Wal-Mart’s Response to Hurricane Katrina - 1800 Words

Wal-Mart’s Response to Hurricane Katrina So far in the American history, hurricane Katrina remains to be one of the most devastating hurricanes to have ever been witnessed. Though preparation were already in place to counter its effects, the storm’s impact turned out to be one of the most unprecedented ever seen. This is even notable from the way government agencies reacted to this disaster. It brought out the inefficiencies and inadequacies of the emergency units both at the federal and state level. This is because these governments’ response standards to this disaster were far much below the threshold expected. Government efforts could not match, and hence counter, the impacts of hurricane Katrina. This led to loss of massive property†¦show more content†¦This is possible because Wal-Mart is expansive and has a global influence. This helps it to have lots of information concerning anything of importance to them and their clients. Therefore using its emergency department, Wal-Mart was able to monitor the storm as it approached the shores of the Gulf coast using their highly computerized meteorological equipment. In addition to the storm monitoring capabilities, this department is well equipped with emergency response facilities for normal disasters. Wal-Mart began response to this hurricane when the meteorological equipment indicated that the initial signs of a storm were building up to a hurricane. This was when top level management began having special interest on the findings of the emergency operations centre whereby the then company’s business continuity director shifted his operations to the centre. This was a clear sign of how well Wal-Mart chain stores were getting prepared for this hurricane. Wal-Mart CEO, H. Lee Scott, Jr., was in the forefront into getting ready to counter the impact of Katrina. This is proven by the aspect of him giving direct authority to junior managers to make sound decisions on the way forward into dealing with the hurricane. This simplified decision making chain process and thus it saw the response become much quicker. Apart from giving deciding powers to his juniors, the CEO guided the response process on a daily basis plan. This accentuated the seriousness on preparation andShow MoreRelatedEssay on Hurricane Katrina2603 Words   |  11 PagesIntroduction The initial response or lack thereof, to the widespread disaster in the Gulf Coast, caused by Hurricane Katrina, demonstrated high levels of incompetence and disorganization by government officials. Images of desperate individuals awaiting rescue on their rooftops, and masses of people packed together in deplorable conditions in the Super Dome, circulated the globe. 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