Louisiana Floods Case Study

During our week in New Orleans, we will have excellent opportunities to learn about different cultures, the effects of natural disasters, and reasons as to why New Orleans is facing poverty and economic distress through our volunteer work with Project Homecoming, 1 in 5 homes in New Orleans is still blighted, 10 years after Katrina. New Orleans still has a high rate of blighted (abandoned) homes. We will be helping to rebuild homes, but we will also be helping to improve the surrounding community spaces such as there local gardens.

The people of New Orleans, Louisiana believed that it would be a storm like any other, nothing to set this Hurricane apart from the others that they had dealt with over their lives living in their beloved city below sea level. Unfortunately, that proved to not be the case and indeed it would be a storm they would remember for the rest of their lives.

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 public health nurse has many resources available to help assist residents after a natural disaster. The priorities after a disaster such as a flood are for providing services in high-risk areas such as adequate and safe water, basic sanitation facilities, liquid and solid waste disposal, shelter, food protection, and personal hygiene. The public health nurse has access to written literature that can be provided to residents who are safe to remain in their homes, which describe food and water safety as well as hygiene measures. If residents are willing to leave an unsafe living environment, the public health nurse is able to locate shelters for temporary safe housing.

My audience the Louisiana flood victims fall into a variety of demographic characteristics, political beliefs, as well as many other profiles.

In a World Health Organization publication titled “Environmental Health in Emergencies and Disasters: A Practical Guide, disasters are defined as “events that occur when significant numbers of people are exposed to extreme events to which they are vulnerable, with resulting injury and loss of life, often combined with damage to property and livelihoods” (Wisner & Adams, 2002). These disasters can be natural or man-made; one type of natural disaster are those of hurricanes. Hurricanes are large, powerful storms that can create winds of 74 miles per hour or higher. Swirling winds can cause significant damage to buildings and trees, heavy precipitation can result in severe flooding, and the emergency situations that arise during and after hurricanes can greatly impact the health and well being of many individuals, particularly the vulnerable population of elderly individuals residing in nursing homes (NASA, 2017; Wisner & Adams, 2002).

The Caddo-Bossier Parishes have been hit by a flood in recent months that left thousands of residents in a state of distress. While this did not cause large numbers of fatalities, it does bring up the concern if the area would be ready for such a large crisis. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the state and country showed how unprepared they were for the aftermath of a natural disaster that left thousands dead. In an instance that this occurred again, it is vital we have educated the population and learned how to react. This case study is covering the mitigation, the preparedness, response and recovery in the case of another flood hitting the area.

Like most states and countries positioned near large bodies of water, natural disasters and global epidemic have taken a toll on Louisiana’s climate and environments. Hurricane Katrina had a major effect on Louisiana. For example, its coastline, and environment was effected. Hurricane Katrina is one of the deadliest hurricanes that ever hit the United States. It hit a couple of cities, but it hit the city of New Orleans, Louisiana the hardest. New Orleans was very popular for tourists before Katrina hit, and still is (Jervis, 2015). After it hit New Orleans, it left many people devastated; killing an estimated amount of 1,833 people. Many of people were left homeless. There are still places

After much debate, France offers to sell the U.S. not only New Orleans, but the entire Louisiana Territory for a price of only $15 million dollars! Stretching from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, what will our nation do with all of this extra land?

Local churches and Red Cross have opened shelters for thousands escaping the massive flooding in Louisiana.

According to the National Hurricane Center (Knabb, Rhome, & Brown, 2005, p. 1), Hurricane Katrina was a major hurricane, a tropical storm reached Category 5 hurricanes in the Saffir-Simpson. The hurricane winds reached over 280 km / h, and caused major damage in the coastal region of the southern United States, especially around the metropolitan area of New Orleans, on August 29, 2005, where more than a million people were evacuated. The hurricane caused 1,833 deaths and is therefore considered one of the most destructive hurricanes have hit the United States. The event much paralyzed the oil extraction activity and US natural gas, since much of the US oil is extracted in the Gulf of Mexico. More than five million people were without power in the region of the Gulf Coast, having taken weeks for the power was partially restored because the neighborhoods most affected the basic service framework provided slowly to be regularized.

Junot Diaz once said “Disasters don’t just happen. They are always made possible by a series of often-invisible societal choices that implicate more than just those being drowned or buried in rubble” (Junot Diaz, 1). This quote introduces the idea of what is referred to as a social disaster. A social disaster can be a natural disaster such as earthquakes, tsunamis, or hurricanes etc. that are associated with some environmental, cultural, or political problem (Hovenac, 1). These societal problems can be a result of the natural disaster but more often issues that have always been there that are uncovered by the event of the natural disaster. When we look back at natural disasters that have occurred in United States, we notice that societal issues also arise with these events. A known example of this is when Hurricane Katrina hit the United States in 2005. As a result of the storm, researchers claimed that the socioeconomic status of those affected by the storm played a vital role in the damages that they face. This natural disaster brought attention to the pressing issue of the socioeconomic imbalance in our country and how it affects those in a natural disaster.

The Community of South Amboy appears to be supported of future mitigation efforts, in order to reduce flooding in the area; however, they don’t know who to contact in order to assist with the mitigation efforts The community of South Amboy could benefit from reducing the floods in the area, because insurance premiums will decrease, business and job opportunities will increase in the city of South Amboy. The lack of knowledge an organization could be a major roadblock for the community of South Amboy; however, the city’s emergency manager can assist in educating and organizing the community in order to create and implement mitigation plans in the

On August 12th, 2016, the southern part of Louisiana was flooded do to massive rain fall. I feel this is a big topic that should be talked about because of the eye opening things that have happened such as damage and the record breaking water levels recorded. This stuff really should be talked about but isn’t.

Specific Purpose: to inform my audience about the different ways they can help victims recover from the damage caused by the 2016 Louisiana Floods.