20 years later, what did we learn from Hurricane Katrina?

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Apple News Today

Episode: 20 years later, what did we learn from Hurricane Katrina?
Host: Gideon Resnick (in for Shamita Basu)
Date: August 29, 2025

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Overview

This episode commemorates the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, exploring the lessons learned from one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history. The discussion covers government failures in response and recovery, advancements in hurricane forecasting since Katrina, implications for future preparedness, and reflections on how climate and political decisions continue to shape disaster readiness. The episode also touches briefly on presidential executive power, a controversial immigration detention center, and other current events.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. 20 Years Since Hurricane Katrina: What Have We Learned?

• Immediate Impact and Failures
  Katrina resulted in almost 1,400 deaths, mass displacement, and catastrophic neighborhood destruction. Resnick emphasizes that while the storm's intensity was inevitable, much of the disaster was shaped by preventable human failures.

  • Authorities failed to evacuate residents in time.
  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made significant errors with levee design.
  • FEMA’s response was slow, leaving thousands stranded amid dangerous and unsanitary conditions.
  • "Many were separated from their families in the storm surge." (Gideon Resnick, 01:17)

• Survivor Accounts
  Firsthand narratives highlight the trauma and chaos of Katrina.

  • “I hold her hand tight as I could and she told me, you can't hold me. She said, take care of the kids and the grandkids.” (Hurricane Katrina Survivor, 01:41)
  • Another survivor recalls swimming over two miles to reach safety: “The worst of it was getting out here, swimming the two and a half... miles through 30 foot of water to get down here to meet my family.” (Hurricane Katrina Survivor, 02:07)
  • From the Superdome: “Sanitary was nasty... The food was horrible... My children is a nightmare.” (Hurricane Katrina Survivor, 02:36)

• Presidential Response and Acknowledgment

  • President George W. Bush publicly accepted federal responsibility:
    “Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency… I, as president, am responsible for the problem and for the solution.” (President George W. Bush, via Survivor, 02:49)

• Advances in Hurricane Forecasting

  • Substantial federal investment post-Katrina in hurricane forecasting has significantly improved storm tracking and intensity predictions.
  • “We have come a really long way since Katrina in the last 20 years in terms of hurricane forecasting.” (Alejandra Barunda, NPR, 03:29)
  • Improved forecasts are credited with saving lives and up to $2 billion per hurricane. However, recent government budget cuts threaten these advances.
    “There's really big concern that a lot of the progress that has been made could stall out and maybe even be reversed.” (Alejandra Barunda, 04:16)
  • “We're setting ourselves back years.” (Unidentified Hurricane Scientist, paraphrased by Barunda, 04:24)

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2. Current Political Climate: Expanding Executive Power

• President Trump and the Federal Reserve

  • President Trump attempts to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, accusing her of financial misconduct. Cook is suing, alleging her due process rights have been violated.
  • Trump’s actions extend to pushing political loyalists and influencing independent institutions.

• New Executive Actions and Asserted Powers

  • Trump signed executive orders to:
    • Outlaw flag burning (a constitutionally protected act)
    • Expand Defense Department involvement in domestic law enforcement
  • Trump: “Not that I don't have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger... I can do it.” (Hurricane Katrina Survivor, quoting Trump, 05:58)

• Expert Commentary: Susan Glasser (The New Yorker)

  • "It's an aggressiveness in acting on that and essentially daring anyone to stop him. This is something without much precedent anywhere in American history, even in Trump's own first term." (Susan Glasser, 06:23)
  • Trump uses “impoundment”—withholding or canceling congressional funding—to consolidate power.
    • "The idea that a president can simply disregard those laws that Congress passes that he doesn't like seems antithetical to what the United States is all about… annual appropriations bills are laws." (Susan Glasser, 06:44)
  • Glasser argues that Congressional Republicans prioritize party over constitutional balance:
    • "Congress, at least for now, has chosen partisan identity over institutional identity... I think that's the biggest way in which you can say we're looking at a constitutional malfunction here." (Susan Glasser, 07:12)
  • The Supreme Court’s 2024 immunity ruling gave Trump broad leeway:
    • "For now, I think it's fair to say Donald Trump says, not only do I have the power to do anything I want, but I feel validated by this Supreme Court in doing it." (Susan Glasser, 07:45)

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3. Controversial Immigration Detention Facility ("Alligator Alcatraz")

• Legal and Environmental Challenges
  • A Florida federal judge ordered the closing of a hastily constructed immigration detention center due to a lack of environmental and community input.
  • Amy Green (Inside Climate News) explains the site is sacred to the Miccosukee Tribe.
    • “The Miccosukee tribe, for many generations, has regarded the Everglades as sacred… because they saved their people from annihilation during the removal era.” (Amy Green, 09:43)
  • The tribe and environmental groups successfully challenged the facility's legality.
  • Florida taxpayers expected to bear the cost of closing the center. (10:51)

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4. Other News Briefs

CDC Turmoil

• Leadership chaos at the CDC after the ouster of Director Dr. Susan Menares; leadership walkouts and calls for congressional oversight ensue.

