The Perfect Storm That Changed Disaster Policy Forever: Investments made 16 years ago lead to money--and lives--saved in Louisiana.

• Author: Tyrrell, Kim
• Position: INFRASTRUCTURE

When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast on Aug. 23, 2005, it caused more than 1,800 deaths and $125 billion in damage.

It also altered the course of state and federal disaster policy forever.

A decades' long focus on response and recovery through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies began to give way to one on mitigation.

In Katrina's aftermath, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invested $14.5 billion in one of the largest public works projects in history to enhance infrastructure, reduce flooding and provide protection from future storms in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

The shift to mitigation gained a foothold at the federal level, with Congress establishing new initiatives such as the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program through the Disaster Recovery Reform Act. More recently, the Resilience Revolving Loan Fund Program, established through the STORM Act, provides grants to states to set up loan funds for projects that reduce risks from severe storms, drought, wildfires and more.

In the wake of Katrina, legislatures in Gulf Coast states passed hundreds of bills to help rebuild. The Louisiana Legislature established the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, authorized the development of a coastal resilience plan and set the stage for infrastructure investments, including the fortification of levees and the construction of flood walls. In Mississippi, the Legislature strengthened building codes, set minimum construction standards for the state with opt-out provisions for municipalities and required coastal counties to strengthen building codes to meet certain wind load and flood mitigation requirements.

Return on Investment Consistently Higher

Investments in mitigation can be challenging to calculate, but National Institute of Building Sciences data shows that mitigation saves up to an average $13 per $1 invested across...