Insider Advantage

The events of late August and early September of 2005 are

now painfully familiar: Hurricane Katrine's landfall on the Gulf Coast, the devastating winds and storm surge, the breached levees, the looting and violence and-most of all-the catastrophically slow and inadequate federal response. But amid all the bad news, there's one Katrina story you might not have heard.

Early in the morning after the hurricane hit Louisiana, Thomas Casadevall, the U.S. Geological Survey's central region director, received a phone call from Greg Smith and Charles Demas, who lead USGS centers in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, respectively. The state of Louisiana had put out a call for help to all government agencies. Much of New Orleans was flooded and thousands of people were trapped in attics and on rooftops.

"They needed small, flat boats that could be launched from portions of interstate highways that were flooded," Casadevall says. "They also needed people who were somewhat familiar with New Orleans." Smith and Demas called Casadevall, their supervisor, because they wanted to help with searchand-rescue operations. USGS happened to have the right kind of boats and licensed boat operators who could find their way around the city. "They're Louisiana natives," Casadevall says. "They know those waters better than anyone."