Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane at its highest, made impact between August 23-30th 2005, and has since gone down as the most devastating and costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States. In preparation for the impact of the storm, on August 27th 2005, two days before the hurricane made landfall, President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Waterford nuclear plant was shut down for precautionary reasons in the wake of the oncoming storm and mandatory evacuations were issued for large parts of the southeast. Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans stated that about 80% of the 480,000 people asked to evacuate heeded warnings. Evacuation orders were also made for areas along the Mississippi coast, low-lying coastal areas in Alabama, as well as the barrier islands in western Florida Panhandle. In interest of protecting those residents that had not evacuated the area, many of whom did not have the transportation means to do so, several “refuges of last resort” were set up. These included a number of Parishes including St. Tammany’s as well as the Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Center. On the morning of August 28th, a day before the hurricane made impact in New Orleans, Mayor Nagin deployed all buses to shuttle residents to these shelters. By August 29th the Superdome housed over 9,000 residents along with 550 National Guard troops. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) efforts to prepare for Hurricane Katrina exceeded any previous hurricane response in its history. On their webpage it states that, “A staggering total of 11,322,000 liters of water, 18,960,000 pounds of ice, 5,997,312 meals ready to eat” along with “18 disaster ... ... middle of paper ... ... the national 16 percent. Furthermore, homelessness has recently dropped to 2,400 people per night, still higher than the amount that existed before Hurricane Katrina struck, but significantly lower than the 11,000 immediately after the storm. This is largely due to the lack of affordable housing in the area, the last of the previous five large public housing complexes demolished in May 2013. Louisiana is trying to increase the number of individuals moving to the state through major factors such as job growth, particularly in the petrochemical and natural gas industries, which will be part of the 42,000 new job openings in southeast Louisiana in the next six years. However, “the city remains incredibly poor, jobs and income vary dramatically by race, rents are up, public transportation is down, and most public education has been converted into charter schools.”
In the late summer of 2005, a terrible tragedy occurred that changed the lives of many in the south-east region of the United States. A Category 3, named storm, named Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August and led to the death of 1,836 and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (Waple 2005). The majority of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Waple writes in her article that winds “gusted over 100 mph in New Orleans, just west of the eye” (Waple 2005). Not only was the majority of the damage due to the direct catastrophes of the storm but also city’s levees could no longer hold thus breaking and releasing great masses of water. Approximately, 80% of the city was submerged at sea level. Despite the vast amount of damage and danger all throughout the city, officials claimed that there was work being done to restore the city of New Orleans as a whole but many parts, and even the people, of the city were overlooked while areas of the city with higher economic value, and more tourist traffic, were prioritized along with those individuals.
During the two previous hurricanes that made their way onto the New Orleans coast, the Superdome was also used for a shelter during these times. The use of the building as a sanctuary then, even in the face of much lesser hurricanes, was nothing short of a disaster. In Hurricane Georges and Ivan, supplies and planning were not evident. Reports were made that during Georges, citizens were stealing items from the dome and damaged much of the Superdome which cost the city thousands. This shows the lack of attention to patterns in the Superdomes’ past and It was also very difficult during Georges to get the supplies they did have to citizens inside the dome. During this disaster, there were only an estimated number of 14,000 people in the dome compared to the over 20,000 during Katrina. If it was difficult to provide citizens with essential services inside the Superdome during a far less severe hurricane with approximately 6,000 less people involved, the idea to let the Superdome weather Katrina with little to no planning was a astronomical mistake and a scary decision coming from the mayor who is in charge of keeping his people safe.
Hurricane Katrina was considered as the worst hurricane in the history of United States. The winds and the rain were shattering people’s homes which collapsed and flooded. Thousands of people were suffering and dying. People were starving, and becoming dehydrated. Many people were left on the street and became homeless. After the hurricane, so many questions were left regarding the widespread damage and loss of loved ones. This devastating disaster destroyed the city of New Orleans and nearby cities and was estimated to cost $80 billion dollars in damage. State and local emergency in the affected area were struggling to perform urgent response missions such as emergency medical services, search and rescue, firefighting, giving food and water,
The Coast Guard, for instance, rescued some 34,000 people in New Orleans alone, and many ordinary citizens commandeered boats, offered food and shelter, and did whatever else they could to help their neighbors. Yet the government–particularly the federal government–seemed unprepared for the disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took days to establish operations in New Orleans, and even then did not seem to have a sound plan of action. Officials, even including President George W. Bush, seemed unaware of just how bad things were in New Orleans and elsewhere: how many people were stranded or missing; how many homes and businesses had been damaged; how much food, water and aid was needed. Katrina had left in her wake what one reporter called a “total disaster zone” where people were “getting absolutely
A day that was supposed to be happy turned in seconds. People were injured or killed. Family members were devastated. The Boston Marathon was supposed to be a fun and exciting day for people watching and for the runners. We shouldn’t take every moment for granted, because you never know when it might be your last day or what we might consider "normal." April 15th 2013, will always be a day remembered in history.
