DISASTER RECOVERY PLANNING — EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

History will show 2005 to be the year that the United States government, particularly its Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), fell asleep at the helm during Hurricane Katrina.

More than six months after the storm that devastated the Gulf Coast, washing away hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses and taking 1,300 lives, former FEMA Director Michael Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff were among the poster children for the government’s utter failure to react to the tragedy. Blame has been abundant and, ultimately, the saga left a deep scar on the Bush Administration.