PowerPoint presentation
The model development assignment is a Powerpoint presentation that should contain the problem solving model you proposed in your research paper. In some cases, your model will look like a schematic. In other cases, the model you present will look like a flow chart or PERT/CPM Chart.
As an Operations Manager in training (for this assignment), it’s important that you present the ethical and legal ramifications associated with this model.
The end result should look like a physical model design/diagram or chart and a very clearly written explanation or narrative describing
- the model and it’s components
- the drivers of the model
- the location (within the business process), where the suggested model should be implemented
- the variance between the current condition within the industry/organization, and the projected condition
- the actual diagram/chart/schematic that you created from scratch in the presentation
This 5 part assignment (including the diagram/chart) is worth 100pts – 20 pts per section. So please be as specific as possible in your detail and design. Please review
the senior project video presentations
(copy and paste this link in a new browser window www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hJxaTVcCcQ) to see how the Information Systems Students developed solutions for the non-profit organizations they attempted to assist.
Your final presentation must be converted to a pdf and uploaded for grading. The link below will demonstrate steps you can follow to do this.
HOW TO CONVERT PRESENTATION WITH NOTES TO PDF
Both online & Hybrid Students: Click on the link directly above entitled “Week 7 Model Presentation” to submit your Week 7 Model Presentation to receive a grade. You have 3 chances to upload your assignment, return to check the SafeAssign score, make corrections if needed, and press Start New for the next upload. When you are satisfied with the last upload, stop submitting. The last submission will be graded. When you select Start New, you will lose access to the previous versions and their SafeAssign scores. So, copy these if you need them while you are making corrections.
Hybrid Students: You will also present this during your hybrid meeting
Running
head: MASS CITY EVACUATION 1
MASS CITY EVACUATION 2
Mass City Evacuation
Mia Watson
Dr. Laura Thompson
Operations Management
October 17, 2020
Abstract
Disasters often occur unexpectedly in any industry. Therefore, an elaborate disaster planning and management system need to be in place. Emergency physicians play a significant role in disaster management and planning. Some disasters would require removal of a section of the population for their safety. The removal of a section of the population is known as a mass evacuation. This disaster planning aspect is in most cases ignored in the overall plans for dealing with disasters. There are very few writings on this important aspect for research, thus difficult to make intelligent evacuation plans. This research paper summarizes a number of policy observations about evacuation planning and disaster mitigation in big cities or large urban areas (Broder, 2005). The information given is used in outlining important points that need to be addressed by those involved in disaster planning and management. This is done to assist in the removal of people from danger quickly, with a few challenges as possible. Disasters can either be man-made or natural but all have tragic consequences. Major disasters that have struck the world have provoked intensive and extensive studies of evacuation procedures for urban centers, to identify any weakness in the process and disseminate best evacuation practices. After reviewing previous works on evacuation, the paper provides background information and lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Dean in 2007. The research has identified three important themes which include:
i. Public officials anticipating a wider scope of issues when issuing evacuation requests
ii. The officials must work extra in preparation for disaster than write “fantasy” emergency operations plans
iii. The officials must adjust activities involving development that have a negative implication on mitigating disaster.
A successful evacuation process requires resources such as financial, professional, technological, and informational to be readily available at the right place and time. Effective evacuation planning demands a collaborative partnership among all stakeholders: private sector partners, government personnel at all levels, and most importantly evacuees. Planning must ensure all people are all included in this vital service even the ethnic minorities, the aged, the economically disadvantaged, and people with disabilities.
Introduction
Public officials at all government levels in the United States of America are becoming more aware of the fact that the U.S.is among the hurricane-prone nations in the world. The U.S. has experienced several destructive Atlantic Ocean hurricanes. However, the year 2005 will live to be remembered for the 28 recorded hurricanes. This paper will dwell on the implications of evacuations prompted by the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005and Hurricane Dean in 2007. Despite the mass evacuation efforts, Hurricane Katrina depicted the more difficulties from a combination of thousands of stranded people and subsequent dispersal of evacuees. Hurricane Rita illustrates the problems associated with evacuations of the seventh most populated area in America. The paper considers the policy implications of a mass evacuation. It first starts with a brief discussion of the “fantasy documents” Then, the aspects of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Dean are considered to illustrate the many variables that compromised the urban mass evacuations. Secondly, evacuation opens up planning and policies that extend beyond the road capacity challenges and infrastructure.
Fantasy documents and Emergency management
Instances of urban evacuation often lead to a feeling that their management still has a lot to be done. The recent events clearly show there is a shortfall in the emergency management policy and emergency management thinking. Large –scale evacuations are usually the main ways of preserving life. Fantasy documents are by emergency agencies under circumstances where there are complex and ambiguous problems that require control. Fantasy documents are not white lies but rather unrealistic assumptions of the performance of an organization in the event of a crisis.
