Looking Back to Move Forward: The Ecology of Warning 10 Years After Katrina

As one of history's most costly and deadliest storms, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast causing billions of dollars of destruction to property, but moreover killing hundreds of residents and displacing thousands more. In the years since Katrina, the emergency management community, local and state governments, and the weather enterprise at large have learned much about warning modalities, preparedness and readiness of their publics, and the response and resiliency of their communities. Ten years after Katrina, this project explores enhancements to warning criteria and mechanisms, and the state of preparedness of the region. In-depth interviews with the weather enterprise (emergency managers, NWS personnel, and broadcast media) in the Gulf Coast region reveal best practices and lessons learned from Katrina and new approaches developed since Katrina including methods for warning the most at risk groups, perceptions of the public's evacuation decision making for a hurricane, as well as remaining gaps that need to be addressed.