"On August 29, 2008, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near New Orleans leaving widespread death and destruction. The inept emergency response that followed exposed major institutional flaws and poor planning. Questions linger: Can this happen again? Is our government equipped to plan for, mitigate, and recover from disasters? Can the public trust government response to be fair? Does race matter?" "Racial disparities exist in disaster response, cleanup, rebuilding, reconstruction, and recovery. Race plays out in disaster survivors' ability to rebuild, replace infrastructure, obtain loans and locate housing. Generally, low-income and people-of-color disaster victims spend more time in temporary housing and are more vulnerable to permanent displacement. In exploring the geography of vulnerability, this book asks why some communities get left behind economically, spatially, and physically before and after disasters strike."--BOOK JACKET.