Twenty-one years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, our city is still bracing for impact. Each hurricane season brings renewed anxiety and the painful reminder that we remain unprepared for the worst—despite knowing all too well what is at stake.
Storms are becoming stronger, more intense, and increasingly unpredictable. Yet New Orleans continues to lack the reliable infrastructure, affordable housing, evacuation support, and community resources necessary to protect every resident. Even during an ordinary rainstorm, streets flood, drainage systems become overwhelmed, homes are damaged, and families are left wondering whether the next storm will force them to leave.
These challenges are not experienced equally. Communities that have historically faced housing discrimination, disinvestment, displacement, and limited access to opportunity are often the most vulnerable before, during, and after a disaster. Renters, low-income families, seniors, people with disabilities, and residents without reliable transportation may have fewer resources to evacuate, recover, or secure safe and stable housing. After a storm, these same residents may also face increased rents, housing shortages, unsafe living conditions, unfair treatment, and permanent displacement.
Hurricane Katrina taught us that a natural disaster can quickly become a housing crisis—and that existing inequalities determine who is protected, who can rebuild, and who is left behind. Twenty-one years later, we should not still be learning the same lesson.
Our city needs more than temporary solutions and last-minute emergency plans. We need long-term investments in drainage, flood protection, resilient and affordable housing, accessible evacuation systems, tenant protections, and equitable recovery programs. Preparedness must include every neighborhood and every resident—not only those with the financial means to leave and rebuild.
Remembering Hurricane Katrina must be about more than looking back. It must compel us to confront where we are today and demand meaningful action. Until all New Orleanians have the resources, infrastructure, and protections needed to weather the next storm, we will remain a city still bracing for impact.
-Catelyn W. Wilson, Director of Education and Outreach