Twenty years after one of the country’s deadliest storms, scientists reflect on improvements in the ability to understand and predict disasters.
Hurricane Katrina
Posted inResearch & Developments
FEMA Puts Dissenting Staff on Indefinite Leave
More than a dozen FEMA staff, all signatories of that Katrina Declaration, were placed on indefinite administrative leave.
Posted inNews
Parts of New Orleans Are Sinking
Areas near the airport, along floodwalls, and in nearby wetlands are subsiding because of a combination of natural and anthropogenic forces.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Foundations in Hazards and Disasters for Undergraduate Students
A new textbook for undergraduates explores different types of natural hazards and disasters through foundational scientific knowledge, engaging case studies, and mitigation strategies.
Posted inScience Updates
Forecasting Compound Floods in Complex Coastal Regions
Coastal communities face more frequent floods in which rain, rivers, and ocean storm surge combine forces. A reliable system that accurately predicts inundation from these events is urgently needed.
Posted inFeatures
High Water: Prolonged Flooding on the Deltaic Mississippi River
Changing climate and land use practices are bringing extended periods of high water to the lower Mississippi River. New management practices are needed to protect people, industry, and the land.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Calculating the Risk of Rare Floods
The first spatially realistic catalog of synthetic flood event risk across the entire United States uncovers high-risk areas and estimates the probability of another Katrina–level flood loss.
Posted inNews
Does U.S. Hurricane Rating Scale Get the Danger Right?
Some scientists think it's time to retire the Saffir-Simpson scale and start fresh.
Posted inOpinions
Ten Years After Katrina: What Have We Learned?
One mitigation strategy—relocating people and sensitive infrastructure to higher ground—eventually will need to be considered as sea level rise accelerates.