The evacuation topic will be more important in the near future as indicated by the current real estate development trends. The real estate developers have thrown caution to the wind and continued to build residential and commercial buildings in hazardous areas along with communities’ negligence in matters of emergency management, thus exposing our communities to the hurricane-prone zones. The technological hazards are constantly increasing and they lead to evacuation from the affected area. Besides, we should put in mind the possibility of attacks by terrorist involving weapons of mass destruction. These terrorist attacks could result to complete or partial evacuation of metropolitan areas in America. Therefore, disaster evacuation must be given much attention than it has been in the past.
Literature review on mass evacuation
Evacuation can be termed as the movement of people to safer places away from hazard-prone areas for their safety. Evacuation can also occur in the anticipation of a hazard or when a hazard event actually takes place. The warning process is closely related to the evacuation function in emergency management. Warning methodologies have an important role in ensuring the success of the evacuation process. The evacuee may require a place to stay and also meeting their other basic needs after leaving their place said to be hazardous. It may also be difficult for evacuation managers to determine whether people should evacuate from the area or just shelter in a place. For, example in an industrial accident, the weather, and type of chemical released are the main determinants of people leaving the area.
The findings of the evacuation behaviours fall into two areas. First, it has always been illustrated that people should never panic in the event of a tragedy, but most people do not heed to this. Panic leads to non-compliance by the people as they would act according to what they think not what they are told. Therefore, it would be problematic getting people to comply with the evacuation requests and some of the people will eventually not evacuate. The second finding is that the evacuation rates will vary in disasters as not everyone will obey the evacuation call and leave the place. For instance, in the Three Mile Island incident, only 39% of the estimated population evacuated the area. There is rarely 100% compliance with the evacuation requests.
Third, the paper has dealt with the reasons why people chose to remain in harm ways or evacuate as directed by the emergency response team. Research has highlighted several reasons that are indicators of the likelihood of evacuation. Some of the indicators are prior experience with the specified disaster, education level, and family structures. Fourth, the evacuation shadow which is people evacuating even when their areas are not considered to be at risk yet. During the Hurricane Floyd of 1999, it was estimated that about 1 million persons who evacuated were actually shadow evacuees. Finally, there are several reasons why people will not evacuate: official warning delay, people downplaying risks, looting fear and the inconveniences caused.
Evacuation implications of the Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina is remembered because of the large area affected, structure damaged and people displaced (Beriwal, 2005). It killed almost 1500 people, destroyed homes, crippled crucial infrastructure, and led to a major social disruption. The Louisiana governor recognized how severe the situation was and declared a state of emergency. Subsequently, the United States President George Bush declared a federal disaster and freed up federal assistance for the communities that had been impacted. One of the major problems clearly evident in the disaster of Katrina was the issuance of evacuation orders. Governor Blanco requested an evacuation for people at risk two days before the landfall. However, Ray Nagin, New Orleans mayor delayed issuing an evacuation order for citizens in his city. Nagin’s issued the evacuation request less than 24hours before the deadly storm arrived. This was definitely a short notice that limited the people from gathering supplies, taking measures to protect their homes, and leaving in a timely and safe manner (Jia & Batoz, 2016).
The delay in issuance of the evacuation request led to higher traffic than the desired until the arrival of the storm. Louisiana Governor Blanco gave an estimate of 1.3 million residents of the New Orleans was evacuated. The figure is approximately 80% of the region’s population, a commendable evacuation rate. While most people obeyed the call for an evacuation, a number of the residents in New Orleans did not leave as per the evacuation request (Alford, 2006). They downplayed the risk posed by Hurricane Katrina. There were several cases in the hospital and elderly homes where the persons were not evacuated by those who take care of them. Others claimed that they did not have money for food, fuel, and hotels. Such explanations are common with the literature about people’s evacuation behaviours. The city did not utilize school buses in the evacuation processes as described in their emergency operations plan. Lack of concern with the Federal officials is another evident problem in managing the response to Hurricane Katrina. This may have been caused by difficulties in forecasting Hurricane’s intensity probably due to the changing climatic condition in the Gulf of Mexico. The challenges presented by this paper are only but a few of the lessons learned from the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Analysis of research methodologies
This chapter thus describes the methodology employed in conducting the research, the data collection methods, data measurement, and data analysis needed to accomplish the objectives of the research. There are two types of data that can be used in the research analysis: primary data and secondary data. Primary data is collected directly from the source such as questionnaires. Secondary data is obtained from the works of another person such as journals, magazines and articles. In our paper, we are utilizing the secondary data to research the mass evacuation of people in urban centers and cities. This paper presents previous studies on disaster and emergency management. The information given is used in outlining important points that need to be addressed by those involved in disaster planning and management. Different articles, books and journals have been reviewed and information extracted to come up with this research paper. There are few writings on this important aspect for research, thus difficult to make intelligent evacuation plans. This research summarizes several policy observations about evacuation planning and disaster mitigation in big cities or large urban areas. The information given is used in outlining important points that need to be addressed by those involved in disaster planning and management.