College Football Returns

• Bill Belichick, legendary NFL coach, debuts as the head coach for the University of North Carolina, after an immersive learning experience with the University of Washington’s program.

The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere, Las Vegas

• A visually reimagined screening of the 1939 classic highlights technological innovation but draws mixed critical response: “Some went so far as to say it marked the death of cinema.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On loss and trauma:
  “She told me, I tried. I hold her hand tight as I could and she told me, you can't hold me. She said, take care of the kids and the grandkids.”
  — Hurricane Katrina Survivor, 01:41

• On failures of disaster response:
  “Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency… I, as president, am responsible for the problem and for the solution.”
  — President George W. Bush, via Survivor, 02:49

• On progress and future risk:
  “Our track forecasts are way better... forecasting of the intensity increases are also much, much, much better.”
  — Alejandra Barunda, 03:29
  “There's really big concern that a lot of the progress that has been made could stall out and maybe even be reversed.”
  — Alejandra Barunda, 04:16

• On unchecked executive power:
  "Not that I don't have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger... I can do it."
  — Trump (as quoted), 05:58

• On constitutional concerns:
  "Congress, at least for now, has chosen partisan identity over institutional identity... I think that's the biggest way in which you can say we're looking at a constitutional malfunction here."
  — Susan Glasser, 07:12

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Key Timestamps

• 00:05 — Introduction and Katrina 20-year retrospective begins
• 01:36 — Survivor personal stories
• 02:30 — Superdome survivor conditions
• 02:49 — President Bush’s apology and admission of federal failures
• 03:12-04:24 — Advances and new threats in hurricane forecasting
• 05:58 — Trump's statements on executive power
• 06:23-07:45 — Susan Glasser on current constitutional and congressional dynamics
• 08:30-10:51 — "Alligator Alcatraz" and Miccosukee tribe advocacy
• 10:51-14:26 — CDC turmoil, Belichick’s move to college, and the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere

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Conclusion

The episode offers a sobering look at how the legacy of Katrina shaped U.S. disaster planning and public accountability, while warning that hard-won progress can quickly erode without vigilance. It also places contemporary political developments in the shadow of those lessons, questioning institutional resilience and civic responsibility two decades after one of America's greatest natural tragedies.

Transcript

[Gideon Resnick]

Good morning. It's Friday, August 29th. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News today. On today's show, the continued fallout from firings at the cdc, how the president is flexing his view of executive power, and why the yellow brick road leads to Las Vegas. But first, today marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, one of the most powerful and deadly storms to ever hit the U.S. nearly 1,400 people died, thousands of homes flooded, entire neighborhoods were swept away, and over 1 million people were displaced. A quick warning to our listeners. In this segment, you'll hear some accounts from survivors. No one could control Katrina's intensity, but in the years since, it's become clear that man made failures made it even more disastrous. New Orleans authorities failed to quickly evacuate residents as Katrina was getting stronger, and many people stayed. The U.S. army Corps of Engineers, which built the levees to barricade the city from flooding, failed. They made serious engineering mistakes during construction. Fema, which is supposed to quickly address disasters of this scale, responded slowly, taking days to get aid to New Orleans and leaving survivors stranded on rooftops with no food or water, waiting to be rescued. Many were separated from their families in the storm surge.

[Susan Glasser]

Who was at your house with you?

[Hurricane Katrina Survivor]

My wife.

[Susan Glasser]

Where is she now?

[Hurricane Katrina Survivor]

Can't find her body. She gone. You can't find your wife? She told neighbor. She told me, I tried. I hold her hand tight as I could and she told me, you can't hold me. She said, take care of the kids and the grandkids.

[Gideon Resnick]

Some managed to swim to safety, like this survivor who spoke with khou, the CBS affiliate in Houston. The worst of it was getting out here, swimming the two and a half.

[Hurricane Katrina Survivor]

Miles through 30 foot of water to get down here to meet my family.

[Gideon Resnick]

And state and federal authorities failed to find space for those who were displaced. Reports of horrifying humanitarian conditions emerged from the Superdome football stadium, where as many as 30,000 people took shelter. Drinking water was limited, and much of the stadium lost power. Here's how one survivor described the conditions to NBC.

[Susan Glasser]

It was horrible.

[Gideon Resnick]

We couldn't sleep at night.

[Susan Glasser]

Sanitary was nasty.

[Hurricane Katrina Survivor]

The food was horrible.

[Susan Glasser]

You understand what I'm saying?

[Hurricane Katrina Survivor]

My children is a nightmare.

