The Devastation Of Hurricane Katrina

Beginning in the 1950s, the United States have witnessed two Category Five Storms and seven Category Four Storms naming Hurricane Katrina as one of the most deadly Category Four hurricanes to hit the Gulf Coast. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina dismantled several sections of the levee which caused it to collapse. The storm then breeched the New Orleans’ levee system allowing Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River to flow in the heart of the city. Furthermore, a tremendous amount of damages occurred throughout the coast of Mississippi and Alabama. The state of Louisiana sustained most of the damages not just from Hurricane

Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29th, 2005, but the failure of the government started before this day “by allowing building and growing in areas in low flood lands.” The government did not regulate these land areas that have always been at a threat for flooding and natural disaster, which was ignored by the government and public, and was in place, still a place for growing infrastructure. Failures included by the author of the national agencies include design limits that can lead to levees being overtopped by flood and hurricane events that are larger than they were designed for and design flaws and construction and maintenance shortcomings that lead to protective works being breached when they cannot stand up to the forces exerted by large flood and hurricane events. The author also points out the problems with the hundred-year flood event, which only has a one percent chance of happening every year. When the NFIP focuses on this possible catastrophe, it losses the

The city of New Orleans lies below sea level in a bowl bordered by levees which prevent the high waters of the Mississippi River from flooding the city. These levees were put to the test on August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit, causing severe destruction along the Gulf coast. Three concrete floodwalls protecting the city of New Orleans fractured and burst under the weight of surging waters from the hurricane, killing hundreds and resulting in an estimated $100 to $150 billion worth of damage (Luegenbiehl, 2007). In the aftermath of the storm, society placed part of the blame on design flaws that compromised the safety of the levees and endangered the public. Under the Flood Control Act of 1965, Congress had mandated the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to protect the city from a Category 3 storm, yet the floodwalls were unable to withstand the force of Hurricane Katrina, which was eventually classified as Category 3 (Grunwalk & Warrick, 2005). The Corps pointed towards a massive surge that exceeded the height of the floodwalls, but investigations by civil engineers and other experts pointed towards the inadequate design and construction by the Corps of Engineers as the cause of the failure (Englehardt et al., 2013). The Corps acted in a manner contradicting ethical engineering behavior by being less than forthcoming about deficiencies that were accumulating in the overall system. In order to prevent future disasters involving human life, the government should require

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

The City of New Orleans, Louisiana was particularly vulnerable to the ramifications of Hurricane Katrina. Despite all of the forewarnings, determinants such as socioeconomic status influenced resident’s ability to evacuate their homes. Additionally, topography of the region increased the capability for destruction as nearly half of the city, on average, lays six feet below sea level and is surrounded by water.

Trouble the Water is a documentary that is based on the experience of hurricane Katrina for a local woman named Kimberly as well as some of her neighbors. Kimberly and her neighbors resided in the ninth ward of New Orleans at the time when Katrina hit. It is no secret that New Orleans is below sea level, so most people knew that there were risks of potential flooding. Little did they know that the levees would break and there would be water higher than the ceiling in most of their homes. In the Times-Picayune, Schleifstein states that “the lake [Pontchartrain] is normally one foot above sea level, while the city of New Orleans is an average of six feet below sea level. But a combination of storm surge and rainfall from Katrina have raised the lake’s surface to six feet above sea level or more” (Schleifstein, No. 221). On a normal day, Lake Pontchartrain usually sits at one foot above sea level. As mentioned above, New Orleans is below sea level; six feet below to be exact. If you think about it, New Orleans is practically a bowl. The levee holds back millions of gallons of water from flowing into the city. The storm surge and rainfall raised the water level in the lake to six feet above sea level so, during the storm, the levees were holding back more water than ever before. The levee walls could not withstand the wind and water pressure and they collapsed, flooding the city. As stated by Schleifstein in the Times-Picayune, “the only dry land was a narrow band from the French Quarter and parts of Uptown, the same small strip that was settled by Bienville amid the swamps” (Schleifstein, No. 221). Amidst the flooding the only dry area in New Orleans was a band of the french quarter and Uptown. Everywhere else there was water. Businesses and homes along this area were very lucky not to flood. This certain area that did not flood was established by Bienville when New

