hands. If something goes wrong, they have nobody to blame but themselves.
If someone refuses to evacuate their home, I believe the government only has so much responsibility in terms of aiding to those people. These people choose not to leave, so they're taking responsibility for themselves. Even though the government is responsible for its people, there's only so much they can do for people who refuse the evacuation possibility. This may be a terrible opinion, but I believe, in these certain situations, the government should focus more attention on those who are willing to ask for help and utilize it.
Although the federal government does need to provide funding for buses and other evcuation operations, and although the federal government should help plan disaster responses (before they happen), individual states must step up and take responsibility for their citizens. The governor of Texas should know what Texas' emergency response is and should work hard to plan it. Likewise, the governor of Louisiana should work to plan for disasters there. The National Guard (and different cities first responders) are going to be among the first on a disaster scene. Since an individual state is in charge of its National Guard forces, the state itself needs to figure out how it will utilize these (and other) disaster-response resources. I suppose what I'm working towards is this: the federal government needs to be involved with funding and planning for disaster response, but an individual state should step up and take the intiative in helping its people during disasters, even if that initiative is as simple as asking the federal government for various forms of aid.
While a governor (and the mayors of the various cities) should do as much as they can before a natural disaster, it's still the government's job to attempt to save those who stay behind after the disaster, provided that no one is too at risk by entering the disaster area.
Because the state governments are closer to their people, they should have a better understanding of how to handle a hurricane disaster than federal government. Therefore, I think that the state governments should be in charge of devising and implementing disaster plans, but should seek money and aid from the federal government, as they would probably not have to funding or the forces to help their people.
I agree with Whitney about governments being responsible for their citizens, but not being able to force people to evacuate.
The question that seems to arise, then, is if the government (state, federal, local, take your pick) can't force people to evacuate, how responsible is the government for helping to rescue those same people while their houses are floating away and they're regretting not being forced out? What say you, Whitney and Laura?
The responsibility for the organization of evacuations should be placed on the state governments. Most local governments are to small and don't have enough resources to conduct evacuations properly. Even though the state should be in charge it is logical to seek aid from the national government in order to carry out the proper plans for the situation.
As for whether or not it is the job of the government to forc poeple to evacuate, it should be the final decision of the individuals if they will stay or not. It is also unplausable to make sure that everyone is evacuated and the resources to do such a forced evacuation is ridiculuss. Evacuation should be left as a personal decision since it is up to the individual to decide what is best for them.
I agree with Tyler. It should be the State governments responsibility to help evacuate people from natural disasters. The federal government can provide aid, but it should be primarily the responsibility of the State government. I also agree that there should be no forced evacuations. If a person wants to stay where they are and a hurricane is about to hit, it should be their right to do so.
Ok, so if it's their right to stay, how responsible is the government (whichever level you want) for rescuing them when they are in the middle of a Category 5 storm? Or, for that matter, right after the storm?
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