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Reaching for the Philosopher’s Stone: Contingent Coordination and the Military’s Response to Hurricane Katrina
Author(s) -
Morris John C.,
Morris Elizabeth D,
Jones Dale M
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00818.x
Subject(s) - coast guard , hurricane katrina , landfall , guard (computer science) , active duty , storm , emergency management , state (computer science) , duty , national guard , history , political science , archaeology , law , natural disaster , geography , public administration , military personnel , meteorology , environmental protection , computer science , algorithm , programming language
When Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in August 2005, it immediately overwhelmed the abilities of local and state emergency management officials to respond to the ensuing disaster. Although the U.S. Coast Guard and some military units were on scene shortly after the passage of the storm, there seemed to be interminable delays before the military forces began to arrive in numbers to both provide humanitarian relief and secure the affected areas. This article analyzes the response of the National Guard, active‐duty military, and Coast Guard forces through the lens of coordination. We find evidence of the successful use of both traditional hierarchical and network‐based coordination; we also find support for Donald Kettl’s idea of “contingent coordination.”