Managing Hurricane Katrina: Lessons from a Megacrisis

The government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history, suffered numerous criticisms. Nearly every assessment pointed to failure, from evaluations of President George W. Bush, FEMA, and the Department of Homeland Security to the state of Louisiana and the city administration of New Orleans. In Managing Hurricane Katrina: Lessons from a Megacrisis, Arjen Boin, Christer Brown, and James A. Richardson deliver a more nuanced examination of the storm’s aftermath than the ones anchored in public memory, and identify aspects of management that offer more positive examples of leadership than bureaucratic and media reports indicated.

Katrina may be the most extensively studied disaster to date, but the authors argue that many academic conclusions are inaccurate or contradictory when examined in concert. Drawing on insights from crisis and disaster management studies, Boin, Brown, and Richardson apply a clear framework to objectively analyze the actions of various officials and organizations during and after Katrina. They specify critical factors that determine the successes and failures of a societal response to catastrophes and demonstrate how to utilize their framework in future superdisasters.

Going beyond previous assessments, Managing Hurricane Katrina reconsiders the role of government in both preparing for a megacrisis and building an effective response network at a time when citizens need it most.

Arjen Boin is professor of public institutions and government in the department of political science at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He has published widely on the subject of disaster management and public leadership, and is cofounder of Crisisplan, an international crisis consultancy.

Christer Brown has extensive crisis management experience from the Swedish Government Offices and other agencies. He currently works for the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium.

James A. Richardson, Alumni Professor of Economics and Public Administration at Louisiana State University, worked with the Financial Services Roundtable, testified before the U.S. Congress on housing and financial issues associated with Hurricane Katrina, and provided information to the state of Louisiana on recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.