What does Hurricane Laura teach us about being prepared?

Daniel Kennedy
Sep 3, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Sep 6, 2020

As Hurricane Laura begins to impact Louisiana and Texas US, many thousands are facing the prospect of no water and electricity for weeks to come. The Hurricane is one of the most powerful to ever hit the region since 1856, bringing widespread damage to property and infrastructure. At least 14 lives have been lost already. It is one of the most damaging storm events in this region since Hurricane Katrina.

Somewhat paradoxically, many residents of Louisiana and Texas are trying to beat the oppressive heat by running generators to power cooling outlets. Unfortunately, this had resulted in cases of monoxide entering indoors – creating potentially deadly conditions for residents.

As a response, the White House has declared a state of disaster in parishes of Louisiana, enabling federal funds to be allocated to the most critical regions. This will allow residents to apply for grants to housing assistance to cover property losses.

The approach of the Trump administration has been more reactionary than proactive. Just two weeks prior, Trump had made moves to drain millions from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides disaster relief. Previously, Trump has attempted to silently dismantle Obama’s climate change legacy, ignoring that climate change is fuelling higher intensity storm surges – including Hurricane Laura, and also heatwaves.

Trump’s reactionary approach is dangerous for a number of reasons. Firstly, the economic cost of disaster relief is often more economically costly than allocating money upfront for disaster prevention - as was the case for Hurricane Katrina. Second, his approach exposes the most vulnerable residents to greater risk on top of the COVID-19 impacts. As travel is restricted due to the pandemic, residents seeking shelter have limited options of fleeing Texas and Louisiana. Residents are already struggling to manage the stresses and challenges of coronavirus, and now have an added burden of riding out Hurricane Laura.

Scientists refer to three key factors in preparing for extreme weather events: awareness, analytical capacity and action. It would seem the government’s approach is to act following an event. Thereby ignoring the need for knowledge and capacity beforehand and putting out spot-fires when they arise, rather than having a detailed plan. Indeed, one of the major critiques of Trump’s approach to COVID-19 was the sluggishness of action, leading to many thousands of unnecessary coronavirus deaths. Meanwhile, countries such as New Zealand and China adopted stringent lockdown measures, essentially controlling the number of active COVID-19 cases. There is a clear disconnect between Trump's unmet promises and his appalling lack of action.

What can we learn? Anticipating events before they occur has a positive economic and social benefit. By acting spontaneously, the most vulnerable are subjected to greater risk, whether than be COVID-19, Hurricane Laura or other extreme weather events. Thirdly, having an clear objective warrants greater certainty and creates heightened trust of leaders. Consistency and truthfulness is key. Be prepared.

For more information on the importance of preparation to extreme weather events, follow the link to my latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Eight-Global-Lessons-Coronavirus-Crisis-ebook/dp/B08DMD2YQJ