Three years later, Hurricane Katrina has had lasting effects on New Orleans. It's also taught America some lessons about how to react to natural disasters -- and how not to.
"What lessons have we learned? Actually, there are several."
"First, all homeland security is local."
"Today's homeland security debates all too often forget the basic fact that local first responders are the first line of homeland security."
"Second, we haven't defined the federalism tripwire."
"The feds have quietly debated whether they should have moved federal troops in to restore order, and a battle has quietly simmered within the Department of Homeland Security over when the feds ought to push state and local officials out of the way. We might eventually have to sort that out on the fly, in the middle of some future catastrophe, and it remains an uneasy, unanswered question."
"The New Orleans levee network was, in fact, a poorly inspected and uncoordinated collection of individual levees, pumps, locks, gates, and other structures. A failure anywhere meant big problems everywhere."
FULL STORY: Katrina Plus Three
New Orleans Faces $1 Billion Shortfall for FEMA-Funded Roadwork
After years of delays, cost overruns, and deadline extensions on a FEMA-funded street repair program, New Orleans officials face a massive funding shortfall and accusations of mismanagement.
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The housing initiatives developed after Hurricane Katrina teach valuable lessons for post-pandemic affordable housing production.
New Orleans Convent to Become Large Urban Wetland
Hurricane Katrina damaged a Catholic convent in New Orleans. Then the nuns spearheaded a project to transform the land into a wetland area that will protect the city from flooding in the future.
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MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
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Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
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