ABSTRACT
When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ levees failed after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the people who were unable to evacuate New Orleans sought safety and higher ground as flooding ensued. During this desperate time, citizens offered each other support, taking care of their families and neighbors, while waiting for help from the government to arrive. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), whose authority had recently been diminished by shifting it from a freestanding governmental agency to one of many agencies under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, was conspicuously absent for days. Most of the people who needed resources at the time, such as water, food, and shelter, were low-income African American families who waited at the Superdome or at the New Orleans Convention Center. After several days of waiting, they were eventually bussed or flown out of the city to other parts of the country; many are still trying to get back, and many may never return home.
