The Next Catastrophe: Ready or Not?

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. For a more detailed discussion of these themes, see Anne Witkowsky and Christine Wormuth, “Managing the Next Domestic Catastrophe: Ready or Not?” CSIS Report (Washington D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies, June 2008), http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/080909_wormuth_managingcatastrophe_web.pdf 2. See The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, special report prepared at the request of President George. W. Bush, February 2006, http://www.whitehouse.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/; Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina, The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, 109th Cong., 2nd sess., 2006, H. Rep. 109–396; Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared, 109th Cong., 2nd sess., 2006, S. Rep. 109–322. 3. Homeland Security Act of 2002, Public Law 107–296, 107th Cong., 2nd sess. (November 15, 2002); Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, “Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-5,” February 28, 2003, paragraph 4, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030228-9.html; Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, Public Law 109–295, 109th Cong., 2nd sess. (October 4, 2006). 4. Department of Homeland Security, “National Response Framework”, January 2008, p. 25, http://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nrf/nrf-core.pdf. 5. Eric Lipton, Christopher Drew, Scott Shane, and David Rohde, “Breakdowns Marked Path From Hurricane to Anarchy,” New York Times, September 11, 2005, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/national/nationalspecial/11response.html 6. George W. Bush, “President Discusses Hurricane Relief in Address to the Nation,” speech, Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana, September 15, 2005. 7. William Perry, Ashton Carter, and Michael May, “After the Bomb,” New York Times, June 12, 2007. 8. Although the title and content of the DOD planning guidance document has evolved substantially in recent years, for many years this document has played a critical role in translating strategy into the planning, programming and budgeting system. In the past, DHS has issued an integrated planning guidance document that has attempted to link strategic objectives to its five year budget, but the document's impact on the overall DHS planning, programming, and budgeting system has been modest at best. 9. Chris Logan, “2007 State Homeland Security Directors Survey,” Issue Brief (Washington D.C.: National Governors Association, December 18, 2007), p. 7, http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0712HOMELANDSURVEY.PDF 10. See Stephen Flynn, America the Vulnerable: How Our Government is Failing to Protect Us from Terrorism (New York: Harper Collins, 2004); Clark Kent Ervin, Open Target: Where America is Vulnerable to Attack (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006); Richard A. Clarke, Rand Beers, et al., The Forgotten Homeland, A Century Foundation Task Force Report (New York: Century Foundation Press, 2006), http://www.tcf.org/list.asp?type=PB&pubid=569 . Additional informationNotes on contributorsChristine WormuthChristine Wormuth is a senior fellow in the International Security Program at CSIS and principal author of Managing the Next Domestic Catastrophe: Ready or Not?(2008). She can be reached at CWormuth@csis.org