Nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast, what policies have changed? August 2024

 

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NCDP Training Newsletter Volume III | Issue 42 | August 2024

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AP Photo: David J. Phillip

 

Nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast, what policies have changed? A look at some key legislation since Hurricane Katrina.

 

Almost nineteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina swept through the U.S. Gulf Coast, inflicting pain on the lives and land it touched. In its wake, people questioned what federal, state, and local governments could do to be more prepared for major storms. Katrina exposed key gaps in the U.S. emergency management system. In the United States, emergency management developed into a formal field after the 9/11 and the anthrax attacks, with a focus on managing security incidents and bioterrorism. However, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina made it clear that the field needed to evolve to focus more on severe weather events, too.  Lawmakers and government agencies have made several adjustments since Hurricane Katrina, fundamentally reshaping the emergency management field. Read more about key policy developments since Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005, below:  Disaster Recovery Reform Act (2018) - This act introduced a number of reforms, with particular focuses on pre-disaster planning and mitigation.  Sandy Recovery Improvement Act (2013) - This act changed many of FEMA’s administrative authorities, representing one of the most significant updates since the Stafford Act of 1988.  Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (2006) - This act established FEMA as a separate agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and created 10 regional FEMA offices, each with a regional administrator. This act provided more flexibility to FEMA for managing response efforts.  Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (2006) - This was an amendment to the Stafford Act of 1988, which authorizes FEMA to provide rescue, care, shelter, and essential needs to household pets and animals following a major disaster or emergency. Although the level of destruction brought on by Hurricane Katrina is almost unfathomable, emergency managers must be prepared for even more extreme storms in upcoming years. It is also imperative to better understand how climate change will influence current and predicted future extreme weather events. The National Center for Disaster Preparedness offers free web-based courses and instructor-led trainings to help communities better understand the issues, prepare, and bounce back from catastrophic climatological events.