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Hurricane Katrina and the consequences
Natural disasters katrina effects now
Hurricane Katrina and the consequences
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A little over ten years ago, a catastrophic event struck the American shoreline and left devastating effects for years to come. It was very early in the morning on August 29, 2005; Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. For days before, the hurricane could be charted by various meteorologists so there was no mystery that a very large storm was approaching a very vulnerable part of the United States coast line. The storm made landfall as a Category 3, meaning sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour. The hurricane stretched some 400 miles across. While the storm hit relatively quickly and harshly, its aftermath was the most catastrophic. Levee breaches led to massive flooding. The tropical depression that became Hurricane …show more content…
Initially, it seemed as if the area would be relatively unscathed; however as the storm surge arrived, it overwhelmed many of the city’s unstable levees and drainage canals. Water seeped through the soil underneath some levees and swept others away altogether. By 9 a.m., low-lying places like St. Bernard Parish and the Ninth Ward were under so much water that people had to scramble to attics and rooftops for safety. Eventually, nearly 80 percent of the city was under some quantity of …show more content…
At the Superdome in New Orleans, where supplies had been limited to begin with, officials accepted 15,000 more refugees from the storm on Monday before locking the doors. City leaders had no real plan for anyone else. Tens of thousands of people desperate for food, water and shelter broke into the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center complex, but they found nothing there but chaos. Meanwhile, it was nearly impossible to leave New Orleans: Poor people especially, without cars or anyplace else to go, were stuck. Governor Kathleen Blanco did not called for the National Guard for days to come. Katrina pummeled huge parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama but the desperation was most concentrated in New Orleans. Before the storm, the city’s population was mostly black (about 67 percent); moreover, nearly 30 percent of its people lived in poverty. Katrina exacerbated these conditions, and left many of New Orleans’s poorest citizens even more vulnerable than they had been before the
The. Niman, Michael I. "KATRINA's AMERICA: Failure, Racism, And Profiteering." Humanist 65.6 (2005): 11. MasterFILE Premier. Web. The Web.
escape the wretches of poverty. Katrina’s story reflects the untold struggles of many women in
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 has affected the lives of thousands of Americans. According to Anne Waple of NOAA’s National Climate Data Center, Katrina is “one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent US history” leaving “At least 80% of New Orleans…under flood water”. Film director, Spike Lee, in his documentary, When the Levees Broke, looks into the lives of the people of New Orleans that was affected by Hurricane Katrina. Lee’s purpose is to address racial disparities, political issues, and the discrimination against helping victims during the storm. He adopts a straightforward tone from the victims and outsiders in order to illustrate how the residents of New Orleans were affected by failures of the government for the duration of Katrina, before and after. Despite the government programs and their slow attempt to help, the government did not act quickly in the events of Hurricane Katrina because many residents of New Orleans did not receive the great amount of aid they were promised.
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
According to Hurricane Katrina At Issue Disasters, economic damages from Hurricane Katrina have been estimated at more than $200 billion… More than a million people were displaced by the storm… An estimated 120,000 homes were abandoned and will probably be destroyed in Louisiana alone (At * Issue). For this perspective, “Hurricane Katrina change the Gulf Coast landscape and face of its culture when it hit in 2005” (Rushton). A disaster like Katrina is something the victims are always going to remember, for the ones the lost everything including their love ones. Katrina became a nightmare for all the people that were surround in the contaminated waters in the city of New Orleans. People were waiting to be rescue for days,
In response, The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took days to establish operations in New Orleans, and lacked a plan of action. Even President George W. Bush seemed oblivious to the severity of what happened, the amount of people stranded or missing, how many buildings were damaged, and how much help was needed. The people remained desperate in their desolated communities as the government seemed to take a relaxed approach to the emergency. In desperation, tens of thousands of people broke into the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center looking to discover a glimmer of hope in the form of food, water, and shelter. Meanwhile, it was nearly impossible to leave New Orleans despite the evacuation that was put in place. Poor people who wished to leave did not have anywhere to go, nor a car to transport them. Others who tried to escape by walking over the Crescent City Connector bridge were rudely met by police with shotguns forcing them to turn back ("Hurricane Katrina."). The controversial reaction was highly publicized, causing officials from federal, state, and local agencies to blame and state accusations. For example, critics blamed an aging and disregarded federal levee system and a slow state and local response following the disaster for the unreasonably high loss of life and damage. Also, residents ignoring initial warnings to leave, strained the effectiveness of the rescue operations (Zimmermann). In defense of the importance of efficient response and evacuation, strong levees will ultimately continue to break because water has no way of escaping the below sea level regions. Evacuation is better because damage will happen anyways, so continuing to build extensive levees is a waste of money and resources. In the event of a major storm, levees will help, but prioritizing evacuation will same more lives. A better evacuation procedure will benefit
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
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 ...
Hurricane Katrina put a hindrance on New Orleans because the city was left with blighted properties that span from the 9th ward to the 7th ward. Blighted properties were a direct result from flooding, wind damage, and citizens that moved or were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. When the levees broke an abundance of water entered the city and caused homes and business to become flooded. When the city was under water for days it created damage, homes were crumbled to pieces and even uprooted from the ground. Flooding even caused homes to deteriorate and become inhabitable and unsuitable. Blighted properties became breeding grounds for crime, infestation of rodents and other animals, dumping of dead bodies, fires (arson), mold, squatters (homeless), and other serious health issues. These are serious challenges that the city of New Orleans must tackle.
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.
On early morning of August 29th, 2005 on the Gulf Shore near New Orleans, a devastating hurricane struck. It wrecked havoc, demolishing anything in its path. Leaving nothing but mounds of trash. The surviving people were forced to leave due to massive flooding and the destruction of their homes. New Orleans was not the only place hit by Katrina but it was one of the areas that was hit the hardest. Millions of people were affected by this tragedy and the cost range was up in the billions. Crime rates went up, no one had a place to stay and water was polluted. The damage done by Katrina affected New Orleans and the other areas hit years after it struck. Restoration for the areas hit was going to need support from all of America and support groups across the country. No one was ready for this tragedy or could ever predict the horrible outcome.
Hurricanes occur all over the world, at different times, but commonly through June first and late November. However in late August 2005 a catastrophic hurricane struck. This was Hurricane Katrina. With winds traveling over one hundred miles per hour making it a category five on the Saffir- Simpson Hurricane Scale it was said to have cause billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Hurricane Katrina flooded nearly forty thousand homes, and killed at least two thousand people (“Hurricane”). An average category five hurricane has enough energy to power street lamps for more than twenty seven thousand hours (Williams 58). Knowing about Hurricane Katrina, and the devastation of the city in New Orleans would be beneficial. Also, general information on hurricanes can help civilians and people of higher authority better understand and prepare for damage that could once hit their town and community. Because experts know the general information on these storms they can help explain to the public why and how Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes occur. Hopefully, in the future civilians will know and use this information to their advantage against hurricanes.