The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) faced a mountain of criticism regarding its unpreparedness and late response to the needs of the storm. The U.S. government say they took this as a “lesson learned” — a lesson that’s still being evaluated 20 years after Hurricane Katrina hit.Urged by then-Mayor Ray Nagin, nearly 30,000 people, mostly African American, congregated at the Superdome as a last resort for safety and shelter. Initially, officials promised immediate resources like food, water and medical aid from FEMA, as well as transportation out of the city. Michael D. Brown, the head of FEMA during Hurricane Katrina, had ordered emergency officials not to respond to areas affected by the storm until requested by state and local authorities. On May 2, 2025, the Office of Budget Management sent a budget request to DHS and declared FEMA’s current grant programs “wasteful” and “woke,” Additionally, it dropped $7 million from funding in loan guarantees in non-federal dam safety projects.