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Hurricane Katrina:
Dykes that were managed by and maintained by a government agency (the Army Corps of Engineers) failed during a natural disaster. Evacuation (the responsibility of a government agency) was enacted too late because of poor strategic planning. An inexperienced disaster chief (Brown) bungled the FEMA response, leaving hundreds stranded atop their flooded homes for days. Over 1,800 people died in the floods.

Deepwater Horizon oil spill:
An explosion occurred on an oil rig that is privately owned by a British corporation. (Unlike Hurricane Katrina, this was NOT the result of a natural disaster.) British Petroleum, the corporation responsible for the oil field and oil rig, originally reported that 1,000 barrels per day were leaking into the ocean and that it would take 24-48 hours to close the pipe and clean up its own mess. They were wrong, and eight days after the explosion, BP reported that 5,000 barrels per day were spilling into the ocean and that all of their attempts to activate the failsafe pipe closing mechanism had failed. In response to the news that the oil spill was five times worse than BP had originally reported, U.S. Coast Guard and National Guard were deployed en masse. A day later, the number of vessels dedicated to contenting the spill jumped from 32 to 69. Two days later, 10 more vessels were on the job. To date, 12 to 15 oil rig workers are presumed dead.

Ok, so let’s summarize:

Hurricane Katrina = Government failure to maintain government-run dykes; Government fails to preventatively evacuate residents; and Government fails to proactively and adequately respond to the devastating aftermath; 1,800+ people are dead.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill = A British oil corporation’s private oil rig explodes not as a result of a natural disaster; the responsible corporation fails to stop their own oil spill; the oil corporation misrepresents the severity of their oil spill; when the Government learns the true severity it springs to action by deploying Military, Coast Guard, and over 1,000 National Guard personnel to assist with the clean up; 15 people are dead.

See the difference?

For a more in-depth compare and contrast, visit Media Matters.