New Orleans: The Tragedy Of Hurricane Katrina

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

Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to hit the United States. Hurricane Katrina started out as any other hurricane, as the result of warm moisture and air from the oceans surface that built into storm clouds and pushed around by strong forceful winds until it became a powerful storm. Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane over the warm Gulf water, but weakened before making its second landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast

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.

In the history of the United States of America, Hurricane Katrina was known as one of the worst hurricanes in the world. The hurricane was a combination of tropical waters and gushing winds. It was the vicious hurricane that caused severe damage to the citizens of the United States of America. The amazing city known for its southern style, Cajun cuisines, jazz music and its celebration of Mardi Gras will never be the same. New Orleans, Louisiana was changed forever in August 2005 when this category five hurricane left the city devastated. The catastrophic storm tore through the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas destroying everything in its path and killing hundreds of people.

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.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast at daybreak, “pummeling a region that included the fabled city of New Orleans and heaping damage on neighboring Mississippi. In all, more than 1,700 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of others displaced.” (Laforet, New York Times)

On the morning of August Twenty-ninth, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region. The storm brought the water to about twenty feet high, swallowing eighty percent of the New Orleans city immediately. The flood and torrential rainstorm wreaked havoc and forced millions of people evacuate from the city. According to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, Katrina caused approximately one hundred and eight billion dollars in damage. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive disasters have ever occurred in the United States, but it also revealed a catastrophic government at all levels’ failure in responding to the contingency.

During the early hours of the morning on 29 August 2005 5:10am, a hurricane of 205km/h struck New Orleans. She was named Hurricane Katrina. Katrina stretched over 400 miles across and was one of the deadliest hurricanes in the United States, killing 1,836 people and millions of others were left homeless. $16.7 million dollars was spent trying to rebuild infrastructure alone. Hurricane Katrina struck a levee in New Orleans so aside from the damage caused by the hurricane, flooding was also a problem. New Orleans levee walls were designed for category 3 hurricanes, and were not prepared for Katrina's category 5 winds. USA and many other country's pulled together to help in any way.

Hurricanes are powerful and dangerous storms that involve great rain and win. When a tropical storm has a wind speed greater than 75 miles per hour, it is considered a hurricane. The United States of America has dealt with many hurricanes that have cost a substantial amount of damage. However there is one hurricane that occurred in 2005 that stands out among the others, Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest and most destructive of the Atlantic Hurricanes during the hurricane season. Hurricane Katrina had a great economic and environmental impact on the United States which will take time to completely recover from.

Hurricane Katrina is a category 4 storm which hit North America on August 23rd, 2005 and continued until the 31st. The great storm surges reached over 6 meters, destroying a number of buildings, houses, and killing a plenty of people. Hurricane Katrina reached category 3 on the 27th of August with top winds exceeding 115 miles per hour (185 km per hour). On the following day, with winds in excess of 170 miles per hour (275 km per hour), Hurricane Katrina reached category 4, becoming one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record. Of the places that Hurricane Katrina passed; Bahamas, Florida, Cuba, Louisiana (especially New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, New Orleans was the most affected, accompanied by an enormous flood. Due to its great

Hurricane Katrina claimed over one thousand lives, giving it the title of 5th deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States. Hurricane Katrina was not only very deadly, but it was expensive. The bank-breaking storm racked up over one hundred billion dollars in damage, after reaching land on August 28, 2005, and would show no mercy for whatever stood in its path. The storm has forever impacted the American culture and will continue to do so as many areas have yet to completely recover.

The United States commemorated the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina last August 29, 2015. Hurricane Katrina was a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and brought sustained winds of 100 to 140 miles per hour, when it hit the Louisiana-Mississippi border it had a width of about 400 miles. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Katrina was initially a tropical depression that formed 200 miles southeast of the Bahamas on August 23, 2005.  Early morning of August 24, 2005, the tropical depression became Tropical Storm Katrina with winds as strong as 40 miles per hour. On August 25, 2005, Hurricane Katrina was already a Category 1 hurricane and made its first landfall on Florida. Hurricane

Hurricane Katrina took place on August 29, 2013, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States. Once the storm touch downed, it had a Category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale–it brought unrelenting winds of 100–140 miles per hour–and stretched some 400 miles across(History,2009). This hurricane was the most destructive Hurricane the United States of America in category numbers/ratings. Levee breaches resulted in considerable flooding, and many people charged that the federal government was sluggish to encounter the needs of the people affected by the storm. Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were evacuated from their homes, and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage (History, 2009).

On August 29, 2005, hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a category three storm and brought with it some of the most catastrophic effects that any hurricane has ever left behind. Twenty foot surges of flood water washed into New Orleans after the levees broke, and ended up flooding over 80% of the city. It was now in the hands of the United States government to help the millions of displaced Americans find proper shelter, food, water, and services that were required for their recovery.

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.