MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin is playing a role in trying to prevent another tragedy like Hurricane Katrina.

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina rocked the Gulf Coast. In the days and weeks that followed, 1,464 people died.

A University of Wisconsin professor said without preparedness that number might have even been higher.

"In Baton Rouge, they practiced for something like this just a couple of weeks before that and within 24 hours they had 1,000 bed hospital in an old K-Mart building," said Professor Emeritus Marvin Birnbaum.

Birnbaum agreed there is clearly more that could have been done.

But in those first few days Birnbaum doesn't blame the federal government as much as the locals.

"They weren't prepared at the local level, the state level to deal with something like this even though they knew the possibility of it happening was great," said Birnbaum.

As president of the World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine, Birnbaum is working on ways to educate families to make sure they get out safely.

Birnbaum has helped write books on disaster preparedness.

One of those books includes a terminology base and guidelines so that one day those who help in a disaster will all have standardized training.

He's also trying to develop a uniform way to credential those helping in a disaster.

Another UW professor Ken Potter is researching how land use plays a factor.

"That region is subsiding, sea level is rising we know that for a fact," said Potter. "The protective wetlands and islands have eroded through human impacts."

Potter said as the city grows again, it and the rest of the country should pay close attention to land use and stay away from flood plains.

"If we rebuild it the way it was, we'll have the problems again and again," said Potter.

Potter is one of 16 congressionally-appointed members of a committee on hurricane protection projects.

While he won't be coming up with recommendations directly, he and the others will evaluate the plans of those who do.