20 Years Later: What have we learned from Hurricane Katrina about environmental disruptions for communities most in need?

Hurricane Katrina is known as one of the nation's deadliest and costliest storm to hit the United States in history. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that the storm was responsible for roughly 1,833 fatalities and $108 billion in damage. However, what was most catastrophic about the event was not the hurricane. The actual disaster was the failure to aid thousands of low-income residents following the storm. In reality, this was only a symptom of decades of disinvestment, fraud, and oppressive policies that hindered the community decades before Katrina even made landfall. In this talk, I will provide a more complete diagnosis of the problem, address the extent to which I see similarities in my research today, and end with solution-oriented policy recommendations on how to address such inequities for future events. Cassandra R. Davis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Policy and a fellow at the Carolina Population Center and the Institute for the Environment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Davis is an expert in the field of environmental disruptions to marginalized communities. Overall, her research exposes the extent to which targeted groups (e.g., communities of color, low-income), who are already more susceptible to disasters, are made more susceptible to lower outcomes and achievement rates. Davis' research focuses on three central pillars: (1) hazards widening inequalities, (2) disaster recovery for schooling communities, and (3) advance social justice in disaster risk management. Cassandra Davis' research highlights these vulnerabilities. She also conducts research to identify the best practices that support marginalized populations around an event to assist policymakers in creating policies. To date, there is limited research on the effects of disasters on schooling communities, educators, and policy makers have used her work to fill the gap.