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Overview
The Committee on Increasing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters,
which was established by the National Research Council to examine how the
nation can increase resilience to hazards and disasters at the federal, state, local,
and community levels, held the first of three site visits and workshops in New
Orleans and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast on January 18–21, 2011. The pur-
pose of the meeting was to review the effects of Hurricane Katrina and other natu-
ral and human-induced disasters on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi
and to learn more about the resilience of those areas to future disasters.
This workshop summary has been prepared by the workshop rapporteur with
the assistance of the committee’s staff as a factual summary of what occurred dur-
ing the site visits and at the subsequent workshop on critical aspects of resilience
in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The planning committee’s role
was limited to planning and convening the workshop. The statements made are
those of the rapporteur or individual site visit or workshop participants and do
not necessarily represent the views of all participants, the planning committee,
or the National Academies.
For the purposes of its three regional meetings, the committee defined resil -
ience as “the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, or more
successfully adapt to actual or potential adverse events.” This definition raises
fundamental questions for the committee to explore. For example: What makes a
community resilient? How can resilience be measured? How can progress toward
achieving resilience be assessed? What tools are most effective for enhancing
resilience? These and other questions will be explored in the committee’s final
consensus report.
The statements in this summary report are drawn from the committee’s
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2 INCREASING NATIONAL RESILIENCE TO HAZARDS AND DISASTERS
experiences during its field trip and from the remarks made by presenters and
committee members at the workshop. They should not be interpreted as the final
conclusions or recommendations of the committee, though the committee plans
to draw on the material in this summary in preparing its final consensus report.
MEASURES OF RESILIENCE
New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have had extensive experience
with hurricanes. Yet, according to some measures, the resilience of these areas
has declined in recent decades. Before Katrina, many areas of New Orleans were
developed that were below sea level and vulnerable to flooding if levees were dam-
aged or overtopped. Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, much new development
occurred in areas susceptible to storm surge. Many new houses were built on
concrete slabs at ground level, rather than being elevated, and typically used
materials that were susceptible to damage from flooding. The vulnerability of
housing increased the importance of shelters, but in New Orleans shelters were
often in distant locations, and throughout the region many shelters proved to be
inadequate. Hurricane Katrina also revealed many breakdowns in coordination
and communications among governmental and nongovernmental organizations.
A major effort to measure the socioeconomic and demographic conditions
of New Orleans since Katrina has shown that the city has rebounded since the
hurricane. Wages in the city have risen 14 percent since 2005 and today are nearly
at the national average. The economy has been diversifying and has added more
jobs that require high levels of education. A greater percentage of students attend
schools that meet state standards of quality than before Katrina.
However, several indicators point to continuing difficulties for the city. Major
industries, including tourism, oil and gas, and shipping have declined in recent
years. Not enough money is available to repair all of the damage caused by the
storm. Income disparities remain stark among ethnic and racial groups and large
areas of the city—along with many areas along the Mississippi Gulf Coast—
remain vulnerable to future hazards and disasters.
A TOUR OF NEW ORLEANS AND THE GULF COAST
During its bus and walking tour of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf
Coast, the committee saw many areas that had only partially recovered from
Hurricane Katrina. Many building lots in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans,
for example, remain empty, and the population of the Lower Ninth has dropped
from more than 17,000 before Katrina to 4,000 at most. However, substantial
recovery efforts are also under way in the Lower Ninth and in other areas of the
city that were decimated by the hurricane.
Along the Gulf Coast, the committee saw many other examples of scat-
tered redevelopment in the midst of widespread devastation. In the community
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3
OVERVIEW
of Waveland, Mississippi, for example, most of the homes within a few blocks
from the beach were destroyed, and only some have been rebuilt, reducing the
population of the town by almost half. Rebuilding remains difficult today because
of the cost of flood insurance.
During its trip, the committee met with representatives of a group of non -
profit organizations who emphasized the importance of nongovernmental orga -
nizations in creating resilience and responding to disasters. These organizations
help affected households recover from a disaster, apply for aid, and prepare
for future disasters. Representatives of these organizations also emphasized the
importance of getting businesses back in operation to provide employment and
goods and services for the people affected by a disaster.
INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE
During the first of five discussion panels held at the workshop, some par-
ticipants emphasized that durability needs to be an integral part of performance
measures for structures. Building codes provide a basic level of durability, but
they need to be enforced, and fortified standards may be required to provide nec -
essary levels of protection. The best aspects of building codes in one jurisdiction
need to be adopted in others. They also noted that mitigation is not necessarily
expensive, and it saves money for everyone during a disaster. The panelists dis -
cussed the idea that encouraging people to adopt effective mitigation measures
may be needed to address the affordability gap for mitigation.
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
In the panel on critical infrastructure, the committee heard from representa -
tives of the water and sewer authority in New Orleans, public transportation in
the city, the regional electricity and gas company, and a cell phone provider. The
four representatives emphasized their interdependence, requiring coordination
among different organizations. Utilities also need to be able to draw on other
people and organizations within their industry from outside an affected area to
help respond to a disaster. Finally, the representatives of the utilities emphasized
the human resources aspects of their organizations. The employees of utilities are
subject to the same disasters as other people in a region, and their needs have to
be recognized and met.
GOVERNANCE
In the area of governance, presenters emphasized the need for collaborations
within government and between the public and private sectors. Nongovernmental
organizations can bring an energy and creativity to resilience planning and disas -
ter recovery that government agencies cannot achieve. Government ought to
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4 INCREASING NATIONAL RESILIENCE TO HAZARDS AND DISASTERS
facilitate and not stymie the efforts of others to increase disaster resilience, they
said. Government also has a responsibility to disseminate information about
hazards and disasters so that people can be prepared and know what to do when
a disaster occurs. Government officials themselves need education about hazard
mitigation and risk management if they are to do their jobs effectively.
SOCIAL CAPITAL
The panel discussion on social capital—a term the committee used to refer
to the “social infrastructure” of a community—raised an often overlooked
point regarding disasters. Several participants noted that while disasters can
be extremely destructive, they also can provide opportunities to create much
higher levels of resilience than existed before a disaster. Infrastructure can be
rebuilt to higher standards. The disruption of services can give organizations
a chance to reassess the needs of their clients and how to meet those needs.
This re-visioning of services often means moving toward greater flexibility and
decentralization. Some nongovernmental organizations emerge from disasters
stronger than before, often because they have strong leaders and ties to agencies
and people outside an area. Resilience can even spread beyond the area where
a disaster occurred, when other organizations emulate the steps being taken by
organizations that are rebuilding after a disaster.
HEALTHY POPULATIONS AND RESPONSIVE INSTITUTIONS
Partnerships are essential among institutions that provide public health,
medical, and mental health services, said presenters during the final discussion
panel. Disasters often cause the dislocation of individuals and populations, requir-
ing that systems be available to access information about individuals even when
they are seeking services from a new organization. For example, health care
providers need to quickly access medication, diagnoses, special medical needs,
and other information to provide the best possible care, which requires that this
information be available electronically. Health care providers may themselves
require health and mental health services, again emphasizing the human dimen -
sion of resilience. Partnerships with multiple entities can provide redundancy
and needed resources. A number of discussants noted that the federal and state
governments have an important role to play in providing resources that transcend
those available locally.
