Event 09 · History as decisions
The storm the plans had already imagined
When Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, levees protecting New Orleans failed and most of the city flooded; a year earlier, an official exercise had walked through a very similar disaster.
- Hurricane Katrina
- New Orleans and the US Gulf Coast
- 2005
- 3 min read
On this page
Before you readWhat would you do?
Your team used AI to produce a detailed risk report about what would happen if your main server failed. It was praised and filed six months ago. Nobody has acted on it. What is the most useful next step?
Pick an answer now. The file tells you whether you were right.
01The file in one minute
1The rehearsal
In 2004 the Hurricane Pam exercise imagined a storm flooding New Orleans, but many follow-up plans were unfinished.
2The storm
Katrina made landfall on 29 August 2005. Levees failed and about 80% of New Orleans flooded.
3The cost
About 1,800 people died across the region, and help was slow to reach those who could not leave.
4The lesson for AI
A risk report, with or without AI, only helps when each action has an owner and gets done.
02Timeline
July 2004
The Hurricane Pam exercise simulates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans.
28 August 2005
The mayor orders the city's first mandatory evacuation.
29 August 2005
Katrina makes landfall, and levees and floodwalls fail.
February 2006
A US House report calls the response "A Failure of Initiative".
03What happened
In July 2004, officials ran an exercise called Hurricane Pam, imagining a powerful hurricane hitting New Orleans, a city largely below sea level and protected by levees and floodwalls. The exercise predicted massive flooding and the need to rescue and shelter huge numbers of people. Many of the follow-up plans were not finished.
On 28 August 2005 the mayor ordered the first mandatory evacuation of New Orleans. Many people left, but many others had no car, no money or no place to go, and stayed. Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana on 29 August. Levees and floodwalls failed in many places, and about 80% of the city flooded.
Rescue and supplies were slow to arrive, and thousands waited for days at the Superdome and the convention centre. About 1,800 people died across the region, by commonly cited estimates. A 2006 report by the US House of Representatives was titled "A Failure of Initiative", and the Army Corps of Engineers later acknowledged flaws in the design of the flood protection system.
04The decisions that shaped it
The danger was known and had even been rehearsed. What failed was turning knowledge into action: finishing plans, paying for stronger defences, arranging transport for people without cars, and making clear who was in charge when local, state and federal agencies all had a role.
The AI angle: it is easy to write a risk report, including one generated with AI, and then file it away. A plan only helps if someone owns each action and checks that it gets done.
The idea behind this caseLesson: Review AI like a manager →
05What to take from it
- After any risk exercise or report, give each action a named owner and a deadline.
- Plan for the people with the fewest resources as well as the typical case.
- Agree in advance who makes which decisions in a crisis.
- Know your local evacuation routes and keep an emergency bag ready if you live in a flood or storm area.
07 — Sources
- Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Katrina · US National Hurricane Center (NOAA) · 2005-12-20
- A Failure of Initiative: Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina · US House of Representatives · 2006-02-15