Christine Wormuth
The Next Catastrophe:
Ready or Not?
The United States is not ready for the next catastrophe. More than
seven years have passed since the country was attacked on September 11, 2001
by violent Islamist extremists who remain free, and who have made clear their
willingness to use weapons of mass destruction against the United States, should
they be able to acquire or build them. Three years have passed since Hurricane
Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and laid bare myriad flaws in the nation’s
preparedness and response system. Simply creating the Homeland Security
Council (HSC), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and U.S.
Northern Command has not been enough to prepare the country. The United
States still lacks detailed, government-wide plans to respond to a catastrophe.
There is still considerable confusion over who will be in charge during a disaster.
Very few dedicated military forces are on rapid alert to respond to a crisis here at
home. And, there are still no guidelines to determine and assess the capabilities
that states, cities, and towns should have to ensure they are prepared for the
worst.1
A number of significant steps have been taken, and the United States is
clearly more prepared than it was seven or eight years ago. There is a National
Homeland Security Strategy which provides overall direction for the federal
government’s homeland security policies and programs. Hundreds, if not
thousands, more people than before the September 11 attacks focus each and
every day on improving national preparedness. A National Response Framework
(NRF), formerly known as the National Response Plan, describes how the
federal government will work with state, local, and tribal governments, as well as
the private sector and nongovernmental organizations during domestic in-
cidents. Fifteen National Planning Scenarios have been drawn up to guide
# 2009 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Washington Quarterly ¥ 32:1 pp. 93106
Christine Wormuth is a senior fellow in the Internat