Speech At The East Ascension Class Of 2016

Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, destroying lives, leveling homes and leaving thousands of survivors with the same story: We lost everything. Experiencing the loss and devastation of a natural disaster taught me the appreciation of life and how to start over and move forward without dwelling on the past.

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 Sunday August 28, 2005 the National Weather Service warned the storm would make southeast Louisiana “uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer” and also warned of “human suffering incredible by modern standards.” This same

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. Levees failed in New Orleans, resulting in political and social upheavals that continued a half decade later. (Laforet, New York Times)

Hurricane Katrina, one of the most destructive hurricanes to whirl through the southern states of America in 2005, is probably one of the worst natural disasters of the United States in the 21st century. Damages from the storm were estimated at more than $100 billion . People living in the southern states fled north to reach safety from the storm after hearing about it being a category five hurricane on the news a few mornings before Katrina hit the shore. Authorities were doing what they were supposed to be doing, telling everyone to seek shelter, board up windows, head north and prepare for the storm. Everything in the beginning appeared to be just another

It was the year 2008, I had just graduated from St. Michael’s School located in Los Angeles, CA. This year was quite exhilarating for me also scary because I was going to attend an all-girls high school. Los Angeles was my birth place also a place where I called home. One day, I came home to hearing my parents talking about moving to Mississippi. I remained devastated, not only we were moving to the south, I’m moving away from childhood friends. I was worried I wouldn’t see them again and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to make new friends in Mississippi.

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.

Finally the hurricane stopped people had their houses ripped apart like shredded paper they were devastated. Many people came to rescue others that were stuck in there houses they were like like a flooded prison cells you could hear the echo as if you

On August 29th of 2005, a category 3 hurricane, dubbed Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast of the United States. It brought winds of 100 to 140 miles per hour, and stretched more than 400 miles across. New Orleans had its first mandatory evacuation ordered the day before, while listing the Superdome as a shelter for those who couldn’t leave town. More than 70 percent evacuated, while the rest stayed at their homes, or took to shelters, to wait out the storm. The aftermath of Katrina was felt in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, but New Orleans was affected the most by far. In the end, more than 2000 were either seriously injured or killed, while those who survived were very short on food, water, first aid, and had very few areas for shelter. A large reason the storm was so devastating was the fact that the storm was able to cover almost 80 percent of the entire city under a large amount of water. Before the storm hit, the city used levee systems and flood walls to protect itself from being flooded. During the storm, however, many failures in the levee system caused close to 80 percent of the flooding covering the city and the nearby parish. Many know that the levee system failed but few in the public know that the major reason it had failed was because of the incomplete design. The disaster

Hurricane Katrina was devastating. My sister’s husband was a lifeguard when that occurred. He saved a couple lives but felt as if he failed since he couldn’t save more. He is a hero, but feels guilty about all the ones he couldn't save. I couldn’t believe the amount of damage that occurred, how unprepared the local, state and national governments were and the large amount of deaths that took place. I experienced Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey which was truly a scary experience. I can’t even imagine what the people in Katrina had to go though since that was ten times worse.

The city is dead. Without a single person out in the street, and without the bright summer sunshine that wakes people up for another Monday morning. The city was completely gone; the city that used to burst with people and streets that were filled with energy is now empty but filled with filthy water. It was August 29, 2005, when the hurricane entered the warm water of the Gulf and grew to be a monstrous storm. So monstrous, that it destroyed anything in its path. The hurricane that we now call Katrina had swept away the entire city of New Orleans. Many people lost family members and the storm caused an abundance of property damage. It was reported that the hurricane killed about 1,800. The number of damages totaled $108 billion dollars. Just imagine seeing your neighbor, your family members, your loved one and even yourself suffering to survive in the water that swipes away so many of your memories and what you valued. What would you have done the day before the hurricane knowing that it will hit the city? This also questions the characters in the story “A.D: New Orleans After the Deluge”, by Josh Neufeld, a comic book that depicts the moments before, during and after the big disaster. Illustrating different characters within the different status of ranking going through the event differently. Demonstrating how very contrasting the “high up” and “low down” society face the consumer society even in the hurricane. Just as how Bauman describe that there are

First, Hurricane Katrina started by the Bahamas on August 23 and headed northwest towards Florida. That evening it hit between Miami and Lauderdale, Florida as a category one hurricane. Four days later, the strom moved on to the Gulf of Mexico and strengthened to be a category 3 hurricane. On August 29 it hit Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana and New Orleans, as a category 5 hurricane. The natural disaster brought 125 miles per hour winds, huge waves, flooding and enormous surges. 80 percent of the city was underwater and there were billions of gallons of water in New Orleans. About 1,000 people drowned because of the flooding and others struggled to survive as water filled their homes. Tens of thousands of people, that either couldn’t or

Once the storm made landfall, it was obvious this would be no regular hurricane. Soon after making landfall the water began to rise and it would seem like it would never stop. The city pumps were on and running to full capacity, but a lot of the pumps were not working or already broken. In St. Bernard Parish water rose to the gutters and every house in the entire parish was under water with the only thing visible being rooftops. People were stranded in their attics, and on top of business roofs praying for rescue. The people of St. Bernard Parish would soon be cut off from neighboring New Orleans due to the only roads into and out of St. Bernard being totally under water.

This past week I saw that purple and gold tour bus from Louisiana State University in my town, not only surprising me but also forcing me to think back on my childhood in the south. Growing up in southern Louisiana one must be prepared for major storms and flooding at less than a day’s notice. Hurricanes are powerful storms that can ravish towns and can be deadly for people and animals alike. Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast in August of 2005, and I was in the midst of that wreckage. My family and I were living in a small, close-knit community, named St. Amant, about an hour west of New Orleans. On the third day of the hurricane, my family experienced a loss greater than we could have ever imagined. This

When I got home later that night, the news was now claiming my neighborhood as an evacuation zone. I didn't believe it. "It'll be fine," I thought "nothing bad will happen here." Apparently, I was the only one that believed that because every person in my development was gone. The storm was scheduled to arrive that next morning and I would be facing it alone. I came to the realization that I was the only person in my county with a functioning brain. Everyone was wasting their time and energy preparing for nothing.