What We Learned from Hurricane Katrina, 20 Years Later

Disasters were once considered an act of God—tragically inevitable in their devastation.

Then Hurricane Katrina happened in 2005, and the world watched as a man-made catastrophe unfolded. While the hurricane itself was a natural event, its impacts—destroying or severely   damaging  more than 1 million homes, displacing   more than 1 million people, and causing at least 986   deaths in Louisiana—were not. Yet against all odds, New Orleans shows signs that it could become a beacon for innovative and cross-sectoral solutions for climate resilience, even as the federal government regresses in its own approach to disaster management.

August 29 marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. As such, my team and I have been analyzing resilience in the New Orleans m