[Gideon Resnick]

Subsequent studies and reports found that most of the destruction and death could have been prevented. President George W. Bush later apologized.

[Hurricane Katrina Survivor]

Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency when the federal government fails to meet such an obligation. I, as president, am responsible for the problem and for the solution. So I've ordered every cabinet secretary to participate in a comprehensive review of the government response to the hurricane.

[Gideon Resnick]

After Katrina, the government invested more into figuring out how to forecast hurricanes, bringing together top scientists from federal agencies, universities and national labs to develop better systems. And NPR climate reporter Alejandra Barunda told us that work has paid off.

[Alejandra Barunda]

We have come a really long way since Katrina in the last 20 years in terms of hurricane forecasting. Our track forecasts are way better, and our understanding and forecasting of the intensity increases are also much, much, much better.

[Gideon Resnick]

That has helped save lives and billions of dollars in potential damage. A study from the National Bureau of Economic research released in 2024 found that these forecast improvements save the country $2 billion per hurricane because people can better prepare for them. Despite the lessons learned from Katrina and evidence that climate change is producing more intense hurricanes, the future of hurricane forecasting is less clear. The Trump administration has slashed funding for many of the organizations that play a key role in hurricane science, and Barunda says that more cuts could be on the way.

[Alejandra Barunda]

There's really big concern that a lot of the progress that has been made could stall out and maybe even be.

[Gideon Resnick]

Reversed, one hurricane scientist whose job was eliminated by the administration told her. We're setting ourselves back years. Let's turn now to Washington and a busy week that showcase President Trump's expansive view of executive power. A court fight is brewing over the attempt to fire Lisa Cook, a governor on the Federal Reserve Board. Trump said that he has the authority to fire her for cause and has accused Cook of listing two different homes as her primary residence on mortgage applications. She is now suing, saying that that allegation is unsubstantiated, that it violates her due process rights and thus the firing violates the federal law that governs the Fed. Trump has been pressuring the independent institution for months to lower interest rates, and he's spoken about wanting to install political loyalists on the board. The president also signed a series of new executive orders, putting the total number from his term close to 200. Already, he signed fewer than 60 in the first year of his first term, as did Biden and Obama. One of the orders that Trump signed this week seeks to outlaw flag burning, which the Supreme Court has ruled is a legally protected First Amendment right. Another directs the Defense Department to take a larger role in domestic law enforcement, as Trump has floated expanding deployments of the National Guard to cities governed by Democrats. And he told reporters this week that he believes the office of the presidency gives him unchecked power if he declares.

[Hurricane Katrina Survivor]

An emergency not that I don't have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger, and it is in danger in these cities, I can do it.

[Gideon Resnick]

Susan Glasser is a staff writer at the New Yorker who chronicled Trump's first term in her book the Divider. She says this perception of executive power is something that Trump has talked about often throughout his political career, but he's acting on it in new ways during this presidency.

[Susan Glasser]

It's an aggressiveness in acting on that and essentially daring anyone to stop him. This is something without much precedent anywhere in American history, even in Trump's own first term.

[Gideon Resnick]

One way that Trump has tried to centralize power is through federal spending by canceling or withholding billions of dollars of funding that Congress had already approved, which is known as impoundment.

[Susan Glasser]

The idea that a president can simply disregard those laws that Congress passes that he doesn't like seems antithetical to what the United States is all about. And by the way, annual appropriations bills are laws. So when the president says, oh, I'm not gonna spend this money that Congress told me to spend in this way, that's a law that's being disregarded.

[Gideon Resnick]

Glasser says broadly speaking, Republican lawmakers have not demonstrated much interest in checking the president's efforts to consolidate his power.

[Susan Glasser]

Congress, at least for now, has chosen partisan identity over institutional identity. They've chosen to act as fellow Republicans and to go along with the leader of their party rather than to speak up for themselves as an institution. And that is something that the founders really didn't anticipate. And I think that's the biggest way in which you can say we're looking at a constitutional malfunction here.

[Gideon Resnick]

Glasser added that the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which was in large part built by Trump in his first term in office, played a large role in emboldening these actions.

[Susan Glasser]

I think that when the history of this period is written, you're going to have to go back to the Supreme Court's immunity ruling in the summer of 2024. So even before Donald Trump was reelected to office, which appeared to offer the presidency something of a blank check, and we haven't seen the Supreme Court go back to that ruling yet to us a little bit more about what it viewed as the contours of it. But for now, I think it's fair to say Donald Trump says, not only do I have the power to do anything I want, but I feel validated by this Supreme Court in doing it.

[Gideon Resnick]

Last week, a federal judge in Florida ruled that the controversial immigration detention facility in the Everglades, known to some as Alligator Alcatraz, was would have to wind down operations, with the last detainee needing to leave within 60 days. The facility had been hastily built two months ago with the goal of holding as many as 3,000 people. There were numerous allegations of inhumane conditions in the facility, but the litigation that led to this judge's ruling zeroed in on a different aspect.

