Twenty years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina ripped through our Gulf Coast, showing not only the fury of nature, but serious flaws in our federal disaster response system. The failure that followed—marked by FEMA's slowness and disorganization—laid bare systemic neglect and inequities, the scars of which still run deep in Louisiana, Mississippi, and beyond.

Today, our federal disaster response system stands at another precarious juncture. President Donald Trump has yet to nominate a permanent FEMA administrator, leaving the agency in the hands of an acting official with no emergency management experience. The last time FEMA was led by someone with no emergency management experience was during Hurricane Katrina—and the results were catastrophic. This summer's flooding in Central Texas w

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