Twenty years ago, a storm made landfall that would devastate New Orleans, displace families and change lives forever. Hurricane Katrina would ultimately cost nearly 1,400 lives and cause $190 billion in damage.
Many remember the images of people huddled in the Superdome and neighborhoods underwater. But the response to Katrina was more effective than the narrative would suggest, and where there were shortcomings, the lessons learned have spared countless lives over the past 20 years.
For any disaster, an effective response requires three parts: preparation, response and recovery, followed by mitigation…