Every New Orleanian had a unique experience of Hurricane Katrina. My parents fled on different days and in different directions, reuniting on the other side of the country. Many of my friends lost their homes. I watched the levees break from my desk in a Washington, D.C., newsroom. Experiencing the devastation through TV news and internet chat boards was much safer — nearly 1,400 people died from the storm — but still surreal. I’ve never felt more helpless.

Katrina made landfall 20 years ago today. What happened since then? It’s hard to sum up, really. A city basically ceased to exist for half a year. Many of its residents never returned. Officials wrestled over culpability and eventually settled on the Army Corps of Engineers. It took years and billions of dollars to rebuild; the new structures look different from the old ones. A distinctive culture changed in ways that are easier to feel than to measure.

But most of all, several hundred thousand people processed a trauma that was both personal and collective. That trauma, as well as what people made of it, is the theme of several stories The Times published recently about the legacy of Katrina.

An object lesson

The best thing you can do after a tragedy is learn from it. But that’s easier said than done.

Diagnosis. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is still the subject of local grumbling for its performance during Katrina. Its leader back in 2005 had no disaster experience, and the agency was slow to deliver supplies or help stranded residents find places to sleep. Congress passed a law in 2006 requiring experienced leadership and better preparedness. But events this week suggest the government is not following those mandates.

A revolt. President Trump came to office arguing that states should handle their own disasters. He has threatened to close FEMA, and funding cuts have already hampered its work. A third of the staff is gone, plus hundreds of call center contractors. Days after their firing, when the deadliest floods in generations hit Texas, two-thirds of the calls to FEMA’s disaster assistance line went unanswered. This week, 186 current and former employees said in a letter that the agency was unlearning the lessons of Katrina, writes Maxine Joselow, a climate policy reporter. The administration fired some of the signatories.