The Devastation Of The Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to hit the United States. Hurricane Katrina started out as any other hurricane, as the result of warm moisture and air from the oceans surface that built into storm clouds and pushed around by strong forceful winds until it became a powerful storm. Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane over the warm Gulf water, but weakened before making its second landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast

On August 29th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic damage and flooding in Mississippi, Louisiana, New Orleans and areas in between. It destructed the lives and homes of thousands of people, with a total of 1,883 fatalities (Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts, 2015). Hurricane Katrina left many homeless and hospitals unprepared for the challenges posed to the healthcare system as a whole. Some of these challenges included gaining access to healthcare facilities, providing expedited care to those most in need, and preventing spread of disease that commonly occurs during natural disasters. Many facilities did not evacuate in time and many were left stranded in flooded waters as patients conditions worsened and access to essential medications and treatments became limited.

The devastating and deeply rooted traumatic effects of Hurricane Katrina will live in the psyches of the people of New Orleans and beyond for generations to come. Katrina was the largest and third strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States barreling in as a Category 5 with up to 175 mile-per-hour winds and a 20-ft storm surge that would create a humanitarian emergency with the likes never before seen in the United States. This hurricane caused unimaginable death, destruction, and displacement, leaving a known death toll of 1,836 and an unknown number thought to be washed out to sea. The real truth is we will never know exactly how many people lost their lives during Hurricane Katrina.

When we hear about hurricanes on the news or how one might be closing in on where we live we mostly think of how we are going to protect our self. However, there is one thing that I think most people do not stop and ponder, which is how does a hurricane even get forecast? From the direction it is going to be headed, to how it is categorized. The group that preforms all forecasting for tropical cyclone activity is the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and they cover the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins throughout North America. To start it begins with visual observations of the hurricane using reconnaissance airplanes, satellites, ships, buoys, radars, and an assortment of land-based equipment. Likewise, most of the storm’s projected path and

“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

Hurricane Katrina was a catastrophic natural disaster in American history. The aftermath had substantial negative impact on New Orleans and it could have been avoided if proper disaster management practices were put in place. Therefore, it is important to determine the factors that caused the hurricane to be catastrophic. One factor that was responsible for the disaster was failure of the three levels of the government working cohesively (Thiede & Brown, 2013). The incoherent interaction between the three levels of government will be assessed. Another factor that will be examined is social and psychological refusal of Hurricane Katrina

During the early hours of the morning on 29 August 2005 5:10am, a hurricane of 205km/h struck New Orleans. She was named Hurricane Katrina. Katrina stretched over 400 miles across and was one of the deadliest hurricanes in the United States, killing 1,836 people and millions of others were left homeless. $16.7 million dollars was spent trying to rebuild infrastructure alone. Hurricane Katrina struck a levee in New Orleans so aside from the damage caused by the hurricane, flooding was also a problem. New Orleans levee walls were designed for category 3 hurricanes, and were not prepared for Katrina's category 5 winds. USA and many other country's pulled together to help in any way.

Hurricane Katrina hit the southeastern coast of the United States in August of 2005. The eye of the storm went through the city of New Orleans and caused thousands of casualties and more than eighty billion dollars in damage (Schwartz). However, poor engineering and design allowed the immense flooding to breach the levee system and flood most of the metropolitan area. Despite the Delta Service Corps admitting that they knew of the possible failures for over twenty years, they claimed that insufficient budgets set by Congress and local governments prohibited them from restructuring and preserving the levees (Can We Save New Orleans?). Katrina was the third most intense land falling tropical storm in United States history. The combination of

On August 29th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, also known as Katrina, made landfall along the Gulf Coast. It hit states such as Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. As of today Hurricane Katrina is one the most destructive hurricanes to ever hit the United States. In total Katrina caused over one hundred billion dollars worth of damage. It left people homeless, starving, and in some cases dead. New Orleans, Louisiana was hit the hardest, “New Orleans will forever exist as two cities; the one that existed before that date, and the one after.” Even over a decade later, the effects of Hurricane Katrina can still be felt as the south continues to rebuild their lives and return to some normalcy.

At the turn of the century, technology was hitting a booming time. Electricity, railroads, and telegraphs were still somewhat new in world. With all of this new technology man has still yet to master any of it; weather forecast included. At the turn of the century, the weather forecast in the United States was operated by a branch of the government known as the Weather Bureau. It was their job to predict the weather, including hurricanes, so that the navy can bypass the storms. To maintain funding, they Bureau would refrain from making predictions of hurricanes unless granted permission from

Hurricane Katrina is known as the most intense and dangerous United States hurricane to ever happen yet since 1928. During this hurricane, over 1,245 people died. Because of this hurricane, over $108 million dollars were needed to help the damages Hurricane Katrina caused people and the homes of which they lived in.

The devastation of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans sparked a national conversation about who, or what, to blame for the disaster. There were inherent problems in how the chain of command was structured for the response to the disaster, and issues with how the plan was implemented. Furthermore, since the hurricane disproportionately devastated low income and predominately African American neighborhoods, many questioned the equity of the implementation plans. Additionally, historical causes for the disaster could not be overlooked. The history of racial housing segregation and the embrace of levee policies that endangered the city were also reasons why many blamed the federal and state governments for not anticipating the disaster

Hurricane Katrina is known for being the most dangerous and murderous hurricane that occurred on August of 2005. It was formed by a tropical wave that moved from the coast of Africa to the Gulf Coast. According to hurricanes they are distinguished by five different categories, the fifth being the strongest. The tropical wave turned into a hurricane under the fifth category that destroyed thousands of homes and killed thousands of people. Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans hardest since it is located below sea level. Also because they had levees designed for a category three hurricanes. Therefore, it flooded quicker allowing places to flood from four feet to about nine feet. People went to their roof tops to find a way of survival. Hurricane Katrina impacted the ethical, social, and economical implications towards the survivors.

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, hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a category three storm and brought with it some of the most catastrophic effects that any hurricane has ever left behind. Twenty foot surges of flood water washed into New Orleans after the levees broke, and ended up flooding over 80% of the city. It was now in the hands of the United States government to help the millions of displaced Americans find proper shelter, food, water, and services that were required for their recovery.