Katrina: 20 Years Later, Disasters are Worsening

Twenty years ago, meteorologists at the National Weather Service (NWS) issued an ominous warning of Hurricane Katrina’s impending destruction to New Orleans and surrounding areas. Parts of that bulletin, issued on August 28, 2005 at 10:11 a.m. read:

…DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED…

HURRICANE KATRINA…A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH…RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. 

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS…PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL…LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

…

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS…AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING…BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

The storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. Because of insufficiently executed evacuation orders and infrastructure failures, Katrina tragically killed 1,833 people —over half of whom in Louisiana were Black and nearly half elderly. Sustained winds of 125 mph and storm surges of up to 20 feet broke levees, eroded beaches and wetlands, contaminated water, and destroyed 320 million trees—subsequently displacing and harming communities and wildlife.

The tempest caused $108 billion in damage and demonstrated the disastrous impact of the loss of thousands of acres of our protective wetlands and consequences of poorly designed and maintained levees. The degraded and eroded barrier islands, marshes, and swamps no longer provided the natural buffer that once protected coastal communities from the powerful storm surge.

Notably, a federal navigation channel built decades before Katrina degraded protective wetlands across the coastal landscape and funneled deadly storm surge inland causing some of the most catastrophic damage to communities in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish.

Recovering from Hurricane Katrina

Recovery was long and continues to this day. The initial weeks were spent on rescue, recovery, and distribution of basic necessities like water, food, shelter, and restoring power. Removing debris and rebuilding homes and infrastructure took 18 months. Bigger, costlier efforts such as rebuilding levees, upgrading flood protection systems and reinvesting in coastal ecosystems took years.

Longer-term projects spearheaded by local government and non-profits have been underway in Louisiana, like the network of solar and storage resilience hubs—also known as community lighthouses. These community lighthouses transform places of worship and community centers into solar-powered microgrids that can provide power during grid failure and outages from hurricanes and other extreme weather. 

Despite the influx of billions of dollars for recovery, some residents—particularly Black, people of color, and low-income residents—are still reeling from the fallout. Historic inequities like redlining and loan refusal have pushed Black residents into flood-prone areas of New Orleans. The Road Home housing recovery program—funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—was created shortly after Katrina and provided grant money to help Louisiana residents rebuild or sell their homes damaged by the hurricane.

However, the money was disbursed based on the pre-storm property value of a home rather than the cost of damage or to rebuild. This meant that lower-income residents were left with fewer resources to rebuild, and as a result, the Black population in New Orleans has dramatically decreased post-Katrina.

Five years after the storm, a federal judge sided with Black homeowners in a lawsuit against the program. But by then, officials had already spent over 98 percent of the $13 billion in Road Home federal aid.

It’s important to note the camaraderie and strength of New Orleans’ culture. In the months following Hurricane Katrina, as residents began to return, so too did second line parades. This tradition of brass bands and elaborately dressed celebrators began as jazz funerals. Originally a way of fundraising to cover burial costs for African Americans, it has morphed into a celebration of community and culture and is a symbol the social aid and pleasure clubs of New Orleans hoped would draw more residents to return.

Cutting agencies that warn, prepare, and help us recover from disasters

The memory of Hurricane Katrina is still vivid in people’s minds. Entire neighborhoods submerged underwater, only roofs and stranded residents visible. Sadly, over the last two decades, images like these have become far more common. In the 2000s, there was an average of 6.7 billion-dollar disasters a year. Today, there is an average of 23 a year. Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of natural disasters.

Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has been reducing or denying aid to disaster-stricken areas. It has also made significant staff and budgetary cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—which houses the National Weather Service—with talk of making significant cuts to or eliminating FEMA. These agencies provide critical services to help people recover from disasters, and to help communities prepare for extreme weather before it strikes.

In July, a tragic 500-year flood in Texas killed more than 100 people, including children at a girl’s summer camp. The Guadalupe River rose more than 26 feet in 45 minutes. And days after this devastating disaster, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) finalized a rollback of Biden-era flood standards that required new or rebuilt homes funded by HUD to be elevated two feet above local flood level—meant to protect people from severe flooding and the associated costs of cleanup.

FEMA’s federal flood risk management standard, which required all FEMA-funded construction projects to be better strengthened against climate-related flood impacts, was also rescinded earlier this year.

Disasters have always been a part of nature, but the extreme weather events of today are undoubtedly intensified and increased by climate change. What we need, now more than ever, is leaders who will strengthen and improve America’s disaster preparedness, response and recovery systems, not dismantle them. Learn more about how you can take action to protect the public servants who help with disaster response and recovery.