September 2016

This investigative history examines the consequences of war and securitization after 9/11 for US disaster preparedness, using the example of the post-Hurricane Katrina catastrophe in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.  While commonly understood as separate events, the “war on terror” and Hurricane Katrina were deeply entwined, from the siphoning…

These brief memos, written for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, discuss the writing of “Desert, Storm,” which the Center supported.  They provide an overview of the essay, review the research process, and discusses reasons why the story may have remained largely unknown until now.