In Trouble the Water, we find that Kimberley Scott struggle through the effects of hurricane Katrina. Similarly, Kimberley goes through life as a drug dealer and later own gives up this way of life and lives to help the affected individuals come up after the extensive damage of the hurricane. It is also evident that the government was not able to provide help to the victims. Furthermore, only a few people were able to receive compensation from the state. To start with, the hurricane troubles the residents of New Orleans. Kimberley decides to take a footage of all the events that were taking place at that time with the aim of selling it to a New Station. His neighbors, seem to panic. They don’t see how they would survive the storm. One of them asks him if he still has “weed” …. Another scene that stands out here is the life of Kimberly and his ambition to be an artist. He performs in the film with great passion and motivation. For this reason, he establishes his own recording company, “Born Hustler Records.” This shows how much ambition, resilience and self-motivation can do.
The governments responsibilities in terms of severe cases such as the hurricane Katrina include, rescuingcitizens through quick response, compensating the affected individuals and increasing resource allocation towards future disaster of that nature. In the film,Trouble the Water, we find that residents of New Orleans are going through panic since they can’t see rescue teams. This follows the response by the 911 team, that no one is going to rescue them. In such cases, citizens lose hope and forget that the government even exists. They therefore depend on individual efforts where everyone is responsible for their own safety. Along these lines, Kimberly and Scott even leave their two dogs since the water level goes to dangerous level with only the tall buildings barely above water. The Black residents of New Orleans were discriminated against at the time of FEMA compensation. They were therefore relocated to other regions since they weren’t able to prove residence.
The film gives various examples of real life conditions that are normally associated with third world conditions in a first world condition country. In this respect, we find that the government has imbalanced way of giving provisions and budget allocation. Normally, a country is supposed to be developed in almost all regions. Equity in terms of development should prevail. A case of having other regions suffer disasters because of underdevelopment portrays failure in government’s provision of welfare of the public. Kimberley and Scott therefore decide to leave their old life and embark on helping some of their neighbor come up after the destructive storm.
Kim and Scott come from an underdeveloped region as compared to other towns and cities of the country. They depend on proceeds from selling drugs. Their standard of living is therefore poor. The city lacks an established disaster management unit. They do not even receive help form the 911 security team. They therefore have little access to welfare services from the government. This should however not be the case since the government has the responsibility of taking care of citizens in various epidemics that would otherwise not be dealt with individually.
The government should put up a disaster management unit in such areas so as to improve people’s welfare and achieve humanitarian goals. The residents of New Orleans, for instance, Kimberley’s neighbors depended on services form the government for security purposes. The hurricane Katrina is such a national disaster that would require the quickest response ever so that the number of casualties be reduced to a reasonable number. The government therefore has the responsibility of channeling more funds to these regions so that transport and communication systems be improved. If this is done, then people living in these areas are likely to receive security services with ease and in time.
The hurricane Katrina left lots of property destroyed, lives lost and social welfare maimed. The government services proved to be inadequate since the security teams were not able to reach Kimberley and her neighbors. For this reason, citizens still have the effects of the storm in their minds. They are therefore prepared both psychologically and financially to overcome the extensive effects of the hurricane, in case it happens a second time. To some extent, a second occurrence of this storm would destroy a significant amount of property. This is because the government does not focus on balanced development strategies that would ensure that almost all regions in the country are at the same level. This is why the 911 team were not able to extend their rescue services to residents of New Orleans. Similarly, the Blacks are supposed to verify their residence so that they would receive compensations form FEMA without going through too many bureaucratic procedures.
Generally, residents would not be caught unawares when the storm returns as compared to the last hurricane. People like Kim and Scott would have a different approach to this disaster when it strikes again since they have the ambition to live at higher standards. This would guarantee them access to important government services in as far as disaster is concerned.