12: Adm. Thad Allen, USCG ret. on the missing tool for more effective disaster response

The pandemic’s resurgence is causing some jurisdictions to extend or reinstate mandates on masks, social distancing, and other measures. Those jurisdictions are rethinking the way they’re responding to the disaster the pandemic has become. Admiral Thad Allen (USCG ret.) is former Commandant of the Coast Guard. He led the response to Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On this episode, he details the missing tool for more effective disaster response; who should build and own that tool; and how to implement it whether the disaster is natural or manmade.

Photo: President George W. Bush smiles as he talks with Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, on stage at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington D.C., during a Change of Command Ceremony Thursday, May 25, 2006. White House photo by Eric Draper