Testimony of David Walker, Comptroller Gen. of the U.S., before the Comm. on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate. The size & strength of Hurricane Katrina resulted in one of the largest natural disasters in our nation's history. Hurricane Katrina raised major questions about our nation's readiness & ability to respond to catastrophic disasters. Hurricane Rita increased demands on an already stressed response & recovery effort by all levels of government. The two hurricanes provided a sobering picture of the overwhelming strains on response & recovery if there are back-to-back catastrophic disasters in the same area. Includes recommendations.

GAO has undertaken a body of work to address federal, state, and local preparations for, response to, and recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This report provides a statement for the record by David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the U.S., of GAO¿s preliminary findings as of Feb. 1, 2006.

The size and strength of Hurricane Katrina resulted in one of the largest natural disasters in our nation's history. Hurricane Katrina raised major questions about our nation's readiness and ability to respond to catastrophic disasters. Hurricane Rita increased demands on an already stressed response and recovery effort by all levels of government. The two hurricanes provided a sobering picture of the overwhelming strains on response and recovery if there are back-toback catastrophic disasters in the same area. GAO has a large body of ongoing work on a range of issues relating to all phases of the preparation, response, recovery, and rebuilding efforts related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.