Are you ready for a natural disaster? Gen. Honoré encourages preparation after lessons learned during Hurricane Katrina

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — A retired Army general best known for his leadership during Hurricane Katrina, turned community and climate activist. He reminds Louisiana residents that preparation saves lives as summer heats up and hurricanes form.

General Russel Honoré founded The Green Army after a massive sinkhole forced Louisiana residents from their homes in 2012 and a failed government response. Fast-forward to 2025, and Honoré is a leading voice in raising awareness of the climate crisis and how it contributes to weather-related disasters nationwide.

In prior years, it was easy to believe that hurricanes were a coastal issue and flooding was reserved for lower-lying places. Honoré says times have changed: “Preparedness has got to be a way of life in Louisiana and all over the country, because the storms are not just hurricanes; there are floods as well as tornadoes that can come or, in some cases, earthquakes, so we gotta be prepared.”

Being prepared and having a plan for your family is critical. Whether the disaster happens where you live or it forces friends and loved ones to rely on you for support, Honoré says be your own first responder.

“People don’t often think about the impacts of hurricanes, but, Shreveport gets a lot of weather. You get thunderstorms, you get tornadoes, you get flooding, and, if the storms really bad, you get a lot of people come to town because you’re one of the destination cities for a lot of the people in South Louisiana. To go to and try to get reprieve if the storm comes in a certain direction. And I can’t remember any storm that hit South Louisiana that had an impact Shreveport, either from people coming, or the residue from the storm, the heavy rains or winds that come with it.”

Honoré says it isn’t just weather events and natural disasters that stress people and resources to the brink. Failing infrastructure and utility outages can make the situation worse.

“On any given day, Mother Nature can break anything built by man. You can get a strong storm and take the power grid out. If we lose power for 12 hours, that’s a disaster. We all know that. 36 hours, we’re really in trouble because we had to start evacuating people if the grid goes down.”

The retired general turned climate change commander said that, after Hurricane Katrina, then-President George W. Bush had the idea to create a culture of preparedness in America. However, the idea did not catch on as the former president had hoped. Over time, people have moved further and further away from the concept, even though storms have intensified and moved with less predictability since 2005.

Honoré highlighted many factors that contribute to people’s ill-preparedness for natural disasters—the most significant are poverty, age, and mobility.

We’ve got to pay better attention to those people that need extra help, the elderly, the disabled, and the poor, that may not have the means to leave, or they don’t have the current information,” Honoré said. “That’s not so. And many of them don’t have the mental capacity in some cases to do it, but that was representative of who we found dead in the homes. They were elderly, disabled, and poor, they were by themselves. And that’s a lesson to learn, to check on our neighbors before we leave if we got to evacuate.”

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry announced in March that the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) will be managed by the Louisiana National Guard, a move that Honoré supports.

“The good news is our National Guard is well-trained, well-equipped, and they spend months getting ready for hurricane season. The National Guard in Louisiana shows up with boats, itty bitty boats, and trucks, and they are well organized, and the support battalion is out.”

He said the Louisiana National Guard troops’ training for emergency preparedness is unmatched.

Disaster can strike anywhere at any time – have an evacuation plan

“The big thing is to be prepared, have your 3 to 5 day supply of food and water, because you can lose water or you can lose part of the grid any time. You all know that (in) Shreveport all the time. You have water issues. The grid goes down, or you lose power. But the idea is to be prepared – ” Hurricane Preparedness Week,” Honoré said.

He suggests gathering essential documents, such as insurance policies and other documents, that you must submit for insurance or FEMA claims. Another critical note from General Honoré is to develop resilience, he believes our reliance on technology and speed have made it harder for Americans to withstand natural disasters and the hard days of recovery and rebuilding that follow.

“Our great-grandparents learned how to do that because they knew there was nobody coming if there was a problem. We got to be prepared and we got to teach that to our children, because when these disasters come, there’s no instant solution when the grid goes down, because much of what we do is depending on the grid for information.”

For more information on resources or to learn which essential items you need to be disaster-ready, contact the Red Cross or visit your parish website to stay updated on emergency information.

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