In the world we live in people tend to think everyone have privilege and they have it easy. Even though we may think we have it bad or may think life is hard, there are people in many countries that have worth than
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
On August 23, 2005 Tropical Storm Katrina began as a tropical depression over the Bahamas. Three short days later she was upgraded to a Category 3 full blown Hurricane headed toward the gulf coast. Kathleen Blanco, governor of Louisiana, declared a state of emergency and requested 4000 National Guard troops. The following morning President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency and Governor Blanco ordered evacuation out of the coastal areas while Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a voluntary evacuation of New Orleans.
B. Thesis: The government should have help Hurricane Katrina, through additional money, supplies, and community help.
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.
Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29th, 2005. The events that followed would leave the whole nation in shock until this day. One of the major topics of discussion after this disaster was whether or not the government's slow reaction time had anything to do with the fact that New Orleans is sixty-seven percent African American. As helicopters circled a wasteland that was once a major tourist attraction, the racism of the Deep South, thought to be extinct, proved it was only dormant. The same racism against African Americans that could be seen on Bourbon Street in the months prior to the hurricane reared its ugly head once more in Gretna, LA and was pointed out on live television by rapper Kanye West.
Hurricane Katrina will forever be noted in United States history as one of the worst natural disasters to hit the states. Within its wake, Hurricane Katrina left thousands of Americans dead and many more homeless with no place to call home. A vast majority of the homeless were already living in poverty in New Orleans, where Hurricane Katrina hit the hardest. People that already didn’t have what most Americans have were forced out of their homes and their jobs with nowhere to go. Many have criticized the United States government and President Bush for the lack of response to this disaster, as well as ignoring the fact that the levees in the Lower Ninth Ward were not strong enough to withhold this type of force. Still to this day, many are still rebuilding their lives, homes, and businesses.
The whole world observed as the administration responders appeared incapable to provide essential protection from the effects of nature. The deprived response results from a failure to accomplish a number of risk factors (Moynihan, 2009). The dangers of a major hurricane striking New Orleans had been measured, and there was sufficient warning of the threat of Katrina that announcements of emergency were made days in advance of landfall (Moynihan, 2009). Nonetheless, the responders were unsuccessful to change this information into a level of preparation suitable with the possibility of the approaching disaster. Federal responders failed to recognize the need to more actively engage (Moynihan, 2009). These improvements include improved ability to provide support to states and tribes ahead of a disaster; developed a national disaster recovery strategy to guide recovery efforts after major disasters and emergencies; and the Establishment of Incident Management Assistance Teams in which these full time, rapid response teams are able to deploy within two hours and arrive at an incident within 12 hours to support the local incident commander (FEMA,
In the year 2005, New Orleans was famously hit a major natural disaster that took lives and destroyed the homes and civilians. This wrath of Mother Nature became to be known as Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane with gusts peaking at 174/mph according to the Safir- Simpson wind scale (SSHS). With this Hurricane having its path directly on a city only being on average 1-2 feet below sea level, it created conditions for serious havoc (NOAA, 2012). The aftermath left a serious physical imprint on the city, which has the potential to never be removed. This imprint left by Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damage to 134,000 housing units, destroying multiple bridges along the Gulf Coast, as well as various buildings across the city, which led to harmful chemicals leaking into the water system, such as petroleum and natural gas. Finally, Hurricane Katrina also caused the main power grid to be disoriented for a number of weeks. As a result, the damage costs from the storm added up to be about $108 billion (2005 USD), which according to Eric Blake was the costliest storm ever to hit the United States (Blake et al. 2011). Hurricane Katrina perpetuated all of these tribulations, as it drastically altered the lives of the many inhabitants of New Orleans and they continue to face the repercussions of the storm in their day-to-day lives.
Flood control for developed urban areas does not allow the Corps to make money, but leveeing off wetlands for new development increases their profit significantly. Unfortunately, a life saved by levees does not economically benefit the Corps, which may have influenced their projects and funding priorities. This produces projects that conflict with flood control and result in large floods to the New Orleans area. The new development has put thousands of citizens in life threatening situations in the case of a flood. (Can We Save New
Hurricane Katrina hit the southern coast of the United States on August 28, 2005. The center of Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on the morning of August 29, 2005. The devastating effect of this hurricane resulted in more than 1,800 citizens losing their lives, as well as more than an estimated $81 billion dollars in damages occurred. By August 31, 2005, eighty-percent of the city became submerged under water because the storm surge breached the city's levees at multiple points. If the levees are damaged massive water will flood Louisiana from the Gulf Coast, the Mississippi River, and other surrounding bodies of water. Some areas of New Orleans were 15 feet under water. Winds of Hurricane Katrina reached an astounding category 3 as
On August 29, 2005, one of the largest hurricanes ever recorded hit the city of New Orleans, devastating millions and changing their lives and their city forever. The category 3 hurricane created mass displacement and mass destruction that the city has yet to fully recover from. The residents of this once lively and culture-filled city are still attempting to rebuild what was washed away for them ten years ago.
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.
On August 29, 2005, disaster struck New Orleans, Louisiana in the form of Hurricane Katrina. Since the city is 10 feet below sea level, it is susceptible to large amounts of flooding (Bunch, 2005).