The Weekend Intelligence: 20 years on from Katrina

周末情报:从卡特里娜飓风过去20年

The Intelligence from The Economist

2025-08-30

45 分钟
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20 years on from Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans has some of the most impressive flood defences in the world. The city was rebuilt at enormous cost – over $125bn in today's dollars. But is it really prepared for the next big one?   On the Weekend Intelligence the Economist's Southern Correspondent Rebecca Jackson travels to New Orleans, two decades after the devastation of one of America's deadliest storms, to ask whether it makes sense to sustain a sinking city. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Music by bluedot and epidemic.
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  • When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005,

  • even thousands of miles away, the rain fell in torrents.

  • Across our TV screens and in newspapers, we saw images of people shouting from their rooftops,

  • waiting to be rescued, or wading through streets, searching for food or a way out.

  • But the toll was much graver than that.

  • This was the most deadly storm to hit America since the 1920s.

  • This was an existential moment, and the very existence of the city was called into question.

  • Two decades on, New Orleans is still recovering, and not just from the physical devastation.

  • I'm Rosie Bloor, and today on The Weekend Intelligence,

  • my colleague Rebecca Jackson looks at the impact of Hurricane Katrina 20 years on.

  • This was not the city's first such experience.

  • For centuries, floods and storms have threatened to swallow it up, and they continue to do so.

  • These days, many places are battling against rising tides and the changing climate.

  • What can New Orleans' determination to hang on and the billions pumped into its continued survival tell us about the never-ending struggle between humans and nature?

  • You can smell it.

  • The smell of water.

  • What do you mean?

  • It's like when you pass over the bridge.

  • You can tell when the water is high.

  • You know, it's high.