This special and very timely issue of American Behavioral Scientist, co-edited by Kelly Frailing and Dee Wood Harper, brings together the work by preeminent disaster scholars from Loyola, Tulane, the University of New Orleans, Brown University and University of Colorado Boulder in an examination of long term disaster recovery in the United States. Using Hurricane Katrina as a large case study, the articles in the journal explore the most crucial issues in disaster recovery, including population changes, challenges around housing, school system transformation, the role of nongovernmental agencies in recovery, the effects of disaster on crime and the criminal justice system, human rights violations and corruption and finally, resilience. This insightful issue delivers a comprehensive picture of the recovery from Katrina and, perhaps more important, detail the lessons that Katrina provides for improved disaster mitigation and recovery in the short and long term. Please direct questions or comments about the issue to Kelly Frailing, klfraili@loyno.edu.