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Cause And Effect Of Hurricane Katrina

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Nature has thrashed the earth long before humans came to be. Volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, and hurricanes are by far some of the most destructive and devastating occurrences on the face of the planet. To illustrate, Hurricane Katrina came upon United States’ land in August of 2005. The states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and of course Louisiana (CNN Library, 2014) took a hard beating as Hurricane Katrina’s winds sustained at 155 miles per hour alongside a storm surge over twenty feet high (National Geographic, 2005). New Orleans, Louisiana, averaging between one and two feet below sea level in elevation (Google, n.d.), experienced the full force of Hurricane Katrina as the hurricane’s center arced toward the city. Levees were in place to hinder the influx of ocean waters, yet could not stay strong as Hurricane Katrina pounded against the barriers. The hurricane approached the Gulf Region as a category 5 and made landfall as a category 3 hurricane (History.com Staff, 2009). When the hurricane passed twelve hours later, all that was left was destruction. New Orleans was the city to be dealt the most damage. Over eighty percent of the city was left underwater from Hurricane Katrina (Nguyen, 2007). About seventy percent of occupied housing was taken by the hurricane (CNN Library, 2014). The population of New Orleans dropped from 484,674 in April of 2000 to 230,172 in July of 2006 (CNN Library, 2014). The hurricane’s total damages were estimated at about 125

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