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
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
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, the third strongest and biggest hurricane ever recorded in American history hit the Gulf Coast at eight o’clock a.m. The interaction between a tropical depression and a tropical wave created a tropical storm later referred to as Hurricane Katrina (FAQS, 2013). Forming over the Bahamas, Hurricane Katrina gradually strengthened as it moved closer and closer to the Gulf of Mexico. Recorded on August 28th, 2005, Katrina jumped from a category three storm to a category five storm with maximum sustained winds up to 160 miles per hour. Although other hurricanes, such as Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Wilma, exceeded Katrina, this dominant storm was classified as the fourth most intense hurricane based its pressure capacity. Once Hurricane Katrina hit land, it was pronounced as a category four storm moving slowly. While people thought that the slow speed of this storm prevented trauma, records show that Katrina did more damage than any fast-moving storm could have ever achieved (Solanki, 2013). Katrina produced abundant debris. The debris was in such large quantity that if it was stacked together on a football field, the rubble would reach the elevation of ten and a half miles. The size of Katrina also caused 90,000 square miles to be affected. Once proclaimed a category three storm, Hurricane Katrina slowed to the speed of 155 miles per hour. At this point in time, Katrina proved to be the sixth most prevailing hurricane traced in history. (Solanki, 2013). Several different aspects of life were impacted by Hurricane Katrina such as availability of gasoline, economic issues, and the ability to have an adequate supply of drinking water (Solanki, 2013). Hurricane Katrina was a large storm ...
According to “weatherwizkids.com”, “A hurricane is an enormous storm! It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. Each hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the open ocean Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters” (Weather Wiz). Scientists can usually predict a hurricane 's path 3-5 days in advance. Why didn’t President Bush warn the citizens of New Orleans about the disaster that was heading in their direction? Hurricane Katrina was the fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster, and the deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States. The final death toll was at 1,833, primarily from Louisiana (1,577) and Mississippi (266). More than half of these victims were senior citizens. Millions of citizens were left homeless along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans. Katrina was the most catastrophic storm to strike the United States and the costliest storm in U.S. history, causing $108 billion in damage. Who is to blame for the mass destruction of the city of New
Hurricane Katrina did its destruction in late August of 2005. It began as a category 5 and then became a category 3 hurricane. Before hitting New Orleans, Katrina hit South Florida and then the Gulf Coast. Before Katrina struck land, a state of emergency was declared and mandatory evacuations were issued. Katrina was the most destructive and costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States and the deadliest since 1928. Over 1,400 people died and almost 2,000 people are still unaccounted for.
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...
The book, Hurricane Katrina, states that Katrina was, “the most destructive natural disaster to ever hit the United States”(Rodger 4). Hurricane Katrina began as a tropical depression in the southeastern Bahamas on the twenty-third of August. The next day, Katrina strengthened into a Tropical Storm. As it moved through the Bahamas, the storm strengthened, and when it hit Florida on the 25th of August, the Tropical Storm had become a category 1 hurricane. The storm weakened as it went through Florida, but regained its strength when it went through the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Katrina became a category three storm on the 27th of August, and on the 28th it had strengthened to a category five with windspeeds over 170 mph. The storm landed in Plaquemines Parish, La. as a category 4 hurricane. As the storm moved northeast, New Orleans officials thought that they were in the clear. Little did they know, the levees holding both Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne were not strong enough to withstand the amount of water and storm surge from Hurricane Katrina. These levees broke and nearly 20 p...
The Texas City Disaster of 1947 was a disaster that really left a impact to the world. The Texas City Disaster of 1947 was one of the world's worst industrial disasters.
...he government of Louisiana soon came up with new criteria on how future structure should be built to withstand more natural disasters like these. Not only knowing basic information, knowing how to prepare, and seeing how Hurricane Katrina was so destructive should help the forty five million citizens that live on hurricane prone coastlines prepare for anything like this in the future.