The Storm
Ivor Van Heerden and Mike Bryan
Penguin

Hurricane Katrina is undoubtedly the most haunting humanitarian crisis the United States has faced in recent years. The aftermath of the untimely FEMA response along with improperly built canals and ignored warnings is covered from a different perspective in the Penguin book, The Storm, by Ivor Van Heerden and Mike Bryan. Heerden is a climatologist who runs the Louisiana State Hurricane Center. Heerden discusses the warnings FEMA had prior to Hurricane Katrina from him and many other scientists. He impeccably addresses the incompetence of the bureaucrats, and politicians, which made the disaster even worse. For the first time, someone talks about who messed up Hurricane Katrina and what should have been done instead.

Overall, the book was an interesting read filled with a firsthand account of the devastation faced by the citizens of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

—Corey Crossfield