The Cause And Effects Of Hurricane Katrina

“When communities are rebuilt, they must be even better and stronger than before the storm,” (“Bush”). This is what former president George W. Bush said during his speech in New Orleans concerning the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was a massive natural disaster that consisted of high powered winds and immense amounts of water. The hurricane was initially a category 3, but gradually rose to the classification of a category 5 storm, which is the largest storm there is (“Hurricane Irene”). In fact, there were accounts of winds recorded at about 127 miles per hour in the Gulf areas such as Grand Isle, Louisiana, and near the Mississippi River (“Hurricane Katrina Statistics”). All of these factors are made

10 Years ago on the last week in August, one of the most brutal storms the United States has ever had hit Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. On August 28th and 29th, Fifty-five-foot waves crashed down the Mississippi coast leaving total destruction behind. In New Orleans a levee was built to protect the city but failed in 50 different places due to it being poorly designed. FEMA brought many survivors to their camps, but some weren’t that lucky. In New Orleans about 20,000 residents were trapped in the Louisiana Superdome without clean water, medical care, or working toilets. After the floodwaters receded, over 100,000 residents left the city of New Orleans to never return. 10 years later after the hurricane, most of the affected

Another questionable aspect of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans is the police’s interactions public. Although the topic was not very heavily reported, the locals all had very different opinions about how the police handled the situation and communicated with the locals.

Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricanes in history. During Katrina, more than 1,200 people died and thousands more were injured. Katrina started August 23, 2005 and ended August 31, 2005. Katrina spread 120 miles along the Gulf Coast. Katrina was a category 5 hurricane. Katrina

The above quote was spoken by a Mr. Jim Willis and quoted by the Washington Post. It summarized perfectly how a natural disaster has the ability to unmask the disparities of society. On August 29th, 2005, a moment in American history was being created. This moment has come to be known as Hurricane Katrina. Her high wind speeds and three days of endless rain led to numerous deaths and astronomical amounts of damages for the residents of Louisiana and Mississippi. Although her terror only lasted for three taunting days, just like the residue she left behind, she also left residents with emotional, physical, and psychosocial scars.

The world is made up of mostly water, human beings are made up of mostly water also; water is everywhere. Water helps us sustain life most of the time, unless it’s a tropical storm coming up from the Atlantic Ocean killing thousands. Specifically August 24th, 2005; a very strong storm known as Hurricane Katrina was heading northwest towards the mainland of the United States. Such a storm could lead to catastrophe and there will be no happy ending for anyone. When any type of natural disaster strikes, how does America respond and help those who are in need. The idea of Hurricane Katrina interested me because my favorite college football team are known as the “Miami Hurricanes”. It felt right to research hurricanes and how it affects many people near waters. I hope to learn why hurricanes form the way they do and what makes them dangerous. Many people were affected from Hurricane Katrina, so what were most people doing in the year 2005 before mayhem struck.

Hurricane Katrina is considered as one of the worst hurricanes ever recorded in the history of the United States. It was the sixth strongest Atlantic hurricane ever and the third strongest on record that had reached the United States (Chambers, 2007). According to Brinkley (2006), the hurricane occurred on August 29th, 2005, and had a massive physical impact on the land and to the residents of New Orleans City .Before the hurricane; there was massive destruction of the wetlands besides construction of canals which increased the erosion rates in the lands. After the floods, much of the city’s water was contaminated leading to the loss of the aquatic lives and indigenous plants (Galea & Brewin, 2007).

The catastrophic Hurricane Katrina began on the morning of August 23, 2005. The deadly tropical storm began at approximately 5:00 PM as a Category 1 hurricane in the Bahamas, but by the morning of August 29, it grew from the south and up north into the states of Texas, Louisiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, New Jersey, Arkansas, New York, and Pennsylvania in the United States, as well as the provinces of Ontario, and Quebec in Canada. The worst of the damages seemed to be from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, with a total of 1,836 casualties overall. It is estimated that this hurricane caused over $108 billion in damages, left 15 million homeless, and at least 135 people still missing to this day.

