ABSTRACT
In many respects, strategies and policies for disaster public relations by government can be separated into two categories, those that came before and those that came after the three seminal mega-disasters that occurred during the first half-decade of the 21st century: 9/11, the 2004 tsunami in south Asia and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. While 9/11 was, of course, a matter of homeland security, it should also be considered a disaster and, therefore, is applicable to this discussion as well. These three cataclysmic events not only have greatly influenced how practitioners and faculty view public administration in general, but also have significant bearing on their implications for external communications in a crisis.
