Hurricane Katrina Failure

Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana on the morning of August 29, 2005. The storm produced sustained winds of up 125 mph when it hit that morning. On that same day Katrina caused 53 different levee breaches in greater New Orleans, spilling the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into the city and flooding an overwhelming majority of New Orleans. The floodwaters destroyed countless homes and lives along the way. Some estimates of the cost of Katrina were up in the 200 billions but according to Kimberly Amadeo, “The actual cost of Hurricane Katrina's damage was between $96-$125 billion, with $40-$66 billion in insured losses.” This

One of the major hurricanes that made headline news was Hurricane Katrina. It was said that Hurricane Katrina was one of the most deadliest hurricanes to ever hit the United States. The damages done by Katrina was absolutely devastating. Costing at about an estimated $75 million dollars in repairs, Hurricane Katrina is one of the most costliest hurricanes in the history of U.S. hurricanes. The disaster lasted about eight days, starting on August 23rd and ending on August 31st of 2005. On August 28th, 2005, the tropical storm turned into a category five hurricane with winds of 175 miles per hour. The storm took away the lives of approximately 2,000

On August 29th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic damage and flooding in Mississippi, Louisiana, New Orleans and areas in between. It destructed the lives and homes of thousands of people, with a total of 1,883 fatalities (Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts, 2015). Hurricane Katrina left many homeless and hospitals unprepared for the challenges posed to the healthcare system as a whole. Some of these challenges included gaining access to healthcare facilities, providing expedited care to those most in need, and preventing spread of disease that commonly occurs during natural disasters. Many facilities did not evacuate in time and many were left stranded in flooded waters as patients conditions worsened and access to essential medications and treatments became limited.

The devastating and deeply rooted traumatic effects of Hurricane Katrina will live in the psyches of the people of New Orleans and beyond for generations to come. Katrina was the largest and third strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States barreling in as a Category 5 with up to 175 mile-per-hour winds and a 20-ft storm surge that would create a humanitarian emergency with the likes never before seen in the United States. This hurricane caused unimaginable death, destruction, and displacement, leaving a known death toll of 1,836 and an unknown number thought to be washed out to sea. The real truth is we will never know exactly how many people lost their lives during Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina is the most expensive natural disaster in American history (Kates et al., 2006). This is supported by the statistics from August 2006, where the death total surpassed 1836 and the cost of the destruction was projected to be near $108 billion (Kates et al., 2006). On August 29, it made landfall in Louisiana as a category 3 Hurricane and its aftermath was devastating

Being able to identify the areas of mistakes during hurricane Katrina made it possible for better planning for future disasters. Using the four key elements of emergency response allows for State, local and the federal government to better prepare for any disaster or terrorist attack. Many mistake were made during the Katrina disaster and being able to develop better training, communication, the use of resources and planning in the future will prevent a catastrophic disaster from resulting in the loss of so many lives.

Hurricane Katrina took 1,833 lives, but this number could’ve been lower had the government respond in a proper manner. The failure of proper execution of the Mayor Ray Nagin, of New Orleans at the time, the failure of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to execute actions in a timely manner, and the failure of the President to actually visit the people in need to help all led to more destruction. Former FEMA director Michael Brown failed to address the request made by officials. The Lieutenant Governor was also criticized for making vague request and not communicating properly what she needed. Many of the officials in charge did not properly communicate what they needed. And those who did communicate request, were ignored.

In august 2005, the State of Louisiana was hit with one of the most devastating natural disasters the United States has ever seen. New Orleans specifically was among the cities who felt the full force of Hurricane Katrina. While the storm itself was very powerful the damage wasn’t caused necessarily by the hurricane but by the failure in the levee system. According to Jennifer Trevedi, In the book, Encyclopedia of Disaster, Jennifer Trevedi describes the extent of the damage through breaches of the levee. Trevedi says, the levees were breached in over fifty different spots flooding the St. Bernard and Plaquemine parish.

Hurricane Katrina resulted in massive loss of life and billions of dollars in property damage. There are many lessons worth learning from this event. Finger pointing started before the event was over. Most of the focus on Hurricane Katrina was on its impact on New Orleans; however, the storm ravaged a much wider area than that. This paper will briefly summarize the event, the impact on the city of New Orleans and the lessons learned to ensure preparedness today.

