Hurricane Katrina: Where Do We Go from Here?

On Thursday, September 8, the Brookings Institution sponsored a panel discussion aimed at analyzing the federal, state and local response to Hurricane Katrina and identifying next steps to speed the recovery of the Gulf Coast and its people.

Experts on homeland security, the armed services, federalism and cities unraveled the questions that were most important to policymakers moving forward at all level of government: How should disaster relief be organized? How can we better prepare for a natural disaster or a terrorist attack—including coordinating the national guard and active duty military? How can we address the long term recovery of New Orleans and the rest of the region? And what does Hurricane Karina mean for the congressional agenda and the Bush Administration’s agenda?