Katrina taught us that failing to act on known risks has devastating consequences. Let’s not forget. Let’s not repeat it. 🌀
📘 Full article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Katrina taught us that failing to act on known risks has devastating consequences. Let’s not forget. Let’s not repeat it. 🌀
📘 Full article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
That’s why the current effort by President Trump to gut FEMA and dump disaster costs on the states is alarming. It reflects a willful ignorance for the hard-won lessons of Katrina. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/c...
That’s why the current effort by President Trump to gut FEMA and dump disaster costs on the states is alarming. It reflects a willful ignorance for the hard-won lessons of Katrina. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/c...
The core lesson: resilience is not built in the storm. It’s built before! Sustained investment, strong federal coordination, and a commitment to learning from past failures are all needed.
The core lesson: resilience is not built in the storm. It’s built before! Sustained investment, strong federal coordination, and a commitment to learning from past failures are all needed.
And politically? Natural hazard preparedness was deprioritized. Homeland Security focused almost exclusively on terrorism. Warnings about hurricanes were drowned out in a crowded, reactive policy space.
And politically? Natural hazard preparedness was deprioritized. Homeland Security focused almost exclusively on terrorism. Warnings about hurricanes were drowned out in a crowded, reactive policy space.
Organizationally, emergency planning was fragmented. Key agencies weren’t aligned, and FEMA’s role had been weakened by its integration into a terrorism-focused DHS after 9/11.
Organizationally, emergency planning was fragmented. Key agencies weren’t aligned, and FEMA’s role had been weakened by its integration into a terrorism-focused DHS after 9/11.
Psychologically, overconfidence and wishful thinking led officials to believe the levees would hold. Many discounted repeated warnings as alarmist. Those assumptions proved fatal.
Psychologically, overconfidence and wishful thinking led officials to believe the levees would hold. Many discounted repeated warnings as alarmist. Those assumptions proved fatal.
This wasn’t just a FEMA failure. The failures stretched across federal, state, and local governments. Katrina was a long-predicted event. It became a disaster because many responsible authorities didn’t act on those warnings.
This wasn’t just a FEMA failure. The failures stretched across federal, state, and local governments. Katrina was a long-predicted event. It became a disaster because many responsible authorities didn’t act on those warnings.
In our article, my colleagues and I examined the Katrina disaster through three perspectives—psychological, organizational, and agenda-political—to better understand how and why things went so wrong.
In our article, my colleagues and I examined the Katrina disaster through three perspectives—psychological, organizational, and agenda-political—to better understand how and why things went so wrong.