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1️⃣2️⃣ Hurricane Katrina was not solely a natural disaster—it was the predictable outcome of decades of federal choices that prioritized foreign engagement over domestic safety.

1️⃣1️⃣ Years of austerity, funding cuts, and misplaced priorities meant FEMA’s capacity to respond was already compromised before the storm made landfall.

🔟 Nearby active-duty units were also constrained. The 101st Air Assault Division, home to the largest number of transport helicopters in any Army unit, was unavailable due to imminent deployment to Iraq.

9️⃣ Equipment shortages compounded the problem. Department of Defense practices left radios, trucks, and helicopters in Iraq. Non-deployed National Guard units had only ~34% of essential equipment; 88% of units had less than half of what was required to perform domestic missions.

8️⃣ Critical personnel were unavailable when Katrina struck: 3,000 Louisiana National Guardsmen and 4,000 Mississippi Guardsmen were deployed overseas.

7️⃣ The Iraq War further exacerbated these priorities. From 2003–2005, the United States spent $251B on military operations, diverting both funds and attention from domestic infrastructure needs.

6️⃣ In 2004, SELA requested $100M to strengthen levees—just $16.5M was provided. A separate project around Lake Pontchartrain requested $27M but received only $3.9M. These shortfalls directly increased vulnerability.

5️⃣ The Southeast Louisiana Flood Control Project (SELA), initiated in 1995 after a rainstorm flooded 25,000 homes, illustrates the impact of these cuts. In 2001, the Bush Administration proposed funding only half of what was needed.

4️⃣ Between FY2001 and FY2005, federal funding for hurricane and flood protection projects in New Orleans dropped approximately 44%, severely impacting the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to maintain levees.

3️⃣ A pivotal shift occurred in 2003 when FEMA was folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Counter-terrorism became the focus, while natural disaster planning receded.

2️⃣ FEMA was created in 1979 to centralize disaster response, which had previously been fragmented across multiple agencies. Despite this, preparedness remained limited by political priorities.

1️⃣ In the days after Hurricane Katrina, FEMA faced intense criticism for its unpreparedness. But the failures were systemic, rooted in decades of political and fiscal choices.