The State and Civil Society Response to Disaster: The Challenge of Coordination

Abstract

This article presents a case study of the reception of low-income Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Austin, Texas, to reveal the multiple barriers and problems faced by families and individuals dislodged by Katrina, as well as the difficulties faced by the service providers. The authors surveyed evacuees who had used the emergency shelter system and received housing assistance at least 10 weeks after the disaster. These survey data are supplemented with focus group and individual interviews with the city staff who conducted the survey, as well as interviews and participant observation with a range of service providers who assisted evacuees in the months following Katrina. Austin’s case managers were able to quickly organize and respond to evacuee families with an array of emergency services, including food and household goods. They also introduced new coordination efforts among agencies to distribute newly available Katrina funding. These efforts were aimed at both targeting emergency services and enhancing the capacity of case managers to help evacuees negotiate the complex maze of emergency and human services, particularly Federal Emergency Management Agency. Nevertheless, these coordination efforts were insufficient to address the problem of low-income urban evacuees living in indefinitely prolonged but possibly temporary circumstances.