[Amy Green]

The lawsuit argued that the detention site had been rushed to completion without any public comment or environmental review.

[Gideon Resnick]

That's Amy Green, a Florida correspondent with Inside Climate News. Those reviews are necessary to comply with federal laws like the Endangered Species act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Environmental groups that sued were joined by the Micazukie tribe of Indians of Florida who live in a number of villages nearby the detention site, including one just 1,000ft away. Every day, a bus stops at each village and picks up children to take them to school on the main reservation 10 miles away. Federal and state officials have characterized the area as just a swamp filled with alligators and snakes.

[Amy Green]

The Miccosukee tribe, for many generations, has regarded the Everglades as sacred. During the first and Second Seminole wars in the 19th century, the tribespeople were pushed deep within the marsh and found sanctuary on the tree islands there. And for them, the Everglades are sacred because they saved their people from annihilation during the removal era.

[Gideon Resnick]

Greene said that when she visited the area earlier this month, leaders in the Micazuki community said that they had not been consulted before plans for the facility became public, that they learned about it on the news when everyone else did. In the past, the tribe has similarly advocated for environmental causes in the state.

[Amy Green]

Back in the 1980s, the federal government sued the state of Florida over water pollution in the Everglades, and the tribe got involved in that issue as defenders of their sacred river of Grass. And that litigation led to a monumental state cleanup effort that continues today. More recently, the tribe has pursued a deal to phase out oil drilling within the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is in the Everglades.

[Gideon Resnick]

The judge overseeing the case reaffirmed on Wednesday that the facility needs to close, and DHS is reportedly already moving detainees out. And the AP reports that Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for millions of dollars that the state spent to build the fac. Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following. The chaos continues at the CDC after firing the director, Dr. Susan Menares, one month into the job. Several members of the leadership team walked out in protest, criticizing HHS Secretary Kennedy for weaponizing public health. Now, influential Republicans have also raised concerns, including Senator Bill Cassidy, who called on the HHS to postpone an upcoming meeting of the Advisory Committee on Vaccines. Cassidy was a key vote in Kennedy's confirmation. Sen. Susan Collins also expressed concern after speaking with Manares and agreed that congressional oversight would be warranted. Meanwhile, a temporary replacement for Manaras has already been selected. Multiple reports suggest that Jim o', Neill, the deputy HHS secretary, will fill the role in the interim this weekend, College football is back, and with it the much anticipated debut of former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. He's now coaching for the University of North Carolina. Belichick spent close to 50 years in the NFL, winning six Super Bowls, but as he prepared for his first college year, it turns out that he had some learning to do. The Wall Street Journal reports that Belichick spent a season peeking in on the University of Washington football program. Now, it makes some sense that he would need to learn a little bit more about how a college team ran, but learning from a program that had six wins last year was a little bit surprising, even if his own son was part of the coaching staff. Belichick said that the school's head coach, who had roots in the NFL, was building a kind of template for him to build off of, so much so that he even poached a few players and assistant coaches. UNC will face off against TCU on Monday and finally, last night, the yellow brick road led all the way to Las Vegas. The 1939 classic the wizard of Oz premiered at the Sphere in Sin City, which, as it sounds, is a gigantic circular structure that has played host to concerts, shows and a whole lot of ads on its 580,000 square foot led exterior. So you can imagine when it was announced that the classic film would play there, some went so far as to say it marked the death of cinema. That's because in order to adjust the aspect ratio of the wizard of Oz to accommodate what is touted as the highest resolution LED screen on earth, some liberties had to be taken. Using VFX and AI tools, the team behind the screening of the film has adjusted it to show things that were previously off screen treetops swaying when you look up Dorothy's uncle leaning against the wall. In this presentation, the movie is also 30 minutes shorter. If you don't have the opportunity or the desire to see it in this format, the Washington Post got a preview of the experience, including the Big Twister scene. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you want to follow those games we mentioned, you can get live scores super fast on the lock screen of your iPhone by downloading the Apple Sports app. If you're already listening to this show in the news app right now, stick around for an episode of Apple News in Conversation this week. We're digging into our ARC archives. The episode was hosted by Sam Sanders, who is filling in for Shamita. He talks to New Yorker staff writer Emily Nussbaum about how much reality is actually behind reality tv.

[Susan Glasser]

Nobody who works in reality television is shocked by producers lying to or manipulating or causing cast members to cry, because that's literally what your job is.

[Gideon Resnick]

If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News in Conversation to find that episode and a quick programming notebook before we let you go. There will be no episode of Apple News today. On Monday we're going to be off for Labor Day, so enjoy the holiday weekend and we'll be back with the news on Tuesday.