In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina approached the city of New Orleans with wind gusts topping 140 miles per hour, pushing storm surge water ahead of it. For those who work in emergency management, Katrina remains a singular event, Montano said. Then he and his administration began recreating many of the same vulnerabilities that left FEMA flatfooted in 2005. In 2005, FEMA ignored or mishandled offers of water-tanker aircraft, Amtrak trains, medicine, ice, bottled water, doctors, medicine, and more. Today, FEMA recovery still disproportionately reaches white residents.