Recovery Research, Katrina’s Fifth Anniversary, and Lessons Relearned

What may be called “disaster science” is a broad field that begins with understanding hazards, risks, and population vulnerabilities and moves on to establishing best-practice models of response, mitigation, and recovery. Gaps abound in our collective knowledge in all of these areas, and it is fair to suggest that we have only begun to scratch the surface in terms of what we need to know. The goal continues to be to learn how to prevent disasters whenever possible and, when prevention is not possible, to at least optimize survival, preserve vital infrastructure, and return rapidly to a state of normalcy.