Remembering Hurricane Katrina 17 Years Later
August 29, 2022Today, we mark 17 years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall and the levees broke, claiming more than 1,800 lives and displacing more than a million people.
Hurricane Katrina showed us how the government can fail its people. That failure inspired my commitment to public policy, storm preparedness, and my efforts to combat our climate crisis. That commitment continues to drive my work, especially regarding the Lake Kenosia community, and keeps me focused on the challenges at hand.
17 years later and I’m still afraid that we are woefully unprepared and under-resourced for severe weather events. Reputable science tells us that, because of the effects of climate change, these events will become increasingly frequent and more severe.
We have the capacity and the resources to protect our citizens when they need us most. Now more than ever, it is clear that accepting “good enough” should never be acceptable.