The Impact of Hurricane Katrina On New Orleans and Surrounding States
What was Hurricane Katrina
(Introduction)
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters to happen in the United States. The storm resulted in more then US$100 billion in damage when the cities flood protection broke and 80% of the city was flooded (1). The protection failure was not the only cause for the massive flooding, the hurricanes clockwise rotation pulled water from north of New Orleans into the city. 330,000 homes were destroyed and 400,000 people from New Orleans were displaced, along with 13,00 killed (1). Although the population quickly recovered, the rate of recovery slowed down as the years went on leading us to believe not everyone
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The category 3 storm changed the lives of the residence who lived there forever. The storm in combination with the fault of the man-made flood protection walls (levee’s) resulted in the death of at least 1,300 people (1). With nearly half the victims over the age of 74, deaths were caused by; drowning, injury/ trauma and heart conditions (2). Hurricane Katrina was one of the most costliest storms to land on American soil, costing around US$135 billion in damages (3). Although the number of deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina are not as high as other natural disasters, Katrina displaced a massive amount of people from their homes, around 85% of the population were displaced directly after the storm hit (6). Being one of the most devastating natural disasters to hit the United States, Hurricane Katrina impacted not only the residence of New Orleans by also many of the surrounding …show more content…
The population of New Orleans was steadily decreasing, between the years of 2000 and 2005, 30,000 (6%) of the population left New Orleans in search for better lives (4). The declining population shows us that before Hurricane Katrina residence were already considering leaving the city, some push factors leading them away from the city include poverty and unemployment (5). Accord to the U.S 2005 Census Bureau around 23% of the residence lived in poverty, this can be a result of the nearly 12% unemployment rate (5). With an unemployment rate double the national standard and nearly one forth the population living in poverty, the city of New Orleans had many push factors against it resolution in a decline population prier to Hurricane Katrina. At the time of the storm nearly 400,000 residents were displaced from their homes too near by safe areas or other states. The population reming in the city as decreased to a few thousand (6). A month after the disaster when the levee breaches were repaired and the flood water was pumped out of the city, residence were allowed to return to what was left of their homes. The first reliable estimate of the New Orleans population after Hurricane Katrina was an ‘American Community survey’. The survey projected that by the start of 2006 around one third or 158,000 of the population returned. By the middle of f2006 the city
Hurricane Katrina was the most expensive hurricane that hit the United States ever. The hurricane was the third strongest of the season, behind both Hurricane Wilma and Rita. The hurricane was the third strongest of the season, behind both Hurricane Wilma and Rita.
Katrina is the costliest U.S hurricane, with estimated damage over $81 billion and costs over $160 billion.” The people that were affected the most was the poor people, children, the sick, and the elderly. Most of New Orleans was underwater; it was going to take a long time for the city to come back from this. “The The rescue and recovery efforts following Katrina became highly politicized, with federal, state and local officials pointing fingers at one another.” People didn’t get the proper warnings to evacuate. After the hurricane “Government officials have sought to learn from the tragedy and implement better environmental, communications and evacuation policies.” Ten years after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the city is still dealing with still trying to recover. The have lost a lot when the hurricane hit and it affected them financially, because of the popular areas that are in New Orleans. In all, almost everyone that evacuate from New Orleans fled to Houston which led to the population to grow, but also those that came to Houston had a different feeling about things. Houston has also had its fair shares has had 27 disasters- eight hurricanes, eight floods, six severe storms, three
New Orleans by far felt the biggest effect of Hurricane Katrina. Many people were rescued but had nowhere to go and the government was not prepared for the disaster. There was no plan for recovery. Communication failures were one of the major problems which included power failures and broken telephone lines. Homes were destroyed and many were left stuck on the roof of their broken homes. Most of the city’s major roads and buildings suffered extensive damage. Countless people were left unemployed and homeless. Above all, the worst effect caused by Hurricane Katrina was the final death toll of 1,836 people with 705 still reported
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina brought a death toll in the thousands and millions of dollars in damage. It was a severe storm “with winds in excess of 150 miles per hour [that] caused 20-foot-high waves to pound the coastlines of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi” (Dass-Brailsford 24). Other than the rescue missions, the city was also concerned with clean up efforts and restoring basic service to residents, which was a huge challenge to the city government. On the other hand, different voices from residents are also caused city government moving slow in decision-making and implementation of the recovery plans. Some progress on recovery plan has been made, but the city is struggling with the slow planning process, the lack of skilled workers, and the low number of returning residents.
Katrina, being the third deadliest hurricane in US history, took the lives of around two-hundred-thirty people from Mississippi, fourteen from Florida, and one thousand-five hundred from Louisiana. It was estimated that Katrina took the lives of one-thousand-eight-hundred people in the US. It was also estimated that around one-and-one-half million people were evacuated from New Orleans before the storm blasted its way into the town. One-hundred-thousand people remained in the town and only ten-thousand took shelter in the superdome. The flooding and widespread destruction of Katrina slowed rescue and aid efforts for days which
Hurricane Katrina was very devastating and ended up leaving 1,833 people without their lives. It was also “350 miles across and produced high storm surges” which is why it was so incredibly powerful. (Dewan) Because of the strength of this storm, it was labeled as a category 5, the highest a hurricane can be labeled. By the time it hit, Katrina lessened in it’s category; however, within the first twenty four hours there were twenty eight levees reporting failure. (Dewan) There was only 10 inches of rain recorded which made this storm more based on wind. Lastly, the Mayor of New Orleans ordered an evacuation a day before the storm possibly saving lives.
