I lived through Hurricane Katrina. 20 years later, I see so many similarities in Altadena

It’s been 20 years since Hurricane Katrina touched down in my hometown of New Orleans.

My family was fortunate enough to be able to evacuate. We worried about affording gas, food and lodging, but we pooled enough to at least cover us for a few days.

We had no idea what was to come.

Water inundating 80% of the city. Families stuck in attics and on top of roofs. Thousands of residents stranded on roadways, at the Superdome and the Convention Center without food and water for days.

In the aftermath, it was Black people, poor people and the elderly who suffered the most.

I see the unlearned lessons of Katrina play out every time a “natural” disaster strikes. That includes during the January fires here in L.A.

As investigations into what started the fires and why Altadena residents fe