The onset of Hurricane Katrina proved to be the very element that separated the economically challenged residents of New Orleans from financially stable residents. The residents who resided in the suburbs were able to evacuate early because of accessibility to more resources. Inner city residents were forced to wait on the arrival of Katrina. This ideology of the residents and the authorities led to a reactive approach being employed in efforts to save inner city residents. Although the efforts did save some residents, the emotional blow had already been received and soon would be reopen with the acceptance of less than adequate rescue accommodations. According to Jacqueline Rhoads, Faye Mitchell, and Susan Rick (2006)

This research project is “A look into why the levees failed during Hurricane Katrina?” This report includes a brief description of the intensity, size and the destructive impact of Hurricane Katrina. It also states the observations of the levee failures at different sites and areas. There were five levees that are discussed in this report: the 17th Street Canal, London Avenue Canal – North, London Avenue Canal North - across from the breach, London Avenue Canal – South, and outside New Orleans.

New Orleans was built on a risky location. According to Lalwani, Khagram, Evans, Jackson, and Lindenber (2007, p1), New Orleans was built on “a natural levee adjacent to the massive Mississippi river that was not embayed and therefore not protected from flooding.” When French colonizer, Jean Baptiste La Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, founded New Orleans in 1718, it was considered a strategically significant port of trade between North America and the rest of the world due to the Mississippi River and its’ vast network of tributaries (Lalwani, et al., 2007, p1). On the other hand, the city’s first chief engineer, Del la Tour, and geologists Kolb and Van Loplin found the site unsuitable for a city because the threat of flooding (Lalwani, et al.,

New Orleans was used to weathering hurricanes every year, given that it sits below sea level in the Mississippi River Delta on an only-mildly-secluded bay of the Gulf of Mexico. But before 2005, there hadn't been a big enough hurricane to motivate New Orleans to update its 1960s-era levees that had been thrown in place to protect the city from mild storm surges. In many parts of the city, water protection was porous or completely nonexistent

have destroyed homes when the levees of New Orleans failed(These). During Katrina many people were evacuated but some stayed and they were stranded by the water and some of their lives were lost(During). The flooding from these disaster made people aware that the flooding systems in New Orleans had to be improved. In the aftermath of the flooding an improved system of levees and floodwalls, floodgates, and pumps was constructed at a cost of $14.5 billion (In). Since the first hurricane in the 1960s the population of the metropolitan area has risen at a rate slightly higher than that at which the population of the city has declined (Since).

The history of racial discrimination and disparity in New Orleans went hand and hand with deep racial distrust. Indeed, in New Orleans there has been a strong history of a connection between racism and flooding

in “A+E Networks”). That is more than enough warnings to get governments attention to prepare for another yet stronger hurricane that was about to hit the city of New Orleans. In the song “Georgia…Bush” the rapper states “So what happened to the levees, why wasn’t they able to control this?” (27-28). In Mark Castay research he found that the levee built in New Orleans was designed for category 3 hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina was category 5 the Army Corps. of Engineers has said that Katrina was just too massive for the levees original construction. Castay researchers also stated that barriers should have been constructed to assist levees better control such a massive storm. President Bush should have made preparations for the category 5 hurricane before it demolished the city of New Orleans. If the government would have upgraded the levee system after hurricane Betsy in 1965 the aftermath of Katrina would not have been so fatal. The lack of preparation cost the city billions of dollars and lost properties they will never get back. Proper precaution should have been alerted and taking care of from the time hurricane was found to hit the city at high

Moreover, Brinkley (2006) observed that the hurricane indicated a clear defective levee system and the Orleans City gave a true picture of American government’s neglect, prejudice, inequalities and total dysfunction of its engineering sector especially in the city. This was evident at every stage before the occurrence of the hurricane and after. There were several failures in the logistics concerning disaster preparations and management, engineering malfunctions and failures as was revealed after Hurricane Katrina (Galea & Brewin, 2007). The paper tends to highlight the environmental crimes committed before and after hurricane Katrina. The paper also vividly illustrates the lessons learned from the disaster and possible ways of improving from the shortfalls. Lastly, it concludes the main findings of the effects of the Hurricane Katrina.

The plan that we are proposing for the rebuilding of the city of New Orleans (Plan 2 on the Cost Calculation page) is a compromise between returning the city to pre-Katrina levels and demolishing the city in order to let nature run her course. We intend to downsize the city so that the neighborhoods of Lakeview, West End, Read Boulevard East, and Village DeL’Est are depopulated and turned to open space. We believe that it is important to maintain historical districts, restore wetlands, divert the Mississippi River, reimburse displaced people, conduct research in order to keep all plans and procedures up to