Hurricane Katrina was a devastating category 5 that made landfall in Buras, Louisiana, on Monday, August, 25, 2005. It was downgraded to a level 4 hurricane when it made landfall. This hurricane was extremely devastating for the city of New Orleans 2004 (Haddow, Bullock, Coppola, 2014 p17). This hurricane was so overwhelming that it crippled local government which ceased to exist immediately after the disaster. The main problem with FEMA at the was President George W. Bush. This was less that four years after 911 and a majority of its resources were applied to terrorism 2004 (Haddow, Bullock, Coppola, 2014 p20). FEMA was focused on another 911 attack and was not prepared as should have been to handle natural disasters.

In 2005 a storm of Category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale known as Hurricane Katrina struck the gulf coast of the United States. Assumed to be the costliest hurricane in the history of the United States, Hurricane Katrina displaced hundreds of thousands of people and cost roughly $100 billion in damages. The city of New Orleans was particularly damaged because of its low average elevation and because it is almost completely surrounded by water. Many had little idea of how bad things were in New Orleans and surrounding regions with president George W. Bush and the Federal Emergency Administration (FEMA) seemed without an action plan for the devastation. The government was unprepared for the event and the masses of people it

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused massive damage around Gulf of Mexico. Especially, New Orleans was flooded most severely, so once approximately 80% of the city was under the water. Many articles criticize the poor management for Katrina, on the other hand, some articles can positively accept the preparation for Hurricane Sandy in 2012. For example, GSN (Government Security News) released their article in 2015, and the title is “Response to Sandy shows Katrina lessons mostly learned, says former FEMA chief”. In 2005, many people died, and many people are forced to move from New Orleans or other affected towns, however, now the hurricane disaster reduction plans in the U.S. are based on lessons from 2005. We should reflect the crisis event, so, first of all, to check the timeline of Katrina and to specify the problem of planning or reaction. The second, to understand the FEMA and “Hurricane Pam” exercise. “Hurricane Pam” exercise was held prior to Katrina, and the exercise clear many problems for emergency planning. One of the major problems was transportation. Many people lacked the transportation to evacuation shelter, and the problem was indicated before Katrina. The third, with a chart of employment trends, to realize the social impact of Katrina. The employment trends are related to next topic: race and class. Black workers faced the more difficult situation to get their jobs than white workers. (Elliott 2006). The last is to introduce BBC article about the

Hurricane Katrina made its impact on numerous families in so numerous ways. A very close friend lives on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain which is the north or New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast she and her mother were visiting family and friends in Texas. Her father stayed behind in New Orleans. It was during that time that Katrina hit and he had not evacuated in order to stay and ride it out. Most of the damage was done in New Orleans; however, he only encountered power outages and wind damage but the lasting effect it had on that area and the people who live there lasted a lot longer.

Monday morning, 29 August 2005, this is a day most New Orleans residents will never forget. This was the day a category 5 hurricane named Katrina made its catastrophic debut to the Gulf Coast region and killed over 1,300 people. (The White House, 2006, p. 1) After it was all said and done, the nation was shocked at the events that unfolded in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi and people were left wondering, “What went wrong?” National Geographic reported that the storm originated about a week earlier, 23 August, in the Caribbean and worked its up from the Bahamas making landfall Thursday, 25 August, in Miami. Winds at this time were 75-80 mph making it a category 1 hurricane causing some tree damage and killing two people. (Drye, 2005)

Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast with tremendous force at daybreak, August 29, 2005, severely punishing regions that included the city of New Orleans and its neighboring state Mississippi. Resulting in a total of just over 1700 people killed, and hundreds of thousands missing. When we think of Hurricane Katrina stories, we think of stories that were published by the media such as, “Packing 145-mile-an-hour winds as it made landfall, the category 3 storm left more than a million people in three states without power and submerged highways even hundreds of miles from its center. The hurricane's storm surge a 29-foot wall of water pushed ashore when the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast was the highest ever measured in the United States.