Overview

• Experts warn that staffing losses are eroding capacity, with roughly 2,000 FEMA departures this year and about 1,800 NOAA reductions reported in recent months.
• New anniversary documentaries on Netflix and National Geographic refocus attention on levee failures, inequitable recovery, and the lived experience of survivors without revealing new plot details.
• The American Society of Civil Engineers found widespread levee design failures after 2005, and despite upgrades, coastal erosion and stronger storms continue to leave New Orleans vulnerable.
• Studies document enduring human costs, including one in six children experiencing persistent mental-health problems and long-term displacement that fractured communities.
• Analysts urge improved flood mapping, evacuation planning, and equity-centered resilience as recent hurricanes and inland deluges underscore escalating nationwide flood risk.