On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near New Orleans leaving death and destruction across the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Gulf Coast counties. Racial disparities exist in disaster response. This book asks why some communities get left behind economically, spatially, and physically before and after disasters strike.

Analyzing the immediate and long-term repercussions of Hurricane Katrina, the essays in this volume expose the racial disparities that exist in disaster response and recovery and challenge the geography of vulnerability