A Comparative Analysis of FEMA Housing Recovery Efforts after Hurricane Katrina and Ida

When Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in 2005, it revealed disparities in the way that recovery efforts are handled after storms. For example, it demonstrated flaws in FEMA's attempt to provide housing for disaster survivors. Since then, efforts have been made to reform the agency and ensure that all individuals, regardless of race, income, education or disability level, are accommodated by FEMA. However, when Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana 16 years later, many of the same problems continued to be seen. As such, my research has sought to compare FEMA housing recovery efforts after both storms, and analyze the extent to which the agency was successful in addressing its inequities after Katrina. I have found that though legislation has been passed to reform the agency, there are still issues with accommodating vulnerable populations after disasters strike.