Pope Benedict XVI Quotes

Hurricane Katrina this past week was certainly the worst episode in what has become an all-too-familiar and tragic cycle, and our nation is now faced with a set of unprecedented challenges.

All of us who lived outside of New Orleans were horrified and heartbroken by what we saw when Katrina hit, the floods that followed the hurricane that happened.

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria each caused billions of dollars in damage, claimed the lives of many Americans, and disrupted millions more. They also reminded us how important communications networks can be during emergencies - and that the FCC has a role to play in helping keep people safe.

Hurricane Katrina is without question the worst natural disaster in American history.

Hurricane Charley is the worst natural disaster to befall our state in a dozen years, and it is unthinkable that anyone would try to take advantage of neighbors at a time like this,.

As more information becomes available, and the magnitude of the storm's impact becomes even more apparent, it becomes clear that this recovery will be lengthy.

President Bush, Secretary of State Rice, and several cabinet level officials have visited Alabama's Gulf Coast in recent days to tour the devastation and to offer their continuing support and prayers for everyone affected by the storm.

In New York, FEMA granted the Mamaroneck Beach & Yacht Club's request to be remapped from the high-risk flood zone in August 2012 - just two months before the club was damaged and its outbuildings destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, which stacked up yachts at its docks like pick-up sticks.

Whenever an earthquake or tsunami takes thousands of innocent lives, a shocked world talks of little else.

The Katrina matter was terrible.

A disaster like a hurricane is like a football game. You are going to lose the first quarter. There is no way you will win that quarter. The question is how ugly you will lose that quarter. Then you go into the second quarter – the search and rescue.

This was the most anticipated natural disaster in history.

When we had the hurricanes - Hurricane Harvey - we gave 80,000 pillows down there.

n case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died - an entire town destroyed.

Hurricane Katrina was caused by political correctness. I said it!

We have seen levee breaks and flooding in the wake of storms, some of which have caused the loss of life, and USDA is ready to assist in any way we can.

Hurricane Katrina was the storm of the 21st century. It devastated an area the size of Great Britain. More than 1,800 Americans died. Three hundred thousand homes were destroyed. There was $96 billion in property damage. I served on the Louisiana Recovery Authority. I saw Congress write one big check and then skip town.

There are disasters that happen - Hurricane Harvey came up, and you had people self-organizing through the community and getting in boats and driving around rescuing people coordinated ad hoc through this network. That's not a media function.

The outpouring of support from millions of people in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti has been impressive.

During Hurricane Sandy, we expended billions and billions of dollars, literally. In the handling of the emergency and the construction and the aftermath, trying to get people to come back to the affected communities. So I'm very proud of what the state did.

I was a fugitive, taking risks with my life. I chose that. I chose to be a volunteer to go to Guatemala when they were having their earthquake, to help people with a team of doctors.

I'm a doer, and whether it was the tsunami in Sri Lanka or the earthquake in Indonesia, I was always saying, 'I should be there; I should be helping out.'

If a hurricane came here, I would want any relief plan to be fiscally responsible.

I've covered tornadoes and other natural disasters. I wasn't on the ground for Katrina. But as our helicopter descended toward Mexico Beach, I just saw an entire town gone. Leveled, with the exception of a condo still standing here and there.

Immediately after hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, I was extremely concerned about my family, friends and all the people in Puerto Rico. I felt helpless and could not concentrate not knowing if my family and loved ones were safe. I wanted to help my people as fast as I could.