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina forced its way into New Orleans, Louisiana with winds of more than 140 mph. This storm was a strong category three when it hit New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina destroyed homes, businesses, and factories from the high winds and flooding. The devastation that the city suffered was terrible; many people lost family members young and old and also their most prized possessions. Most of all it displaced families and caused an abundance of damage to properties. Due to the costly destruction that the city of New Orleans faced after Katrina, they must now find a way to alleviate the blighted properties from their environment and also face the challenges.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale with winds up to one-hundred and forty miles per hour. Katrina was one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes to ever hit the United States. One-thousand eight hundred deaths, seven hundred missing and one-million displaced is evidence of the human toll that Katrina caused and $84 billion in cost makes Katrina the most expensive natural disaster in United States history. (Blackwell) While these numbers are devastating, the environmental impacts of Katrina still threaten the citizens of New Orleans today. The environmental impacts from Katrina were compounded by man-made environmental hazards. (West)
There comes a time in the world where the outcome of certain events can cause a huge social change, one of those events is Hurricane Katrina. The events that took place prior to, during and after Katrina although impact only a few places physically it was left in the minds of everyone in the world. There were many actions that could have taken place to prevent the damage of such a catastrophic event, however nothing was done. Hurricane Katrina, a category 3 hurricane struck Louisiana and parts of the Mississippi. New Orleans in particular, due to various reasons received the most damage. Katrina first started off as a small hurricane formed in the Bahamas as it moved towards Louisiana and Mississippi it became a category 5, which is the strongest it can become, then decreased to category 3 once it finally struck. The storm caused an incredible amount of damage that Hurricane Katrina was noted as the most destructive and costly natural disaster in US history. The death toll was 1,836 people with 200 bodies left unclaimed as well as over 700 people unaccounted for. Hurricane Katrina was a source of social change as people have learned from the impact it had on the mind and body of the citizens of New Orleans, the mismanagement and lack of leadership the government showed, and the substantial immediate and long term economic damage it caused the country.
Hurricanes are powerful and destructive storms that involve great rain and wind. The United States of America has dealt with many hurricanes that have cost a great amount of damage. However, there is one hurricane that happened in 2005 that stands out among the others, Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricanes to hit the United States, a category 5 on the Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Scale. An estimated 1836 people died because of the hurricane and the floodings that happened after (Zimmermann 1). Katrina initially beg...
Approximately ten years ago, history was made in New Orleans, Louisiana. On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Hurricane Katrina was categorized as one of the deadliest hurricanes in US history. Once the hurricane passed, it left over $100 billion in damages behind. After the wake of the hurricane, there were more than 1,800 deaths confirmed. More than 80% of New Orleans was flooded and over 1 million acres were destroyed throughout the Gulf Coast. Because of Hurricane Katrina, most of New Orleans were under water for days and even weeks. Since the disaster, the recovery process has been very taxing and challenging. The recovery phase consists of strengthening and the replacement of 220 miles of floodwalls and levees. To rebuild
Katrina’s high-speed winds ripped roofs off of homes, knocked trees down into homes, and lifted homes from sturdy foundations. One example of how damaging the high winds were being that a casino in Biloxi was torn from its foundation and carried for two miles. For example, not only were homes ruined from high-speed winds but some were also ruined by water damage. Many people whose homes were ruined by flooding didn’t even have flood insurance. For example, my mother’s friend spent seven years working two jobs to be able to afford a place for her and her two children to live since her insurance didn’t cover flooding. Also, for those people who did have insurance, they had to live in Katrina cottages for several years’ before they were able to get a new house or damages
Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a ‘Category 2’ storm on August 25, 2005 with winds of 115-130 miles per hour that extended more than 100 miles from its center (Sparks 2008). Many watched in horror as it quickly became clear that the city’s 350-mile levee system, a federally-funded project built by the Army Corps of Engineers in the aftermath of the devastation of Hurricane Betsy in 1965, was not strong enough to defend against the encroaching floodwaters. Breach was inevitable. Within eighteen hours of Katrina’s impact, the city was almost entirely flooded under six to twenty feet of water and over 300,000 homes were destroyed (Sparks 2008). Devastation and heartbreak gripped every corner of the city, as it became increasingly clear that the federal, state, and local governments were severely unprepared to respond to a disaster as intense as Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent levee breach. In total, over one million people in Louisiana evacuated, and approximately 1,300 people perished as a result of the storm (Sparks 2008).
Some statistics mentioned “estimated 1,833 people died in the hurricane and flooding of late August of 2005” ( facts,damage & aftermath) this hurricane as well as many others is very deadly and can cause too much damage to the environment. Population affects the environment by how much oxygen and such we make and produce as humans. The bigger part of this was “the importance of impact on animals and people. This hurricane displaced nearly 770,000 residents” (what made Katrina so devastating) they are still trying recover with new homes soon about 11 years later for the damage left by this huge hurricane. New Orleans and Louisiana had a “dramatically population drop from 1.386 million to 1.04 million” (facts, damage & aftermath) this means the hurricane killed some and damaged so much to the states and cities it
August 23rd, 2005; Hurricane Katrina, formed over the Bahamas, hitting landfall in Florida. By the 29th, on its third landfall it hit and devastated the city of New Orleans, becoming the deadliest hurricane of the 2005 season and, one of the five worst hurricanes to hit land in the history of the United States. Taking a look at the years leading to Katrina, preventative actions, racial and class inequalities and government, all of this could have been prevented. As presented in the newspaper article, An Autopsy of Katrina: Four Storms, Not Just One , we must ask ourselves, are “natural” disasters really natural or, are they a product of the people, who failed to take the necessary actions that needed to be taken?