One of the most significant natural disaster that hit the region was the Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina 11th named tropical storm by scientists, fourth hurricane, third major hurricane and first category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. On the day of August 5, 2005 hurricane Katrina made a land fall as a category 1 hurricane north of Miami, Florida, as a category 3 storm on August 29 along the central gulf coast near Buras-triumph then Louisiana. The Katrina eventually destroyed the levee system that acted as a protection to New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain as well as the Mississippi river (Stewart& Stacy, 2005). There was massive flooding experienced especially resulting from the water from the lake being swept into the cities. The coast of Mississippi and Alabama were heavily damaged resulting to Katrina being the most destructive and costly disaster in the history of the USA, the damage estimated at $100 billion.

Hurricane Katrina made its impact on numerous families in so numerous ways. A very close friend lives on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain which is the north or New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast she and her mother were visiting family and friends in Texas. Her father stayed behind in New Orleans. It was during that time that Katrina hit and he had not evacuated in order to stay and ride it out. Most of the damage was done in New Orleans; however, he only encountered power outages and wind damage but the lasting effect it had on that area and the people who live there lasted a lot longer.

Hurricane Katrina ranked as “one of the deadliest” hurricanes in the United States. Killing over 1800 people in its path, it was also one of the most damaging hurricanes which ruined $108 billion in property. This storm made the top ranks in strength while it’s wind-speed reached up to 75 miles per hour. Hurricane Katrina started forming on August 23rd near the southern Bahamas. The stormed reached Florida on August 25th starting out as only a category one storm. At that point only two people were killed but the hurricane kept escalating from then on. By August 28th Katrina became a category 5 storm with winds that reached up to 175 miles per hour. The next day Katrina’s winds slowed down to 120 miles per hour when arriving to the Louisiana

Hurricane Katrina hit the United States Gulf Coast on August 23, 2005 and was known as the most destructive storms to hit the United States. This storm began forming of the Bahamas and would start to head in the direction of the states surround the Golf Coast next. Meteorologists warned the states about the storm that was in a path heading their way (History). Eventually it hit the Gulf Coast and affected cities such as New Orleans, Bahamas, South Florida, Louisiana, Missisippi and Alabama. (History). Hurricane Katrina would cause damages of almost 100+ billion doallrs, which would make it the most costly tropical cyclone of all time. We automatically know that millions of homes and peoples lives were destroyed because of this disaster. It killeed 1,383 people and could have potentially been more (Hurricane Damage). Hurricane Katrina was anticipated to hit as a Category 3 storm with winds ranging from 100-140 miles per hour and was nearly 400 miles wide (Live Science). Prior to the storm hitting, New Orleans was an area that was of major concern and the most susceptible to damage because most of the city was above or slightly above sea level. Evacuation in the Gulf States began a few

Earth is the only planet known to support life, but has a dark side that is demonstrated every year. Whether by earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes, the Earth is an extremely active planet, and humans living upon it must heed the potential for danger. One of the worst of these disasters to occur came in the form of Hurricane Katrina during an 8 days span in August of 2005. Hurricane Katrina impacted the coast of Louisiana and changed the area immensely, not only at that time, but the changes can still be seen today, nearly a decade later.

Hurricane is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Northeast Pacific Ocean during summer or the early fall. It often occurs with thunder and lighting; the energy that a hurricane can release in one day is enough energy to meet the entired United States electricity needed for six months. Hurricane is a huge storm and also the natural desaster. The increase temperature of the Alantic ocean is the direct cause of Hurricane Katrina. According to New York Times, “The hurricane knocked out power and running water and sent the temperatures inside above 100 degrees.”

Disasters by their nature kill and injure people, drastically alter people’s life by physical destruction and creating mental trauma. One cannot avoid a disaster from occurring but can definitely take measures to overcome it. Government agencies like FEMA can provide information early warnings to the people in disaster prone areas prior to its occurrence. This research paper discusses about the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, reasons for failure to communicate information during Hurricane Katrina, the category of people who were more vulnerable to this disaster, and how could they be overcome for future disasters.