How prepared was the US for hurricane Katrina?

Answer 1

As demonstrated by the aftemath, the governments involved were almost completely unprepared. Neither the city of New Orleans, the state of Louisiana, or the federal government had made hurricane response a priority, as the likelihood of its occurrence was low for any given year or any given storm. But eventually it had to happen.

There were several key failings that contributed to the outcome:

1) New Orleans still depended on flawed data and poor workmanship from the US Corps of Engineers which was in overall charge of the levee system

2) The funds appropriated for levee protection (aside from the Mississippi River levees) were greatly insufficient and poorly spent

3) Neither the state of Louisiana or FEMA had mobilized the necessary equipment and supplies for the resulting catastrophe -- relief efforts in the first week were woefully inadequate, poorly organized, and incompetently directed. Only the state of Mississippi was somewhat up to the challenge, having experienced practically identical destruction in Hurricane Camille in 1969.

* The fundamental flaw in the protection of the city of New Orleans was not addressed until 2013, eight years later. The FEMA response programs were not fully funded until after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, seven years later.