Analysis and evaluation of the problem
It is impossible to separate the evacuation process as an emergency response activity from the geographic and institutional context of particular communities interrelating on large scale. The evacuation process is a series of challenges. As time passes, the evacuation problems merge to become larger community crises, with aspects of housing, transportation, and development concerns (Conklin, 2006). Numerous challenges have been demonstrated in the handling of hurricanes experienced in the U.S. There are no provisions of evacuating pets and the elderly in nursing homes. The elderly people too are important in the community thus they require special care and attention especially in times of disaster.
Lack of knowledge in emergency management by the officials mandated to respond to a disaster. Some of the recent mistakes and failures relate to a lack of adequate knowledge about evacuation and generally the management of emergency response to a disaster. Stakeholders in the emergency response system would act irrationally as they tried to combat disaster just because of a lack of enough knowledge in policy and emergency management.
Injudicious development is being approved for construction by the authorities without considering the impact it would later have on mass evacuation in the event a disaster occurs. The authorities have been granting developer permission to construct residential and commercial buildings while disregarding the safety of the construction site.
Delays in the issuance of evacuation requests result in a hastened evacuation process which often has adverse effects on emergency management. The people would hurriedly evacuate leaving some essential things that they could have carried if given notice in good time. This caused traffic that continued to delay them more and some were caught up with the catastrophe.
Poor correspondence from other people. Some people chose not to heed to the evacuation requests issued by the authorities citing various reasons for their action. This would hinder the effective evacuation of people and eventually sabotage the emergency management system.
Panic-stricken citizens will tend to act in an unwarranted manner. The affected citizens may panic because of their unfamiliarity with the unexpected occurrence. Having minimal information on how to handle the disaster, the citizens may start doing things that would expose them to more danger. The unaffected area residents may begin to evacuate whereas they are not within the mapped risky areas creating congestion for no reason.
Recommended research design/solution
The difficulty experienced in the evacuation of large urban centers, even those close to each other, suggests the need for restructuring the emergency management and other priorities of the urban centers. Restructuring the emergency management will strengthen it and place it in a better position of handling any disaster that occurs (Renne, 2018).
The Homeland security policy needs to be structured to enable it to efficiently respond and combat any disaster. The department of Homeland security has a stated goal of preparing for, preventing, and responding to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism.
Emergency management requires more financial support and regional planning be given priority. Financial resources are very crucial in the execution of any task. More finances would enable the management team to make purchases and payments of essential things needed in effectively managing any emergency created by the occurrence of a disaster.
Capacity-building should be given greater importance in managing emergencies in particular and generally in public administration. The people involved in managing emergencies should be well equipped with the necessary resources to successfully evacuate people in times of disaster.
The government should have provisions of evacuating pets and review plans for nursing homes designed to migrate the elderly to safer grounds. The pets are not taken care of in the evacuation process thus they are left exposed to the disaster.
The provision of alternative means of evacuation and transport systems will be essential in the event a disaster occurs. The emergency management team should device other ways of evacuating people to safer places to increase the success of the evacuation process.
Lack of concern with the Federal officials is another evident problem in managing the response to Hurricane Katrina. This may have resulted from difficulties in forecasting Hurricane’s intensity probably due to the rapidly changing climatic condition in the Gulf of Mexico.
Furthermore, undivided attention should be directed to housing and sheltering in disasters. Housing and sheltering help in settling people in safer places after evacuation.
Finally, the creation of awareness of the negative outcome of injudicious development and the implications it will later have on mass evacuation. These kinds of development are built on areas prone to hurricanes thus endangering the lives of those living in those buildings.
Conclusion and Future research considerations
The research paper has focused on the risk of hurricanes and other disasters facing the U.S. citizens as well as the growing vulnerabilities regarding mass evacuation. The research advocates for inter-governmental and inter-organizational relations in complex crises, where there is no much knowledge in policy and management aspects.
Hurricane Dean, Katrina, and Rita demonstrate a limited capacity in dealing with the consequences created by willful ignorance choice or accidental misunderstanding. Some of the recent mistakes and failures relate to a lack of adequate knowledge about evacuation and generally the management of emergency response to the disaster. Therefore, it is high time the authorities consider the way different variables impact on mass evacuation and realize the dangers posed by fantasy documents (Brezosky, 2007).
Capacity-building should be given greater importance in managing emergencies in particular and generally in public administration. Many challenges are facing us the Americans which require a lot of resources to address them. The resources and initiatives to deal with challenges effectively are currently insufficient thus the need for prioritizing and starting with the most urgent.
Evacuation being the principal means of saving lives, there is a need for more research on evacuation and modifying the policies available to help the affected people. The relevant agencies involved should implement appropriate sheltering and evacuation strategies. The emergency management team should embark on research to identify new innovative ways of combating disaster and preventing further damages. In future the following topics should be researched: automation of the emergency management system and comprehensive emergency planning.
References
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