Subsidence In New Orleans Essay

“There are natural hazards, but disasters are the result of human actions that put people and property in harm’s way” (Cigler 2007: 64). Throughout history New Orleans has been continuously altered by the presence of humans through the creation of levees and canals, the introduction of artificial irrigation systems, and through human induced processes that have ultimately accelerated the process of land degradation and erosion. While a natural hazard struck New Orleans in 2005, the disaster portion resulting from Hurricane Katrina was a result of human induced interactions throughout the history of New Orleans.

The reason why the Delta wetlands is larger than twenty years ago is because of deposition. It takes all of the dirt and sediments underneath the river and deposits all of the sediments and dirt into the marsh bigger and expanding the delta wetlands that’s why the soil is so soft and mushy is because there is a lot of water in the soil.

When this occurs, water from the wetland buildup can seep into the ground and be stored as ground for aquifers.

The failure to adequately prepare for the storm led to increased and more widespread devastation, which in many cases harmed those living in the affected areas. An independent analysis of the reason for such massive chaos was performed and determined that “Most of the damage was due to the failure of the levee system that surrounds the city to protect it from flooding” (Ubilla). Had these levees been properly built, and had there been more of them protecting the city of New Orleans, major flooding could have potentially been lessened. A simple feature of the levee structure which engineers neglected to include is the concrete

Memorial Field is a deeply underutilized area of land. While the wetland area near the field is under reconstruction, Memorial Field remains ignored. While this area of land is neglected, it faces many issues and will face many issues in the future. One problem Memorial Field could potentially face is erosion. This process occurs when one of the natural agents of erosion wears away at the land or rock. Erosion affects not only people, but the living organisms, and the overall area of Memorial Field.

This total erosion is a result of a number of factors caused by both natural and human activity.1

Erosion- Soil and rock is moved from one area to another by water, ice, wind, or gravity

New Orleans was originally founded on high ground overlooking the Mississippi River, above sea level. Also surrounded by Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, New Orleans was susceptible to hurricanes that would come up the coast into the Gulf. Originally New Orleans was naturally protected by “coastal swamps that helped absorb the energy of storm surges before they reached dry land.” (Stillman 228) At this point Americans were more concerned with the floods that happened annually from the Mississippi River. In the early days, settlers built a mile long levee to block overflows from the mighty Mississippi while landowners constructed their own levees.

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

main wetland. Both dry season (see in Appendix) and rainy season data show this big decrease

Numerous different aspects were altered due to the ruckus of Hurricane Katrina. The first major aspect was housing and location. Katrina nearly demolished 300,000 homes. The ascending sea level along the coast resulting from onshore winds is a storm surge. With a twenty-two foot storm surge in New Orleans and a twenty-seven foot storm surge in Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina averaged a shocking twelve foot storm surge. As a storm surge’s footage increases, the surge will continue to move inland farther and farther. Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge is documented as moving inland a total of twelve miles into the state of Mississippi (FAQS, 2013). Hurricane Katrina impacted a total of seven states. Five of these states were Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Kentucky and Ohio were two more states affected but in a different way. Because of the tremendous amount of water, Kentucky and Ohio were victims of the Mississippi River flooding. Some states experienced more extreme destruction than others. Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana experienced Hurricane Katrina’s wrath firsthand. These three southern states were affected the worst by the massive storm (FAQS, 2013). Mississippi’s forest industry experienced a great amount of destruction losing 1.3 million acres of valuable forest land. The main cause of destruction in New Orleans was blamed on the failure of the levee system to stand its ground

erosion the response is a decrease in the mean elevation of about 0.17km. Tectonics may

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. It had a category 3 rating on hurricane scale with sustained winds of 100-140 miles per hour and lasted for days. The storm did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic. “Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were displaced from their homes, and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage.” (Hurricane Katrina, 2009). Further, though Katrina Hurricane affected the Gulf Coast area, the city of New Orleans was particularly the most at risk and affected, since half of the city actually lies above sea level. In the past, the Army Corp of Engineers had built a system of levees and seawalls to keep water entering from the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, and Lake Borgene to the city; however, with Hurricane Katrina striking the city, it was impossible to prevent flooding. When the storm surging New Orleans, it damaged many of the city’s levees and seawalls, eventually nearly 80 percent of the city was flooded and around 90 percent of the city’s population had to be evacuated; additionally, “many were displaced from their homes and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage.” (Hurricane Katrina, 2009)

In Erosion, there are three major phenomenon that takes place– soil detachment, movement and deposition. Topsoil, which is high in organic matter, fertility and soil life, is relocated elsewhere "on-site" where it builds up over time or is carried

Wastewater reclamation is the process whereby wastewater is treated using physical, chemical and even biological methods, so that the effluent obtained can be used again, providing that it meets a series of parameters which varies according to its use. The need for wastewater reclamation has increased due to the ever increasing demand for water which has led to a rise in water stress both in terms of quality and quantity of water (Gerke S., 2001). With wastewater reuse the water stress will be alleviated. Constructed wetlands provide a cheaper and environmentally friendly means of treating wastewater so that it can be reused (Kivaisi K. A., 2001). Constructed wetlands makes use of the naturally