2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Response Support
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, causing loss of critical utilities for hundreds of thousands, triggering devastating floods in and around New Orleans, displacing millions of residents, and generally sweeping over the coast with a force of destruction never before experienced.
The response necessary for this catastrophic hurricane, and its successor, Hurricane Rita, presented a challenge of unprecedented magnitude for FEMA. Not only were its staffing resources stretched to their maximum, but the variety and depth of skills sets required to address all the disasters' implications were huge.
Supported response and special projects.
Shortly before and for several months after the landfall of Katrina (and subsequently Rita) FEMA established field offices and logistics centers in or near highly impacted areas. The Agency also ramped up staffing at the FEMA Region VI and IV offices and National Headquarters in Washington D.C. FEMA needed staffing support from highly trained professionals who could bolster the response operations, allowing operations to continue efficiently, and support special projects with specific subject matter expertise and advanced technical skills.
IEM took on this challenge with a targeted, adaptable solution: IEM offered diversified response teams of experienced emergency planners, GIS and database specialists, local government experts, and information analysts to provide support in areas that FEMA leadership identified.
Matched urgency with the right people.
IEM personnel were deployed rapidly as FEMA identified the needs. IEM adeptly managed both the urgency of the support requests and the importance of providing the right people — those with the training, skills, and experience to best provide the necessary support. Ultimately, IEM employees supported FEMA's 2005 hurricane response at 10 sites.
